Despite their hard-fought victory against Argentina, the championship title was claimed by the All Blacks earlier on Saturday morning when they beat the Wallabies 38-7 in Melbourne. This makes it New Zealand’s third straight Rugby Championship title as they claimed the Bledisloe Cup trophy.

The win against the Pumas earned South Africa a second place in the Rugby Championship and despite the win being narrow, Springbok coach Jacque Nienaber applauded his sides’ defence and performance under pressure. 

Post-match Nienaber told reporters "We expected a proper test match, if you look at what Argentina have done in the last few seasons with wins in New Zealand and Australia. We knew it was going to be a grind, the positive is that the guys kept their cool at the back end and got the win."

The Pumas dominated possession for the majority of the game and got off to an early start as they claimed the opening points via a penalty goal 3 minutes in. Unfortunately for the Boks, it was Williams’ injury in the opening seconds that led to the controversially awarded penalty. 

The Springbok number 9, Grant Williams collided with Los Pumas fullback, Juan Cruz Mallia, a few seconds into the game sending him to the ground. He was forced off on a stretcher and was replaced by Faf de Klerk. There was some concern over Grant Williams’ availability after his injury but Nienaber has confirmed that he will have a minimum of two weeks off to recover from his concussion symptoms. 

The Los Pumas lead was short lived as Libbok took a penalty goal in the 12th minute, followed by Eben Etzebeth dotting down in the 19th minute to claim the first try of the game.

The Springbok’s took a 15-9 lead into half-time and despite the Pumas’ efforts to fight back in the second half, they managed to keep their lead and claim the win. 

De Allende secured a try in the first half and the Boks saw another try from Manie Libbok well into the second half but it was their defence that made all the difference. 

The Puma’s scored two tries in the last 10 minutes of the game but it wasn’t enough to surpass the Springboks, ending the game on a 22-21 win to the home side. 

Supersport reported that Argentine coach, Michael Cheika, spoke proudly of his team's progress despite the loss saying,  "We played better than last week against Australia, although we didn't get the result we wanted. We are going to improve the maul and the scrum, but we had more possession and were in South Africa’s 22 a lot without finishing.

The two sides will face each other next weekend in Buenos Aires in a warm-up game and both sides will be eager to prove a point as they prepare for the 2023 World Cup. 

Kayla Barker/OFM Sport