After the sides went into half-time locked at 10-10, the match remained finely balanced until Cameron Hanekom crashed over in the fourth quarter to finally break Argentina’s resistance.

The Springboks then had to withstand a frantic late assault from Los Pumas, who threw everything at the visitors in search of an equaliser. 

For Erasmus, surviving that pressure was just as important as the result itself.

“Our focus was purely on beating Argentina today, and we had a tough day out there,” Erasmus said.

The Springbok coach acknowledged that the lack of game time among several players returning from injury was always likely to affect the team’s rhythm.

South Africa had left 15 players back in the country, while seven or eight members of Saturday’s match-day squad had played very little rugby over the previous six or seven weeks.

Erasmus therefore expected the Boks to look somewhat disjointed.

“We looked leg-weary early on, gave up a lot of territory, and made errors which we knew were likely,” he said.

The Springboks that faces Argentina in Buenos Aires - SA Rugby

Argentina’s physical approach, combined with the intimidating atmosphere in Buenos Aires, made life even more difficult for the visitors.

“It’s a win, although it wasn't pretty and perfect. That said, we are happy with the result and with the way we ground it out.”

While the attack struggled to find its rhythm, Erasmus was encouraged by the Springboks’ defensive effort.

Argentina managed only one try, with Erasmus pointing to an offload as the key moment that led to the score.

“Our discipline was also relatively good, but what we need to sort out is our attack,” he said.

Santiago Carreras - Los Pumas

“A number of players were short on game time returning from injury, but getting them through 80 minutes was always going to affect our fluency. The positive is that we got them through the game.”

That defensive resolve proved crucial in the closing stages, when Argentina turned up the pressure and the home crowd raised the volume inside a bouncing Estadio José Amalfitani.

Erasmus was quick to acknowledge the role played by Argentina in making the match such a demanding examination.

Los Pumas have developed into one of the most formidable sides in world rugby, and the Springbok coach believes their mentality mirrors that of South Africa.

Santiago Carreras - Los Lumas

“They are a very proud rugby nation, and I always say they've got that same fight in them that we have back home,” Erasmus said.

“They're passionate, and they never stop. What pleased me today was that we won the physical battle.”

The narrow winning margin, he added, reflected the competitive nature of the contest.

“We never expected a comfortable win for either side. In fact, we always thought it would be a tight match.”

For Erasmus, Saturday’s biggest takeaway was not the quality of South Africa’s rugby, but the ability of his players to remain composed when the match began slipping into dangerous territory.

Benjamin Grondono - Los Pumas

“We're not happy with the performance itself, but we're happy with the character the players showed,” he said.

With several players returning from injury and younger members of the squad thrown into a hostile environment, the Boks were forced to find another way to win.

“We're not saying we played well, but we're very happy with how hard we ground this one out.”

Erasmus believes matches like this could prove invaluable when the pressure is at its highest.

“The lesson is that knockout-level rugby is always close,” he said.

“Even if we had drawn tonight, we would have still learned a lot about grinding out a result with a crowd going wild.”

Pablo Matera - Los Pumas

The Springboks will return to South Africa in two groups on Sunday and Monday, with the squad set to regroup in Johannesburg.

Attention will now shift towards the next major challenge, Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry against New Zealand.

After surviving a bruising night in Buenos Aires, the Boks will know there is plenty to sharpen up before facing the All Blacks.

The performance may not have been polished, but the character shown in the closing stages could prove just as valuable when the stakes rise again.

Scorers:

Argentina: Tries - Benjamin Grondono Conv. - Santago Carreras Pen. - Carreras

Springboks: Tries - Edwill van der Merwe, Cameron Hanekom Conv. - Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Handré Pollard Penalty goal - Feinberg-Mngomezulu

Morgan Piek OFM Sport