Scrumhalf Cobus Reinach and hooker Malcolm Marx scored two tries each as South Africa defeated a gallant Argentina 29-27 at Twickenham in London on Saturday to retain the Rugby Championship title with a performance full of power.
South Africa finish top of the Rugby Championship table with 19 points, level with New Zealand but ahead on points-difference, as the Springboks earn a sixth trophy win in the Southern Hemisphere competition. Australia finish with 11 points and Argentina 10.
Argentina’s tries were scored by Bautista Delguy (two) and Rodrigo Isgro, and they were the better side in the first half as they led 13-10 at the break, but were pushed back in the scrums as the Springboks used that platform to launch wave after wave of attack in the second period.
"It's unreal, we spoke about it (lifting the trophy) the whole week. We have not won it back-to-back before and the last time we won a (full) Rugby Championship was 2012," Reinach said.
"We still have a lot of improvements to make, but we are getting there. We knew we would not just run out here and roll over them. It takes teams 60 or 70 minutes (to break teams down) and Argentina are unreal. They have a lot of dog in them, they keep fighting every game."
South Africa lost centre Canan Moodie to a yellow card for an upright tackle inside the first two minutes and Argentina opened the scoring after a lightning start.
The absence of Moodie in defence meant space for Delguy to show good strength and dot down in the corner.
In the second scrum of the game, the Springboks push Argentina off their own ball with a show of power that would be a feature in the game.
Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu landed a penalty for South Africa to get them on the board, but Argentina continued to set the tempo and they extended their lead to seven again when fullback Santiago Carreras landed two more penalties.
South Africa finally managed to spend some time in the Argentina 22 and turned down a succession of shots at goal from penalties in favour of scrums, such was their dominance at the set-piece.
From one of those, the ball popped out at the back of the scrum as the Springboks powered forward and Reinach sniped over from five yards, but Argentina led 13-10 at the break.
The Springboks had the perfect start to the second half when a knock-on from the kick-off allowed them to have a scrum in the Argentina half from which they won yet another penalty.
Pumas prop Mayco Vivas received a yellow card for an upright tackle on Eben Etzebeth and the Springboks set up a driving maul from the line-out from which Marx spun out the side to score in the corner.
The power of the Springboks was beginning to take its toll on Argentina, and from another attacking line-out, they moved the ball through the phases and Reinach went over for his second score.
The momentum was now well and truly with the Springboks, and as Argentina continued to infringe, another attacking line-out ended with a try.
It was not from a driving maul, but the South Africa kept the ball close and Marx burrowed over again.
Argentina stayed in the contest with a second score when Cheslin Kolbe’s speculative pass was collected by Delguy and he sprinted clear for his second try.
The South American side scored again after the hooter as Isgro dotted down in the corner but it was too little too late for them ... and New Zealand.