Lacklustre Aussies spoil Bok championship hopes
Boks win but come up short in title chase in Durban
The Springboks finished the Castle Lager Rugby Championship like they started it, with a win – this time by 38-21 (halftime 17-7) over Argentina – but they failed to score the points needed to dethrone New Zealand as champions of the Southern Hemisphere, in front of a packed house of 45982 people at Hollywoodbets Kings Park in Durban.
After the All Blacks beat the Wallabies by 40-14 in Auckland on Saturday morning, the Boks had to win with a bonus point and a points difference of at least 39, and they failed on both accounts, but still finished the competition with four wins from six games, the same as New Zealand.
The Boks squandered a number of opportunities and made some uncharacteristic errors in the first half, but still scored twice – through Jasper Wiese from a push-over scrum and Siya Kolisi from a dominant lineout maul – with Frans Steyn adding both conversions and a penalty goal to put the hosts in the lead by 17-0.
Argentina hit back though with a converted try at the death of the first half by Gonzalo Bertranou to bring the Boks’ lead back to 10 points.
Although the Pumas scored two more tries in the second half - by Juan Martín González and Matías Moroni - with the conditions deteriorating and Eben Etzebeth and Faf de Klerk in the sin bin, the Boks’ forward dominance was simply too much for the visitors, and the hosts were awarded two penalty tries in the second half as their marauding pack was stopped illegally on their way to the try line.
The Boks finished on a high when Kurt-Lee Arendse crossed for a fifth try to seal the win.
More to follow…
Scorers:
Springboks 38 (17) – Tries: Jasper Wiese, Siya Kolisi, Penalty tries (2), Kurt-Lee Arendse. Conversions: Frans Steyn (3). Penalty goal: Steyn.
Argentina 21 (7) – Tries: Gonzalo Bertranou, Juan Martín González, Matías Moroni. Conversions: Emiliano Boffelli (3).
Boks win but come up short in title chase in Durban
The Springboks finished the Castle Lager Rugby Championship like they started it, with a win – this time by 38-21 (halftime 17-7) over Argentina – but they failed to score the points needed to dethrone New Zealand as champions of the Southern Hemisphere, in front of a packed house of 45982 people at Hollywoodbets Kings Park in Durban.
After the All Blacks beat the Wallabies by 40-14 in Auckland on Saturday morning, the Boks had to win with a bonus point and a points difference of at least 39, and they failed on both accounts, but still finished the competition with four wins from six games, the same as New Zealand.
The Boks squandered a number of opportunities and made some uncharacteristic errors in the first half, but still scored twice – through Jasper Wiese from a push-over scrum and Siya Kolisi from a dominant lineout maul – with Frans Steyn adding both conversions and a penalty goal to put the hosts in the lead by 17-0.
Argentina hit back though with a converted try at the death of the first half by Gonzalo Bertranou to bring the Boks’ lead back to 10 points.
Although the Pumas scored two more tries in the second half - by Juan Martín González and Matías Moroni - with the conditions deteriorating and Eben Etzebeth and Faf de Klerk in the sin bin, the Boks’ forward dominance was simply too much for the visitors, and the hosts were awarded two penalty tries in the second half as their marauding pack was stopped illegally on their way to the try line.
The Boks finished on a high when Kurt-Lee Arendse crossed for a fifth try to seal the win.
More to follow…
Scorers:
Springboks 38 (17) – Tries: Jasper Wiese, Siya Kolisi, Penalty tries (2), Kurt-Lee Arendse. Conversions: Frans Steyn (3). Penalty goal: Steyn.
Argentina 21 (7) – Tries: Gonzalo Bertranou, Juan Martín González, Matías Moroni. Conversions: Emiliano Boffelli (3).
