by Brendan Cole
Three tries during a tetchy first half, and a fourth as Argentina chased the game in the dying minutes got South Africa past Argentina and into their first Rugby World Cup final since 1995. Argentina managed to breach the Springbok tryline only once, through Manuel Contepomi, and ultimately failed to perform to the standard they set earlier in the tournament.
In fact, both sides struggled to play good rugby for sustained periods, but South Africa handled the pressure of the situation better, doing as Argentina had done to Ireland and France by kicking deep, forcing mistakes and then capitalising on them quickly. Ultimately, the Springboks were the only side of the two that managed to play without constantly looking as though a Rugby World Cup final was on the line.
Part of that was down to their approach. They eschewed phase based play almost completely; kicking ball deep and relying on their awesome lineout. The four tries were all scored with devastating speed and efficiency: and because they came from intercepts and turnovers, Argentina’s strong defensive line was made an irrelevance.
The match opened well for the Pumas. Argentina played some good rugby in the opening minutes, using their power in the pack and pace behind the scrum to generate momentum early on. But the ground was taken from under them by Fourie du Preez – brilliant throughout - in the seventh minute. As Argentina attempted to punch through the middle, the scrum-half grabbed an intercept from a poorly judged Felipe Contepomi pass then used his speed to go the length of the pitch for the try.
Even still, the early signs indicated that Argentina were capable of playing good enough rugby to trouble the Boks. Unfortunately for them, having gone behind early, they were guilty of trying too hard in some situations, and made bad errors where in previous games they had been ice cool and accurate. Their key players in particular were disappointing. Gonzolo Longo, Agustin Pichot and Juan Martin Hernandez all failed to play up to standard, while Mario Ledesma’s throwing in the lineout also faltered: of all the Puma stars it was only the full-back - Ignacio Corleto - who managed to play to his best form.
For South Africa, du Preez excelled throughout, kicking beautifully and controlling the play, while Percy Montgomery was also outstanding, out-kicking Hernandez from full back in the duel of the big kickers, while the pack managed to get among Argentina enough to force a modicum of sloppy play from their hitherto immaculate half back pair.
Of most concern for Argentina was Pichot’s poor play under pressure at the base of a hotly contested breakdown area. The Springboks had clearly decided to target the Argentine nine, and although the plan backfired on occasion – such as when John Smit gave away a penalty which let Felipe Contepomi get the score back to 7-3 – it negated the captain’s influence on the game. That score was almost immediately cancelled by the Boks, who quickly won a penalty of their own for Montgomery to knock over, re-establishing the seven point gap.
Another penalty at the breakdown gave Argentina the chance to again get with four but Contepomi pushed it right from from a tricky angle this time. South Africa nearly went even further ahead when Borges, slipping in the manner of Damien Traille on his own line, almost gifted them a try. To his credit, he just managed to get past Habana and launch a decent counter-attack. But with Pichot’s long passing faltering, and Hernandez kicking far below the standard he has managed elsewhere, and Contepomi’s play at first centre erratic, Argentina were living on the edge.
The Argentinian maul looked as though it could have been a way back into the game in the first half, but a truck and trailer call that put and end to one powerful formation and some strong counter driving by the South African tight five limited the damage before an increasingly dominant Sprinbok lineout put an end to the threat.
Again, Argentina got a quick chance to get back in the game. This time, an ill judged decision to run the ball from his own ’22 by Francois Steyn resulted in yet another holding on call amid a multitude of breakdown offences. Contepomi made no mistake with the easy chance, knocking the ball over the bar to bring the score back to 10-6. But that was the high watermark of Argentina’s threat. For the second time, South Africa got a scent of an opening and hit their opponents hard: this time through the opportunism and speed of Brian Habana. A turnover did the initial damage - Schalk Burger ripping the ball from Longo and it was released to the centre, where Steyn’s long, looping pass to Habana had Argentina scrambling to cover the touchline.
But the turnover meant they were also uncharacteristically short in behind, and Habana’s simple chip and devastating speed did the rest, and he scored under the posts. Montgomery again added the extras. Yet another mistake by Argentina let South Africa in for their third: a poor pass from Pichot to Hernandez resulted in a fumble that handed the Boks the ball and a ready made overlap inside the Argentine ’22. Three quick passes got number eight Danie Roussouw over, and with half time fast approaching it was already South Africa’s game to lose.
Argentina managed something of a revival in the second half, forcing the Springboks to make plays in their own ’22 in the early minutes. Eventually, the pressure told: tThe Pumas managed to turn over ball from South African lineout maul, and driving runs by Fernandez and then Martin Scelzo, had South Africa scrambling.
A quick shift to the left revealed a huge overlap and it looked as though Argentina couldn’t fail to score, although Manuel Contepomi almost contrived to squander the chance, stumbling two yards from the line on the greasy surface and almost failing to get the touch down under pressure from Burger.
The TMO gave the decision in the Pumas favour, and Felipe Contepomi knocked over the conversion to get his side back in the game. The Pumas good spell didn’t end there. With Os du Randt off for a blood injury – sustained during a ferocious double hit on some Argentine forwards – they were once again able to get pressure on the Boks, this time via the replacement prop Jannie du Plessis. A penalty from a Habana offside at an up and under gave Contepomi the chance to reduce the arrears. From distance, he once again pushed the shot to the right.
But then Argentina started to make the mental and physical that had undermined their first half effort. Various knocks on, poor kicks and a loose use of the boot call against Pichot gave away momentum, while some poor decisions to run the ball from deep didn’t work out. South Africa were also making errors but they, the dominant team, seemed to be able to recover their composure far more easily.
They seemed to have put the match to bed when Habana went over again in the corner from a well worked move; Steyn generating momentum before a quick exhange in the Argentine backfield put the winger clear, but a forward pass earlier saw the ‘try’ ruled out and kept Argentina in the game; albeit only just.
But the match was ebbing away from them as it the final ten minutes approach, especially after another Montgomery penalty established a fourteen point gap between the sides. Then, a farcical situation in which touch judge Chris White failed to see a ball go into touch before bouncing in the field of play and gave a throw in to South Africa on the Argentine ’22 when Mario Ledesma ran into touch to take a quick lineout. That mess eventually ended with yet another breakdown penalty for South Africa – this time for interfering with the half back – and got them an unassailable 17 point margin.
The game then finished as it had started: with a South African intercept try. This time it was Habana who picked off a flat, across the gain line pass and went the length of the pitch. The question of what had happened to the intelligent, roundhouse close passing between Contepomi and Hernandez that had been a feature of their Pool D victories is for the Pumas post-mortem. Montgomery added the conversion to make a convincing victory seal into a rout.
The match ended with some unseemly scrapping: a high hit on Hernandez by Juan Smith initiated a conflagration between the sides which may could have cost the player his rugby world cup final berth had it been of a slightly more violent character, and saw him yellow carded. Burger and the substitute Bobby Skinstad also treaded dangerously close to the disciplinary line. Even after that there was more to come: Felipe Contepomi sent to the bin late on for a sneaky shot to a South African face in the midst of yet another silly fracas.
In any case, South Africa move on to the final, and a re-match of the Pool A clash with England that ended 36-0 in their favour first time around. Argentina will play France in a third/fourth play-off in a renewal of the spectacular Pool D clash that opened the competition; hopefully they will locate the dash that was sadly lacking tonight in the week between now and then.
