Physicality is sort of a staple of rugby. You can’t waft about like a wet flannel on
the pitch, unless you’re Quade Cooper of course, because otherwise you’ll get
shown up and ran over. Several times. But still, physicality, takes on a whole new
meaning when it comes to the Argentinians and South Africans. Fed on a diet of entire raw cows from the age
of 6 upwards, these nations build giant, angry mountains of men who spend their
spare time wrestling bulls, headbutting their way through brick walls and
playing Fifa on “world class” difficulty mode.
These guys are real men.
Of course, I’m exaggerating the stereotype a bit, but South
African coach Heyneke Meyer couldn’t care less about that. He’s got his side playing that brand of
ultra-physical, direct, territory-based rugby that’s no easier on the eyes than
it is on the opposition shoulder joints.
But, despite getting criticism from certain sections of the South
African rugby fan base for not playing more expansively, he’s got them winning
– they haven’t lost a game since last year’s indifferent performance in the
Rugby Championship. Since last October,
the Springboks powered past England, Scotland and Ireland on an autumn tour
before hammering the Scots, Italians and Samoans (in a brutal contest) over the
summer. But there is a worry that this
South African side is incapable of turning it on against the biggest opposition
– namely, the All Blacks. Despite a raft
of young talent now coming through, with Pat Lambie and Jan Serfontein all
looking like world-class operators, success will only be measured by results
against the Kiwis.
For the Argentinians, they’re not under quite as much
pressure, but that doesn’t mean that they’re not facing the heat from other
angles. In terms of expectations, the
Pumas aren’t really suffering as they continue to carry the ‘new boy’ tag into
the Southern Hemisphere side and go into the championship fresh off a hiding
from a second string England XV (although, to be fair, the Argentines weren’t
exactly at full strength either). But
there is a constant internal pressure from this side – a determination that
they will not be seen as a second-rate side on one of rugby’s premier
international competitions. They don’t
want to take as long as Italy have in the Six Nations to get up to speed, being
forced to put up with phrases like “We won’t be taking them lightly” (meaning “we’re going to have a try-fest”), “Rome
is always a tough place to go” (“the
traffic out of the stadium is a nightmare” and “They’re always improving” (“They’re slightly less sh*t this
year”). And with stalwarts like
Roncero and Contepomi either retired or should be retired, it’s going to be up
to a new breed of Pumas to carry on that passion and power that have made the
South Americans such a force to be reckoned with.
To begin with, it looked as if Santiago Phelan’s men would
live up to their reputation as the equals of the Bok’s physicality, going toe
to toe with the hosts in a scrappy start that was riddled with re-set scrums,
dodgy lineouts and penalty kicks which resulted in a trio of 3 pointers for the
South Africans, courtesy of the boot of Morne Steyn, and 6 points for the Pumas,
kicked by Felipe Contepomi. With 28
minutes played, it looked like we were going to be in for a real scrap of a
game. But then it all changed.
Following a powerful shunt off a lineout close to the Argentine
line, Springbok hooker Adriaan Strauss looked to find Ruan Piennaar free on the
left for what looked like a walk-over, but instead the chunky hand of his opposite
number, Eusebio Guinazu, knocked the pass down.
It wasn’t the smartest of moves by the hooker, as referee Chris Pollock
checked the video and decided the offence was worthy of both a penalty try and
a yellow card.
2 minutes later and things went from bad to worse for the
visitors, as Gonzalo Comacho was turned over following a sharp break on the
South African 22 metre line. The ball
found its way to Willie Le Roux, who chipped superbly for JJ Engelbrecht to jog
in under the sticks, with Argentine misery compounded by the sight of Juan
Martin Hernandez hobbling from the field.
There was still time for one more penalty from Steyn, who had been
flawless with his kicking, and the Springboks carried a 26-6 lead into half
time despite not having as much possession as their opponents.
Generally half-time is to be seen as a bit of a regrouping exercise
when you’re down by 20 points, but for some reason it had the opposite effect
on the Pumas – and it is not too harsh to say that the second half display was
an embarrassment to those who were wearing the Argentina jersey. It took just five minutes for the rout to get
well and truly underway, with Strauss burrowing over following a powerful
lineout drive that was quickly becoming the Boks’ most potent weapon. Number
8 Leonardo Senatore then didn’t help matters by getting himself sinbinned for a
dangerous tackle – harshly in my opinion – and the hosts wasted no time in
taking full advantage, with big blindside Willem Alberts crashing over from yet
another lineout drive. Steyn shockingly
missed the conversion, but the score was still 38-6 after 52 minutes.
Jean De Villiers then claimed one of the easiest tries of
his career as he claimed an intercept from one of the slowest passes ever
thrown in the history of the game from Juan Manuel Leguizamon, before a superb
breakout by the Springbok captain and Bryan Habana led to a try for returning
scrum half Fourie Du Preez. By this
time, Mother Theresa would have shown more aggression than the Pumas defence,
and when substitute Pat Lambie and lock Eben Etzebeth casually walked through
the defence to set up a score for Bryan Habana, it looked as if the players in
the famous blue and white shirts had given up.
Duane Vermeulen battered his way over the line to compound
the Argentine misery following a good bust by promising centre Jan Serfontein
and was swiftly followed over the whitewash by Bismarck Du Plessis courtesy
of...yes, you guessed it...another rolling maul off a lineout. The Argentines did cross the line themselves
with the last play of the game, with Contepomi finishing off a sweeping move
involving Pablo Matera and Augustin Creevy, but you could barely even call it a
consolation with the score at 73 - 6.
This wasn’t just a thrashing, this was a humiliation. The fact that the Pumas’ attitude dropped away
in the second half and allowed the South Africans to literally walk through
tackles will not be dealt with gently by Phelan – and they need to sort it out
quickly. They meet the Springboks again
next week and if they haven’t had a serious attitude adjustment...well, the
South Africans look like they’re still living up to the unforgiving stereotype –
and I don’t think any fans will be complaining about that right now.
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