South Africa ground out a 17-10 win over Argentina in Buenos Aires on Saturday, stretching their winning run to 12 Tests, but the victory came at a familiar cost as captain Siya Kolisi limped off with another hamstring injury.
Kolisi, playing his first match in seven weeks after recovering from the same problem, trudged off in the 25th minute and now faces a race to lead the Springboks in the opening Test of the "Greatest Rivalry" series against New Zealand in two weeks' time.
"I hurt my hamstring again unfortunately," he said. "It's tough but I can't be sad about it. There's nothing I can do but go in for a scan and see how long I'm out for."
Coach Rassie Erasmus made 13 changes from the side that beat Wales 43-0, using the fixture as a tune-up for the All Blacks and handing game time to players returning from injury. Caps record-holder Eben Etzebeth and fly-half Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu played every minute, while lock Lood de Jager, back from a hip problem, lasted into the third quarter.
Argentina, outside the international window, were without Europe-based stars including captain Julián Montoya, Marcos Kremer, Joaquín Oviedo and Justo Piccardo, and handed debuts to four forwards. They nevertheless made life uncomfortable for the world champions.
Santiago Carreras and Feinberg-Mngomezulu traded early penalties before prop Boris Wenger offloaded out of a gang tackle for flanker Benjamín Grondona to burst over. South Africa responded on the stroke of half-time when Aphelele Fassi joined the line and right wing Edwill van der Merwe slipped through to score.
Erasmus emptied his bench in the third quarter and the extra power told at the scrum. Canan Moodie trapped full-back Gerónimo Prisciantelli to force a five-metre scrum, and from the splintered set-piece No. 8 Cameron Hanekom crossed in the 63rd minute for the decisive score.
There was still late drama. After the hooter, Argentina hammered at the Springbok line from a tap penalty, but the final high pass to an unmarked Matías Moroni was dropped — the full-back in tears as coach Felipe Contepomi watched a draw slip away.
South Africa's 12th successive Test victory keeps them firmly on track ahead of the two-Test series against New Zealand, which begins in two weeks.
Sources
- AP News: https://apnews.com/article/south-africa-springboks-argentina-pumas-kolisi-ac82bd15487e4e066678a213220fce3a
