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Los Pumas gave rugby administrators in South Africa and New Zealand plenty to think about as an understrength Argentina fought until the death against the World Champions in Buenos Aires on Saturday. South Africa were 17-10 winners in a match that was even at 10-10 at half-time.
The fixture was not a Rugby Championship match and it was the only test match between Los Pumas and the Springboks in 2026. The reason as to why there is no Rugby Championship in 2026 comes down to decision making from New Zealand and South Africa to go it alone. South Africa and New Zealand decided to break away from the four country alliance to contest “The Greatest Rugby Rivalry” in 2026. The outcome is that the Rugby Championship will be biennial rather than an annual after 2025 and that the next normal Rugby Championship will next be in 2029.
| MATCH REPORT |
Argentina started the match well. Good possession saw Los Pumas opening the score in just two minutes with a penalty to Santiago Carreras. The lead was temporary as Carreras’ opposite, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu made it a 3-3 scoreline after 6 minutes.
The next Argentine penalty saw a kick for the corner rather than a kick for goal. An attacking lineout followed with the ball going left. Boris Wenger held up the ball in contact and off-loaded to Benjamín Grondona. The Bristol Bears’ flanker ran through a hole to score on 9 minutes.
Santiago Carreras converted the try in what was the final score from the home side in the first-half. The remainder of the half saw tactical warfare with plenty off box-kicking and up-and-under kicks. Both teams tested the defenders but could not capitalize.
This changed in the final minute of the opening half. Enterprising play from the backs saw Edwill van der Merwe over down the right side. He had too much pace for fullback Gerónimo Prisciantelli. Feinberg-Mngomezulu converted for a 10-10 scoreline as Christophe Ridley blew his whistle for half-time.
The second-half saw South dominating but the scoring took a long time to come. The Springboks were held up over the try line on one occasion and had a potential try ruled out for a hand in touch on another.
Los Pumas defended very well but were unable to score at all win the second-half. The one shot at goal saw Santiago Carreras’ penalty attend rebounding off the up-rights.
The match was ultimately won by veteran Handré Pollard. He came on as a replacement and was able to give shape to the Springboks’ backline attack. Pollard did the simple things so effectively; a contrast to Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu who matched the reality of a player returning from injury.
The only second-half points came after Pollard’s injection into the match. Vision from the fly half put South Africa in good position. Then the attacking scrum proved to be too powerful. No. 8 Cameron Hanekom scored a push over try to give South Africa the lead early in the final quarter. Pollard landed the conversion for a 17-10 lead.
Los Pumas fought until the death. Two penalties in the closing minutes had them five meters out from the opposition try zone. After an attack of fourteen phases, the ball went wide with Lucio Cinti putting Matías Moroni into space. Moroni was in position to score but knocked-on as full-time was called.
Argentina were beaten but the team featured four debutants and ran the two-time defending World Champions close. Moreover, 20 players including Mateo Carreras, Santiago Chocobares, Thomas Gallo, Gonzalo García, Juan Martín González, Marcos Kremer, Joaquín Oviedo, Pedro Rubiolo and Joel Sclavi were unavailable.
The Springboks now return home to South Africa to prepare to face New Zealand in the Greatest Rivalry series. Los Pumas now turns their attention to another familiar opponent. Argentina play host to Australia in Jujuy and Mendoza to continue preparations for next year’s Rugby World Cup.
| MATCH NOTES |
- Francisco Moreno, Leonel Oviedo, Juan Penoucos, and Juan Martín Scelzo debuted for Argentina.
- There were no yellow or red cards for the entirety of the match.
| SCORING |
ARGENTINA (10)
TRY – B Grondona (9′)
CON – S Carreras (10′)
PEN – S Carreras 1/2 (2′)
SOUTH AFRICA (17)
TRY – E van der Merwe (39′), C Hanekom (61′)
CON – S Feinberg-Mngomezulu (40′), H Pollard (62′)
PEN – S Feinberg-Mngomezulu 1/1 (6′)
DG – S Feinberg-Mngomezulu 0/1
| LINE-UPS |
ARGENTINA
1 Boris Wenger, 2 Ignacio Ruiz, 3 Francisco Moreno, 4 Guido Petti (vice-capt.), 5 Tomás Lavanini, 6 Pablo Matera (capt.), 7 Benjamín Grondona, 8 Joaquín Moro, 9 Simón Benítez Cruz, 10 Santiago Carreras (vice-capt.), 11 Ignacio Mendy, 12 Faustino Sánchez Valarolo, 13 Lucio Cinti, 14 Rodrigo Isgró, 15 Geronimo Prisciantelli
Replacements: 16 Leonel Oviedo, 17 Mayco Vivas, 18 Tomás Rapetti, 19 Efraín Elías, 20 Juan Penoucos, 21 Juan Martín Scelzo, 22 Agustín Moyano, 23 Matías Moroni
SOUTH AFRICA
1 Boan Venter, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 3 Thomas du Toit, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 5 Lood de Jager, 6 Siya Kolisi (capt.), 7 Elrigh Louw, 8 Cameron Hanekom, 9 Cobus Reinach, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 11 Ethan Hooker, 12 André Esterhuizen, 13 Canan Moodie, 14 Edwill van der Merwe, 15 Aphelele Fassi
Replacements: 16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Zachary Porthen, 19 Ben-Jason Dixon, 20 Cobus Wiese, 21 Marco van Staden, 22 Morné van den Berg, 23 Handre Pollard
| MATCH HIGHLIGHTS |
| MATCH OFFICIALS |
Referee: Christophe Ridley (England)
Assistant Referees: Luc Ramos (France), Craig Evans (Wales)
Television Match Official: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
Split Screen/FPRO: Ian Tempest (England)
