Sbu Nkosi and Dillyn Leyds proved that they should be part
of the Springbok World Cup squad as the South Africans saw off Argentina 24-18
at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday night.
It wasn’t the best of games as both sides battled to get
their rhythm going, having made a number of changes to their line-ups in what
was a World Cup warm-up encounter.
But right wing Nkosi was the stand-out Springbok on the
night, scoring two well-taken tries and being a threat whenever he had the
ball.
Left wing Leyds wasn’t far behind as he produced a busy
performance on a night where the new combinations struggled for cohesion on
attack and defence.
But the result means that Rassie Erasmus’ team remain
unbeaten in 2019 ahead of their final World Cup warm-up against Japan away on 6
September.
More importantly, the Loftus clash would’ve answered a
number of questions that the Bok coach may have had with regards to selection.
Apart from Nkosi and Leyds, regular Bok captain Siya Kolisi
came through 53 minutes of action unscathed, and ran strongly with the ball on
occasion.
He worked hard in defence as well, and proved his readiness
for the World Cup.
His loose-forward partner Marcell Coetzee also made a good
start to the game, but had to go off following a head knock in the first half and
didn’t return.
Both teams struggled to get out of the blocks in an
error-strewn first half, with Elton Jantjies and Joaquin Diaz Bonilla trading
penalties in the first 30 minutes.
But it was Nkosi who sparked the game into life as Jantjies
flung the ball wide to Warrick Gelant, who found the flying Bok No 14 who
stepped past a defender and finished with aplomb.
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/skara2ntubeni?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@skara2ntubeni, who waited a long time for this moment. #StrongerTogether #RSAvARG pic.twitter.com/Z8F74uYqxE
— Springboks (@Springboks)
Scrumhalf Cobus Reinach was one of those squad members who
would’ve wanted to catch Erasmus’ eye, but perhaps because he was trying too
hard, he wasn’t quite at his best.
Apart from a line-break in the first half, Reinach took one
too many steps when clearing the ball, and seemed hesitant in his
decision-making.
It eventually cost him and the team as he held on to the
ball too long just before halftime, and threw a speculative pass that was
intercepted by Argentina lock Guido Petti, who had enough pace to score.
Suddenly Los Pumas led 10-8 at halftime, and the South
Africans needed to regain their spark to avoid an untimely defeat ahead of the
World Cup.
And it was that man Nkosi who came up with the decisive
play. The Sharks star was in space on the right, but had a number of defenders
in front of him. No problem, though, as he stepped and then powered his way
through for his second five-pointer of the night.
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/hashtag/StrongerTogether?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#StrongerTogether #RSAvARG @Official_Bozza @MTNza @ASICS_ZA @FNBSA @CastleLagerSA @LandRoverZA @FlySafair @VirginActiveSA @BidvestCarHire @dovemencare_za @SamsungSA pic.twitter.com/zs2LN6F9xt
— Springboks (@Springboks)
Jantjies then showed his value by slotting a touchline
conversion, and he followed it up with three more penalties in the last 20
minutes.
Argentina threatened to pull off the win, though, when
captain Pablo Matera finished off a clever lineout move that levelled the
scores at 18-18 with 15 minutes to go.
But Jantjies kept his cool to add six more points with the
boot to send the boisterous Loftus faithful home with smiles on their faces.
Points-Scorers
Springboks 24 – Tries: Sbu Nkosi (2). Conversion: Elton Jantjies (1). Penalties: Jantjies (4).
Argentina 18 – Tries: Guido Petti, Pablo Matera. Conversion: Joaquin Diaz Bonilla (1). Penalties: Bonilla (1), Benjamin Urdapilleta (1).
@ashfakmohamed