The Springboks extended their winning run to 12 consecutive Tests with a hard-fought 17-10 victory over Argentina in Buenos Aires, with the match level at 10-10 at half-time before Cameron Hanekom's converted try proved the difference.
A biting crosswind disrupted the Boks' kicking game throughout the first half, with high balls repeatedly drifting away from chasers and the Pumas — featuring six debutants — setting a confident early pace. Flyhalf Santiago Carreras opened the scoring with a long-range penalty in the third minute before converting a debut try from flanker Benjamin Grondona, who benefited from a tackle-area offload 10 metres out. Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu's penalty was the Boks' only response until the stroke of half-time, when a slick backline move saw André Esterhuizen haul in a one-handed pass, feed Canan Moodie, and the ball went through Aphelele Fassi before Edwill van der Merwe scooted down the touchline and looped behind the posts — his sixth try in seven Tests — to level at 10-10.
The Bomb Squad's introduction 10 minutes into the second half shifted the contest decisively. The Boks took near-complete control of field position playing with the wind, and the dam broke in the 62nd minute when the all-new front row drove a five-metre scrum and No 8 Hanekom picked up to score his first Test try in his third cap. Feinberg-Mngomezulu was denied a drop goal attempt by the crossbar in the first half and had his conversion of Hanekom's try supplemented by Handré Pollard's conversion on the scoreboard.
The Pumas refused to fold, and a 50-22 by flanker Pablo Mantera — of all positions — finally gave them field position in a cacophonous final two minutes. The Boks then survived 15 phases in their own 22 after the clock had gone into the red to seal the win, having shut Argentina out from the tenth minute of the match until that late incursion.
The afternoon carried an additional concern with skipper Siya Kolisi limping off in the 25th minute with what appeared to be a recurrence of his hamstring trouble. It was among five players — alongside Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Eben Etzebeth, Lood de Jager and Morne van den Berg from the bench — returning from an eight-month Test absence.
Scorers — Argentina 10: Try: Grondona; Con: Carreras; PG: Carreras. Springboks 17: Tries: Van der Merwe, Hanekom; Cons: Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Pollard; PG: Feinberg-Mngomezulu.