'We were in control against Argentina' - Siya Kolisi

South Africa captain Siya Kolisi had high praises for the Springboks as they kick-started their Rugby Championship campaign with a 32-12 win over Argentina in Port Elizabeth.

Fresh from the 2-1 series win over the British and Irish Lions, South Africa did no harm to their reputation as they scored three tries through Cobus Reinach, Aphelele Fassi and Jaden Hendrikse while Elton Jantjies kicked a conversion and five penalties.

This was also the first game for South Africa in the Rugby Championship since their 2019 World Cup triumph as they pulled out of last year's edition due to coronavirus restrictions.

Head coach Jacques Nienaber made 10 changes to the starting line-up from the third and deciding Test against the Lions and Kolisi credited his side for the display on Saturday.

“The one thing that I love about this team is that there are no ‘senior’ players or anything like that, and everyone had their own job,” he said.

“If something goes wrong in the maul, at the breakdown or in the scrum we know who to look to to fix it.

“We were never in a panic today; we were in control a lot of the time.”

Both Argentina and South Africa will lock horns once again in the second round of the Rugby Championship scheduled to be played on 21st August at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.