South Africa kick-start Rugby Championship with 32-12 win over Argentina

South Africa 32-12 Argentina, Port Elizabeth

South Africa came up with a clinical performance as they defeated Argentina 32-12 in the opening round of the Rugby Championship at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Saturday.

This was first Rugby Championship game for the Springboks since their 2019 World Cup triumph as they pulled out of the 2020 edition due to coronavirus restrictions and they maintained their momentum from the series win over the British and Irish Lions.

The opening points in the game came in the third minute as Elton Jantjies kicked a 40m penalty goal after Argentina were penalised for not rolling away from the ball.

The opening try of the game came in the 14th minute when Cobus Reinach intercepted a pass to dot down and Jantjies kicked the conversion to make it 10-0.

The response from the visitors came in the 17th minute with Nicolas Sanchez slotting a penalty goal but the home side got their second try inside the first quarter with Aphelele Fassi touching down after collecting an inside pass from Jantjies. South Africa extended their lead further with a penalty goal from Jantjies that made the scoreline 18-3.

South Africa had a chance to extend the lead further but a penalty kick from Frans Steyn went wide. With four minutes left for the break, Sanchez and Jantjies exchanged penalties before the Argentina fly-half slotted his third three-pointer as the teams went into the break with a 21-9 scoreline.

The visitors narrowed the gap down further with a fourth successful kick from Sanchez but his effort was negated by a response from Jantjies in the 48th minute making it 24-12. As the third quarter was about to end, Jantjies provided more cushion for the Springboks with his fourth penalty kick extending the lead to 15 points.

Any chance of a comeback from Argentina was put off as Marco van Staden created the chance with a powerful run from the maul to allow Jaden Hendrikse to touchdown in the 80th minute. The conversion was missed but that could not prevent the Springboks from completing a 20-point victory.