A determined Argentina overcame injuries to several key players before leaving it late to claw its way to a second ever victory over South Africa in their Rugby Championship clash here Saturday. Replacement flyhalf Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias kicked the winning penalty with two minutes remaining as the Pumas eked out a 26-24 triumph after the Springboks had looked poised to rally past Argentina for the second time in eight days. The win was just reward for an Argentina side angry with itself for letting victory slip from its grasp in Nelspruit in its tournament opener and vowing it would beat the Springboks at home for a first time. Under new coach Allister Coetzee, South Africa has lost two of its five Tests this year but the strength in depth of the Springboks squad very nearly saved the day in Argentina. It may also be concerned that having won 18 and drawn one of its first 19 meetings with Argentina, it has now lost two of the last five. It was Argentina's third win in the championship since joining the elite southern hemisphere tournament in 2015, having also beaten Australia once. Argentina dominated the first half despite losing prop Ramiro Herrera to the sin bin for a bad tackle in the 20th minute, taking a 6-3 lead while down to 14 men with flyhalf Nicolas Sanchez's second penalty. The Pumas added a try as soon as Herrera had rejoined the fray, when a sweeping passing movement from inside their 22 ended with fullback Joaquin Tuculet touching down to put them 13-3 ahead at the interval. South Africa began the second half with purpose and an attack down the left brought its first try after flanker Francois Louw's slick pass to Bryan Habana sent the winger away for a record 65th test try and 20th in the championship. Fullback Johan Goosen converted to level the score at 13-13 and Sanchez, who took a nasty knock to the head trying to defend the attack, had to be replaced with centre Juan Martin Hernandez moving inside to take his place. Hernandez, who masterminded Argentina's win in Durban last year, engineered a fine second Pumas try with a neat crossfield kick to the far right corner, where flanker Juan Leguizamon beat Habana to the high ball and scored. Argentina was seven points ahead with 13 minutes remaining but lost Hernandez to injury and South Africa edged to within two when replacement forward Pieter-Steph du Toit went over from a scrum close to the line. Morne Steyn, who had come off the bench looking to bolster South Africa with his place kicking from long distance, guided the visitors into a one-point lead going into the last six minutes when he landed the second of his penalties. However, strong defending by Argentina and the 40-meter penalty from a cool-headed Gonzalez Iglesias allowed the Pumas to snatch a hard-earned victory. — Reuters
