Argentina captain Agustin Pichot spoke of a lack of respect by clubs after they were defeated 39-7 by South Africa at Velez Sarsfield in Buenos Aires on Saturday night.
The Argentinians were forced to field five newcomers in the squad because of European Cup call-ups and they never managed to threaten Jake White’s side.
Pichot said afterwards: ”This shows a lack of respect for Argentina.”
South African coach White added: ”They were a very different Pumas side to the usual one, and if you want to win Test matches you have to put out your best team.”
Springbok fullback Gaffie du Toit — called into the side after first choice Percy Montgomery was recalled by Newport for European Cup duty — made the most of his opportunity.
He grabbed two tries, kicked four penalties as well as two conversions to claim 24 of his team’s points. Marius Joubert, Fourie du Preez and Jacques Cronje also crossed the line.
South Africa, the Tri-Nations champions who needed a morale-boosting result after recent defeats to Ireland and England, were never in trouble against the Pumas.
They led 36-7 at the break with the home side’s only score coming from a try on the stroke of half-time from Fernandez Miranda. South Africa had even led 36-0 in a little more than half an hour.
South Africa put to good use their traditional physical strength to break through Argentina’s defensive line with a particularly good performance from flanker Solly Tyibilika.
Argentina made many defensive errors that cost them dear in a match which was very much one-way traffic.
Argentina’s best move earned them a converted try in the dying seconds of the first half. After a knock-on 5m from the line, newcomer Santiago Artese went over and Fernandez Miranda converted to give them some consolation.
The home side managed to compete on equal terms in the second half, though they were not able to put any more points on the board and South Africa added three more through the boot of Du Toit.
It was never going to be a fruitful match for Argentina with their several absentees. Those missing, mainly because of a refusal of their clubs to let them go, included Patrico Albacete, Rimas Alvarez, Omar Hasan, Mario Ledesma, Rodrigo Roncero, Hernan Senillosa, Federico Aramburu, Felipe Contepomi, Lisandro Arbizu and Gonzalo Longo.
Argentina coach Marcelo Loffreda said afterwards: ”I knew the difficulties we would have before the game and we had to rethink our defence. A big difference between the sides was the physical aspect and South Africa certainly have a lot of potential.” — Sapa-AFP