Argentina’s men’s rugby union national team, the Pumas, fell 17-10 against South Africa’s Springboks on Saturday. It was a heartbreaking ending for the local team, who missed out on a last-minute chance to tie the game.
Coached by Felipe Contepomi, the Pumas hosted South Africa at a packed José Amalfitani Stadium, with plenty of star figures, lots of children in the stands, and several former players for fans to meet in the Pumas’ Hospitality area.
Argentina came out of the gates swinging. Just two minutes in, Santiago Carreras gave the Pumas a 3-0 advantage with a long-range penalty kick. South Africa tied it three minutes later with a penalty kick of their own, scored by Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.
The Pumas then scored the first try of the game just 9 minutes in, working off the offense until Benjamín Grondona was able to spot a gap to split South Africa’s defense. Carreras stepped in for the conversion kick to put the score 10-3.
It proved a hard-fought, frictional game, with South Africa looking to ruffle Argentina’s feathers but failing to find a gap to exploit despite coming in very close.
