LONDON: South Africa&#39;s pack turned on the power in the second half to beat Argentina 29-27 at Twickenham on Saturday and win the Rugby Championship for the sixth time, ahead of New Zealand on points difference.&nbsp;The All Blacks&rsquo; 28-14 bonus-point win over Australia in Perth earlier meant that South African needed a bonus-point victory to win the title with clear water, though their overwhelming points advantage meant that any win would be enough.&nbsp;After an error-strewn start, however, they trailed 13-3 and 13-10 at halftime before two tries by Malcolm Marx and a second for Cobus Reinach enabled them to surge 29-13 ahead.&nbsp;Late scores for the Pumas made the scoreboard close but it was South Africa&#39;s day as they won back to back titles for the first time.&nbsp; They and New Zealand finished on 19 points, but South Africa&#39;s points difference was plus-57 to the All Blacks&#39; plus-eight.&nbsp; Australia ended on 11 points and Argentina 10.&nbsp;&quot;It&#39;s unreal, we spoke about it (lifting the trophy) the whole week. We had not won it back-to-back before. We still have a lot of improvements to make, but we are getting there,&quot; man-of-the-match Reinach said.&nbsp;&quot;We knew we would not just run out here and roll over them. It takes teams 60 or 70 minutes (to break the opposition down) and Argentina are unreal. They have a lot of dog in them, they keep fighting all game.&quot;&nbsp;Argentina takes early leadThe match at Twickenham was officially a home game for Argentina, and what they lost in support they will gain in finance via their share of the 70,300 crowd gate receipts.&nbsp;They took an early 7-0 lead via a brilliant finish by winger Bautista Delguy and though South Africa had much possession and a dominant scrum, they made a series of handling errors.&nbsp;That kept them 13-3 down late in the first half after two penalties by Santiago Carreras, switched from fly-half to fullback after last week&#39;s pummelling in Durban.&nbsp;The Springboks&rsquo; dominant scrum, however, eventually paid dividends, earning a series of penalties on the Argentina line before scrumhalf Reinach found a gap to reduce the deficit to 13-10 at the break.&nbsp;Argentina prop Mayco Visas was yellow-carded for a high hit after 43 minutes and the South African pack took immediate advantage to bundle Marx over.&nbsp;A relentless series of attacks again made space for Reinach to slip through for his second and another forward drive ended with Marx claiming a second as South Africa seemed to have taken total control at 29-13.&nbsp;Delguy snatched an interception try after 65 minutes but when Carreras struck the post with a penalty three minutes from time, the destination of the trophy was assured.&nbsp;Argentina replacement Rodrigo Isgro had the last word when he caught a lovely wide kick by Carreras to score in the corner but the vast majority of the crowd in green were celebrating as Carreras&rsquo;s conversion sailed between the posts.

Rugby

South Africa beat Argentina 29-27 at Twickenham to win the Rugby Championship for the sixth time.

Articles tagged with "Rugby Championship"

South Africa beat Argentina to retain Rugby Championship title