Best Boks v Argentina: Marx, Reinach On The Double

The All Blacks’ 28-14 win over the Wallabies in Perth earlier in the day meant a win of any kind in the tournament finale would see Siya Kolisi and company become the first South Africa team to retain the crown, which they did, despite not starting or finishing well.

A second-minute yellow card to Canan Moodie for a high tackle but the Boks on the back foot from the get go, and they remained sluggish in the first half. Inaccurate, too many kicks were too deep and passes didn’t stick at crucial tries for the South Africans.

Approaching halftime, the men in Green and Gold went to their get-out-of-jail-free card – their dominant scrum – which they used to break down the Pumas until Cobus Reinach picked up at the back and scored to make it 13-10 for the Argentinians at the interval.

The roles were reversed at the start of the second half, with Mayco Vivas yellow-carded for a high tackle, leading to Malcolm Marx scoring in the left-hand corner to put the Boks in the lead for the first time in the 44th minute.

It was one-way traffic from there, with Reinach and Marx both going over for a second time, until the Pumas received some hope when Bautista Delguy intercepted to score his second try and cut the Boks’ lead to 29-20.

Refusing to go away, Argentina scored again through Rodrigo Isgro in the final play of the game, but the Boks had done enough to hold on and make history.

Our top three Springbok standouts were:

Malcolm Marx

Marx was absolutely magnificent, especially considering he’s carried a heavier workload than most, if not all, of his teammates so far this season.

Ever-reliable, the veteran hooker delivered in all departments. His work in the scrums, lineouts, and mauls was world-class, he dotted down twice, and on top of that, he was like a fourth loose forward in general play, winning two breakdown penalties.

With Bongi Mbonambi battling with form and Marnus van der Merwe still a greenhorn at Test level, Rassie Erasmus asked a lot of Marx in this Rugby Championship campaign, and the 31-year-old pushed through and finished strong.

With his brace, he moved past JP Pietersen and Percy Montgomery and is now tied with Breyton Paulse with 26 Test tries, the sixth-most by a Bok. He’s also the only forward among the top 15 all-time Bok try-scorers.

Cobus Reinach

Reinach produced exactly the type of game Erasmus would’ve expected from his senior scrumhalf. He was poised and made the right decisions.

In addition to that, he was sharp on attack, taking his two tries well, and the most accurate of the Boks’ tactical kickers on the day.

Ox Nche

Pieter-Steph du Toit had another strong game, and the likes of Ruan Nortje and Damian de Allende were workhorses.

However, the scrum played a huge part in the Boks’ title-clinching triumph, and Nche was the destroyer-in-chief.

He smashed poor Coria Marchetti time and time again, folding the helpless Pumas tighthead up like an accordion throughout their time on the field, but the heel against the head in the eighth minute was a next-level display of power and dominance.

Marcos Kremer also won’t forget Nche anytime soon, as he ate a huge tackle from the popular and mobile Bok loosehead.