Los Pumas celebrate the win against the Springboks

A hat-trick from Juan Imhoff helped the Argentinian Pumas record their 1st ever win over the Springboks in a 37 / 25 Rugby Championship victory in Durban on Saturday.

It’s taken 20 attempts but the Pumas finally got a positive result against the Springboks after 2 close calls last year. Using their domination at scrum time as a platform, Argentina created the biggest upset in the history of The Rugby Championship on the day that they commemorated 50 years since their 1st tour of South Africa.

The result means the Springboks have now lost 4 consecutive Tests to different countries for the 1st time since 1965.

While the Pumas produced their best game of the year, tackling their hearts out, their disjointed hosts were a pale shadow of the side that troubled the All Blacks 2 weeks prior as they made countless unforced errors and offered very little on attack.

Los Pumas led 27 / 13 at halftime thanks to 3 excellent tries, including 2 for Juan Imhoff, who also helped set up the opening try for Marcelo Bosch.

The Springboks hit back via a try from lock Lood de Jager, but the visitors were well worth their lead against an error-prone Springbok outfit.

Imhoff bagged his hat-trick in controversial circumstances soon after the break and although the Springboks hit back via tries from Willie le Roux and Bryan Habana, they fell well short of saving the result.

Celebrations as the Pumas win a historic victory against the Springboks in Durban

It took los Pumas just 2 minutes to score the opening try and silence the Durban crowd. Imhoff sliced through the Springbok defence from a set-piece move before offloading to Bosch, who cruised home. Juan Martin Hernandez added the easy extras to cap off a perfect start for the visitors.

The scrum tussle between Springbok tighthead prop Vincent Koch and veteran Pumas loosehead Marcos Ayerza had been highlighted as a key battle and it was the Springbok rookie who won the 1st Round, earning a penalty for Handré Pollard to send over.

Ayerza made more than a strong comeback however, winning the next 2 penalties, but Hernandez was off target with both, to leave the scores at 7 / 3 at the end of the 1st quarter.

The Pumas went over for another excellent try to stretch their lead after Willie le Roux handed possession away cheaply with a terrible kick, which led to Tomas Cubelli putting Juan Imhoff away a few phases later. Hernandez added the conversion and at 14 / 3, the Springboks looked rattled.

Strong runs from Handré Pollard and Bismarck du Plessis forced an offside penalty, which the flyhalf slotted, but the Pumas would soon be over for their 3rd try.

A massive scrum laid the platform for Leonardo Senatore to break off, with Tomas Cubelli providing the link for Juan Imhoff to cross on the overlap for his 2nd try. Hernandez’s conversion stretched the lead to 15 points.

The Springboks hit back with a classic drive off the back of a lineout, which saw Lood de Jager stretch out an arm for the hosts’ 1st try.

Handré Pollard landed the conversion but Hernandez was able to reply immediately when Beast Mtawarira was pinged for obstruction.

At this stage Vincent Koch was really suffering at scrum time and another penalty against him allowed Marcelo Bosch to smash over 3 more points from 50m out, to give Los Pumas a 14-point lead at halftime. Marcel van der Merwe replaced Vincent Koch when the 2nd half started, but the flow of penalties was only partially slowed.

The Pumas’ 4th try came in controversial circumstances. With a gaggle of medics on the field – 4 of them – and Jean de Villiers in the middle of a team talk, referee Romain Poite called time back on, Hernandez took a quick tap and Juan Imhoff pounced in the corner, much to the hosts’ bemusement.

Another conversion from Hernandez left South Africa with a 21-point mountain to climb.

Willie le Roux started the move that would lead to his try by plucking a bomb out of the air, before Jean de Villiers and Jesse Kriel combined to put their fullback away for a long sprint home.

Handré Pollard added the conversion but a neat drop goal from Marcelo Bosch kept the Springboks beyond 2 converted tries.

Cobus Reinach was denied a try by the Referee and TMO, but Bryan Habana was able to grab a consolation try as the Springboks used the extra space created by Pablo Matera’s Yellow Card for a high tackle on Schalk Burger.

Man of the match:

There can be only 1 candidate. A hat-trick for Juan Imhoff, seals the gong.

Moment of the match:

The Springboks would have believed they were in with a chance of making a comeback, but Juan Imhoff’s controversial try took the wind of their sails.

Villain of the match:

No punches thrown.

Scorers:

Springboks:

• Tries: Lood de Jager (1), Willie le Roux (1), Bryan Habana (1)
• Conversions: Handré Pollard (2)
• Penalties: Handré Pollard (2)

Los Pumas:

• Tries: Marcelo Bosch (1), Juan Imhoff (3)
• Conversions: Juan Martin Hernandez (4)
• Penalties: Juan Martin Hernandez (1), Marcelo Bosch (1)
• Drop Goals: Marcelo Bosch (1)

Yellow Card:

Pablo Matera

Teams:

Springboks: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Jesse Kriel, 13 Jean de Villiers (Captain), 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Schalk Burger, 7 Marcell Coetzee, 6 Heinrich Brüssow, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira
Replacements: 16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Marcel van der Merwe, 19 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 20 Siya Kolisi, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Pat Lambie, 23 Lwazi Mvovo.

Los Pumas: 15 Joaquin Tuculet, 14 Horacio Agulla, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Jeronimo de la Fuente, 11 Juan Imhoff, 10 Juan Martin Hernandez, 9 Tomas Cubelli, 8 Leonardo Senatore, 7 Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Tomas Lavanini, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 2 Agustin Creevy (Captain), 1 Marcos Ayerza
Replacements: 16 Julian Montoya, 17 Lucas Noguera, 18 Matias Diaz, 19 Matias Alemanno, 20 Tomas Lezana, 21 Martin Landajo, 22 Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias, 23 Lucas Amorosino.

Venue: Growthpoint Kings Park, Durban
Referee: Romain Poite
Assistant Referees: JP Doyle, Marcus Mitrea
TMO: Ben Skeen