DURBAN, South Africa - South Africa won the battle but lost the war following their 38-21 victory over ill-disciplined Argentina at a sold out King’s Park in Durban on Saturday, a result that handed the 2022 Rugby Championship title to New Zealand.
The All Blacks top the standings with 19 points from their six games, one more than South Africa, who could not manage the try-scoring bonus point they needed to go with a 39-point winning margin on the scoreboard to claim the trophy.
Instead, Argentina ran them close in Durban but were once again let down by their discipline as they received four yellow cards and conceded two penalty tries. The Boks also scored through number eight Jasper Wiese, loose-forward Siya Kolisi and replacement fullback Kurt-Lee Arendse.
The visitors looked dangerous every time they had ball in hand and scored three tries through scrumhalf Gonzalo Bertranou, back row Juan Martín Gonzalez and centre Matias Moroni, but spent much of the time on defence as they conceded 22 penalties in the game.
(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Christian Radnedge)