DURBAN, South Africa - Argentina captain Julian Montoya says his side have to learn from their errors if they are to move forward as a team and bemoaned their poor discipline in their 38-21 Rugby Championship loss to South Africa in Durban on Saturday.
Victories in New Zealand and at home to Australia have made this arguably the best ever southern hemisphere championship for Montoya’s side but it may also be a case of what might have been had they held their discipline at key moments in the campaign.
They rattled the Springboks in the second half and the scoreline perhaps flattered the hosts but 22 penalties conceded, four yellow cards and two penalty tries tell the story of Argentina wilting under pressure.
"We could see that when we did the things we wanted to, we were in the match and anyone could win," Montoya told ESPN Scrum. "We have to learn, I have to learn. We can no longer talk about the same thing (discipline).
"We can’t give away easy penalties and due to the accumulation of penalties we end up with yellow cards. We have to not just say we must improve but do it.
"You look at yourself first, then continue building and continue the process. There have been many good things and a lot of other things to correct."
The hooker felt it was a missed opportunity in Durban with his side within three points of the Boks into the final quarter of the game.
"We respect who they are but have to trust ourselves more and know that we can beat them. In fact, there was a time that we dominated a lot.
"We have to continue like that - every minute counts, every action counts, every decision we make on the pitch counts. But I am very proud of the team for how they responded to various situations."
(Reporting by Nick Said; Editing by Ken Ferris)