Erasmus’ side hammered the Pumas in Durban last weekend to close in on the title, with fly-half Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu scoring a Springbok record 37 points.
Most of what the Springboks and Feinberg-Mngomezulu tried last weekend, worked – but that was not the case during the opening period in London.
An early yellow card for a head-on-head tackle by centre Canan Moodie on Juan Cruz Mallia was punished by Argentina, with slick attacking play sharply finished by Delguy.
Contepomi’s side managed to exploit the world champions’ rush defence through fast hands and added two penalties either side of Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s kick in front of the posts.
Despite struggling to get into their flow, South Africa’s dominant scrum was eventually rewarded when Reinach darted over for a vital score right before half-time.
Early in the second half, Argentina prop Mayco Vivas was sent to the sin-bin for a high tackle on Eben Etzebeth and Marx powerfully finished from the resulting rampaging maul.
Full-back Damian Willemse and Feinberg-Mngomezulu did get opportunities to show off their dazzling footwork, but the windy conditions brought by Storm Amy suited South Africa’s power game through their forwards.
Reinach’s second try came after a strong carry from replacement lock RG Snyman, who skilfully handed the ball over with one arm, Marx then burrowed over as Contepomi’s side struggled to stop the Springboks close to the tryline.
Until last year’s triumph, South Africa had only won the competition – formerly the Tri Nations Series – four times in their history.
As he has throughout his tenure, Erasmus rotated his squad and developed young talent – such as wing Ethan Hooker, Moodie and Feinberg-Mngomezulu – during this championship.
“If we played the same team for the whole year the consistency might have been better,” Erasmus said.
“A bit of that is taking a risk as when we went down in Aukland, we were third in the table and had to go unbeaten.”
Now the back-to-back world champions are assembling an intimidating squad for 2027 that is only used to winning tournaments.
