Argentina Coach Michael Cheika says the first portion of their 36-20 defeat against South Africa was “one of the worst I remember” but pledged to stay faith in the team in their final game with the Springboks in Durban on Saturday.
The visitors were dominant in the first forty minutes of Buenos Aires and might have won by a larger margin than 22-6 at the half-time break as their constant pressure made Argentina to concede a number of penalties, some within their 22.
The home team came back to contention by playing a far better game during the second half. They restored the score to 22-20, before two final tries by the Boks ensured their bonus point win.
In the meantime, New Zealand claimed the Bledisloe Cup for the 20th consecutive year following Jordie Barrett’s score after a tense refereeing decision handed an All Blacks victory over Australia on Thursday.
In a controversial final on the Docklands Stadium, French official Mathieu Raynal removed the ball from Australia scrumhalf Nic White to stop time-wasting because the referee was poised to kick the ball away from the defence, with Australia enjoying three points lead.Gifted possession players from the All Blacks spread the ball out wide to Barrett who scored in the left corner while the 53,245 fans at Docklands stadium screamed.
Round 1
South Africa 26 New Zealand 10 (Mbombela Stadium, Mbombela)
Argentina 26 Australia 41 (Estadio Malvinas Argentinas, Mendoza)
Round 2
South Africa 23 New Zealand 35 (Emirates Airlines Park, Johannesburg)
Argentina 48 Australia 17 (Estadio Bicentenario, San Juan)
Round 3
Australia 25 South Africa 17 (Adelaide Oval, Adelaide)
New Zealand 18 Argentina 25 (Orangetheory Stadium, Christchurch)
Round 4
New Zealand 53 Argentina 3 (FMG Stadium Waikato, Hamilton)
Australia 8 South Africa 24 (Allianz Stadium, Sydney)
Round 5
Australia 37 New Zealand 39 (Marvel Stadium, Melbourne)
Argentina 20 South Africa 36 (Estadio Jose Amalfitani, Buenos Aires)
Round 6
New Zealand vs Australia LIVE (Eden Park, Auckland)
South Africa vs Argentina (Hollywoodbets Kings Park, Durban) 4.05pm on Saturday, September 24 , at Sky Sports
What time is the last round?
The final game will be played on September 24. New Zealand host Australia in Auckland and Argentina will travel to Durban to take on South Africa.
The latest news
Rugby Australia has written to the world’s governing body for the sport to express its concerns regarding the conduct of referees after that the Rugby Championship test against New Zealand in Melbourne was marred by a controversial time-wasting ruling.
French official Mathieu Raynal slapped Bernard Foley for holding up the match at Docklands on Thursday, as the fly-half was preparing to strike the ball for reach his team’s 22, with just a minute remaining in the game.
The All Blacks were in New Zealand awarded a five-metre scrum between the goal posts Jordie Barrett scored an attempt after the siren went off to secure a victory of 39-37 to New Zealand’s All Blacks.
Raynal’s decision, almost unnoticed in professional rugby, was widely criticized in the eyes of Australia Coach Dave Rennie as well as experts from around the world.
An Rugby Australia spokesperson on Monday confirmed that it had asked World Rugby to consider concerns about officiating seriously.
“It’s not unusual, we’ve been lobbying World Rugby for some time on this,” the spokesperson added.