Ken Borland

South Africa coach Heyneke Meyer on Monday blamed the lack of experience in the Springbok side for their shock 16-16 Rugby Championship draw with Argentina in Mendoza at the weekend.

South Africa trailed Argentina, playing in the southern hemisphere tournament which was previously known as the Tri-Nations for the first time this year, for three-quarters of the test before a charge-down try by centre Francois Steyn allowed them to draw level.

“It was not good enough, it was unacceptable and I was very disappointed. But I always knew it would be very tough in the first year because of the inexperience of the side, a lot of them were playing their first test away from home.

“If we’re realistic, then there were only a couple of members of the pack who played in the World Cup. People underestimate Argentina, but their whole starting line-up plays in Europe and they are very experienced,” Meyer told reporters at Johannesburg International Airport on his arrival back from Argentina on Monday.

Meyer is missing a quartet of players who would have been in the starting line-up in veteran flank Schalk Burger, explosive hooker Bismarck du Plessis, loose forward Pierre Spies and experienced wing JP Pietersen, while stalwarts such as John Smit, Victor Matfield and Jaque Fourie have retired and Fourie du Preez, Bakkies Botha, Danie Rossouw and Gurtho Steenkamp are not playing rugby in South Africa.

The Springbok coach will announce his squad for their Australasian leg of the Rugby Championship on Tuesday, but Meyer said there would not be a raft of changes.

“It’s easy to say throw people out and pick new ones, but that’s not coaching, that’s picking. I’ve been in this position a few times as a coach and the easiest thing is just to cut players, but that won’t move you forward. We’ve already lost a lot of leadership and then you’d be throwing out what little experience you’ve got.”

Meyer admitted that taking on Australia in Perth and New Zealand in Dunedin in their next two Rugby Championship fixtures would be a more daunting prospect requiring a much improved performance from the Springboks.

“The next two games will be even tougher and we have to improve. I know we can do it, but the only way the side will improve is by coaching them, improving their technique and mental strength,” Meyer said.

South Africa suffered from a distinct lack of continuity against the Pumas, who dominated the breakdowns, but Meyer said the make-up of the loose-trio – three big, physical players in Willem Alberts, Jacques Potgieter and Marcell Coetzee – was not the problem. The Springboks have a top-class fetcher flank in Heinrich Brussow, but he has not been selected by Meyer and is currently out injured.

“Argentina are also very physical and it’s not just about the loose trio. It’s the whole pack and also the backs who have to contest the ball, and the Pumas flooded the breakdown. It’s more about numbers and technique,” Meyer said.

The Springbok coach suggested some of Argentina’s ball-stealing was illegal.

“I coached a few of their players while I was at Leicester, so I knew how tough it would be. Argentina have finished third in the World Cup and New Zealand could only score two tries against them in Auckland last year. They’re especially hard to play against if they slow down your ball and they don’t play like teams in SuperRugby.

“It was a different interpretation and Argentina competed a lot, threw numbers at the breakdown and got their hands on the ball to slow it down. Our guys were used to SuperRugby for 16 weeks and now players were flying into the rucks from all areas. But we should have done better with our clearing.”

Meyer admitted that it had been a case of the Springboks’ discipline also letting them down.

“Argentina had a lot of PR and emotion behind them, but I was very disappointed with our discipline because we knew they would come hard at us and get the crowd behind them early on. Because of our discipline, we’d concede a penalty and they would start mauling, which makes life very difficult. Away from home, your discipline needs to be impeccable, but we got very frustrated, which is part of the inexperience. It was a very hostile environment and there was off-the-ball stuff, especially at the breakdown. But there’s no excuse, this team needs to grow up,” Meyer said.

South Africa saw off Argentina 27-6 at Newlands on Saturday, but the Springboks praised the Pumas for making a solid debut in the Rugby Championship.

“Argentina belong in this company and they will be tough to beat. Today was a stepping stone for them,” Springbok captain Jean de Villiers told a news conference after his team had outscored the Pumas by three tries to nil, but had only scored seven points in the second half.

South Africa coach Heyneke Meyer said the other teams in the southern hemisphere tournament – New Zealand and Australia – should not underestimate newcomers Argentina.

“Full credit to them. They were right on the advantage line. People underestimate Argentina and they play great rugby, they are going to do well in the tournament. Those 15 opponents in blue made it impossible for us to get four tries and the bonus point,” Meyer said.

The Argentina captain and coach were mindful of the fact that they are going to need to improve if they are to beat one of the southern hemisphere giants in the Rugby Championship, and they were both disappointed by the Pumas’ error count at Newlands.

“For us, it is difficult to come to play the Springboks, but our mistakes gave them scoring opportunities. We made too many penalties in the fir^st half and some balls were lost which South Africa turned to points. And it was difficult to leave our own part of the field.

“We didn’t do so well, but being our first game, we are happy with the performance. We need to improve a lot of things, but the players gave 100% and that is what we had wanted,” coach Santiago Phelan said.

“It was a good first step, we honestly realised how intense this type of rugby is. We can look at ourselves proudly as we gave everything, it was very intense.

“Today was a good step and we are proud to be in this tournament. Five more games and if we use them and keep on giving everything, if we improve, then we will be happy,” captain Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe said.

The Pumas were particularly good at the rucks on Saturday and the Springboks struggled to gain continuity from their front-foot ball thanks to the determination of the visitors.

“Our kicking game was better than against England and we got in the right areas of the field, but at the breakdown we didn’t get the recycling we wanted,” Meyer said. “We missed Bismarck du Plessis – he is the leader of the pack. We need to be more physical in the breakdown.”

The physical and combative Du Plessis, the form hooker in SuperRugby, left the field after just four minutes with a knee injury.

Both Meyer and De Villiers praised the character of flyhalf Morne Steyn, whose response to the harsh criticism he received after the England series was a faultless performance with the boot and a key hand in two of the Springboks’ three tries.

South Africa used their trademark forward charges to douse a determined Argentina debut and win their Rugby Championship match 27-6 (half-time 20-6) at Newlands on Saturday.

The Springbok pack did not yield in defence against the massive Argentina forwards and their strong ball-carriers won enough momentum for them to dominate both territory and possession.

Flyhalf Morne Steyn enjoyed a marvellous return to form as he steered South Africa to victory, his influence ranging from faultless goal-kicking that brought him three conversions and two penalties, to precise field-kicking that set up wing Bryan Habana’s try and slick handling that led to fullback Zane Kirchner’s opening try.

The Springboks also had a first-half try from flank Marcell Coetzee and, given their convincing lead at half-time, they will be disappointed that they did not claim a bonus point from the match for scoring four tries.

Argentina’s points came from two penalties by flyhalf Juan Martin Hernandez, but they could not capitalise on plenty of possession from turnovers, and struggled to escape from their own territory when under pressure in their first match in the tournament that includes the top three countries in the IRB rankings in New Zealand, Australia and South Africa.

Two incisive attacks down the left and right flanks by wings Habana and Lwazi Mvovo set up an early penalty for the Springboks by Steyn, but the home side were rocked at the same time by the loss of their star hooker, Bismarck du Plessis, with a knee injury. But his replacement, 26-year-old Adriaan Strauss, held his own on his 13th appearance at test level.

Argentina then held on to the ball well, but they could not make headway against the steely Springbok defence at close quarters, forcing Hernandez to launch a pinpoint up-and-under. Kirchner initially claimed the ball, but centre Santiago Fernandez ripped it off the fullback, who then played the ball while lying on the ground, gifting Hernandez a penalty to level the scores at 3-3 after 14 minutes.

But the Pumas failed to control the kickoff, giving South Africa a scrum in their 22. The Springboks were awarded a free kick after an early engagement by Argentina and Steyn drifted away from his marker before passing to Kirchner, who was cutting inside and stepped past two tacklers to score.

Steyn’s sweetly-struck conversion made it 10-3 to the hosts and Argentina, who fell foul of referee Steve Walsh’s whistle in the first half due to their ill-discipline, then gifted another three points to the prolific flyhalf after Sharks wing Mvovo was tackled in the air while taking a high ball, leading to a lineout in Pumas territory, at which they were trapped offsides.

Argentina continued to concede penalties and South Africa used rolling mauls to good effect before one of them brought a try as Coetzee broke blind and charged over the line.

Steyn’s convincing form with the boot continued as he kicked the touchline conversion to give the Springboks control with a 20-3 lead.

Hernandez kicked a penalty before the break and closed the gap to 20-6 after Strauss rushed up too enthusiastically and was caught offsides.

But any hopes Argentina had of getting back in the game were dashed when Hernandez (2) and centre Marcelo Bosch missed three penalties between them in the opening six minutes of the second half.

The scare served to reinvigorate the Springboks as they piled on the pressure, pinning the Pumas in their own half.

A knock-on by wing Gonzalo Camacho gave South Africa a scrum in the Argentina 22, which the visitors collapsed. The Springboks set the lineout and a rolling maul, before Steyn launched a crossfield kick to Habana on the right wing, who leapt high to claim the ball and plunge over the tryline.

Steyn again converted from the touchline, but their hopes of claiming a fourth try and the bonus point in the last 23 minutes were dashed by Argentina’s ability to steal turnovers and some unforced errors on their own behalf.

The debutants had left no one in the 39 000-strong crowd in any doubt about their passion, but their lack of attacking weapons meant they never really threatened the Springboks.

Scorers

South Africa – Tries: Zane Kirchner, Marcell Coetzee, Bryan Habana. Conversions: Morne Steyn (3). Penalties: M. Steyn (2).

Argentina – Penalties: Juan Martin Hernandez (2).

South Africa have been hit by two major injury blows, with talismanic flank Schalk Burger playing no part in the Rugby Championship and in-form backline star JP Pietersen missing the first six weeks of the competition.

Burger, capped 68 times, injured his knee in his first SuperRugby game of the season at the end of February but there has been no progress in his rehabilitation, according to Stormers coach Allister Coetzee.

“The position with Schalk is very frustrating and we are going to get a full assessment shortly from a physician on where it should be taken from here, but you can take it as read that we won’t see Schalk play before the end of this season. Without even looking at the physician’s report, we are writing him off for the year,” Coetzee was quoted as saying by the supersport.com website.

The livewire Pietersen was one of the Sharks’ standout players during their march to the SuperRugby final and was the Springboks’ chief attacking threat during the June internationals against England.

But the 26-year-old veteran of 45 tests suffered a fracture of the thumb during the weekend’s SuperRugby final against the Chiefs and will undergo surgery on Wednesday.

Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer has recalled Stormers centre Juan de Jongh, a 2011 World Cup player and a controversial omission from the original squad, in Pietersen’s place.

The 24-year-old De Jongh made his Springbok debut against Wales in 2010 and has 10 test caps.

“We decided to pick Juan as he provides midfield cover, an area where we are perhaps a bit thin now that JP is out,” Meyer said in a statement released on Monday.

“JP was going to provide cover for us at outside centre, while JJ Engelbrecht and Francois Hougaard can also be used on the wing, especially as Bjorn Basson [ruptured intestines] is out for another six weeks.

“Losing JP is obviously a massive blow as he’s been playing some superb rugby lately, but Juan has also been in good form for the Stormers and was one of the unlucky players to miss out on initial selection. It’s great to have Juan involved as he brings new energy with him. This call-up just shows again that no player is ever completely out of the equation.”

Powerhouse Sharks flank Willem Alberts has also gone for a scan on bruised ribs after the SuperRugby final, but the return to training of Stormers eighthman Duane Vermeulen with the Western Province Currie Cup team on Monday does somewhat soothe Meyer’s loose forward concerns.

The Springboks are having a training camp in Cape Town, before playing Argentina in their Rugby Championship opener in the same city on August 18.

South Africa then play the Pumas in Argentina, in Mendoza, on August 25 before taking on Australia in Perth on September 8 and New Zealand in Dunedin on September 15.

The Springboks end their campaign at home, with matches against Australia in Pretoria on September 29 and the All Blacks in Soweto on October 6.

South Africa finished last in the abbreviated 2011 Tri-Nations, with just one win in four matches.