Jean: Bench saved our hides

Springbok captain Jean de Villiers praised the impact made by the South African replacements in Salta at the weekend.

South Africa recorded a hard-fought, if not very fortuitous, 33-31 Rugby Championship victory over a gallant Argentina at the 20,000-seater Estadio Padre Ernesto Martearena.

To add further insult to what was a very bad day at the office, prop Frans Malherbe sustained a serious injury to his right ankle.

He was forced the leave the field late in the match and will not be available for the rest of the competition.

Malherbe will consult with a specialist in Cape Town upon his return to South Africa, when a call on further treatment and his replacement will be make.

After two rounds of the Rugby Championship, the Boks top the standing with two wins from as many matches.

They are on eight points with New Zealand one behind after their 51-20 victory over Australia in Auckland at the weekend.

It required flyhalf Morne Steyn to kick a penalty three minutes from time and the Boks to hang on desperately in the closing stages to ensure SA maintain the record of having never lost to the Pumas.

Trailing by 12 points going towards the final quarter, the Boks - given a torrid time in the forward exchanges for much of the match - finally exploded into action and clawed their way back to snatch what seemed an unlikely victory.

Bok coach Heyneke Meyer and captain Jean de Villiers both praised the home team for their performance after the match.

"I've said it before, but I really think Argentina is a much better team than what their world-ranking [12th] shows, and they showed it again in this match," De Villiers said in his post-match reaction.

"We're happy that we could pull it through, but it could've gone either way."

De Villiers said the energy brought by the replacements was probably where his team won the match.

"That is not saying that the players who started did badly, but our bench, whom we see as impact players rather than replacements, certainly made an impact and that is probably where the difference was."

Meyer said his team had shown great character to pull this one through.

"All credit to Argentina though - they've been together for a month and you could see that as they played some great rugby," said Meyer.

"We don't want to say every week that we've shown great character, but we've now won nine out of our last 10 away games and I think the guys have shown that they know how to win.

"At one stage, we were down and out and the team came back.

"We know there are a lot of areas we have to work on, but we're still in this competition."

De Villiers cut a relieved figure after the close call.

"We stuck to our guns and won," he sighed.

"Argentina are getting better and better - and played unbelievably well.

"They created many challenges for us. And I am just happy that we beat them a second time within eight days."

The skipper admitted they will need to work on their set pieces.

"There were problems at scrum time, but when it really counted, the pack did well.

"This team is a work in progress. And there are lots of errors to be corrected.

"Youngsters like Damian de Allende and Handré Pollard are on a steep learning curve and they will get better and better.

"At this stage, we'll just take the win," he added.

The Springboks will return to South Africa on Monday, before regrouping on Thursday to start preparations for the Australasian leg of the Rugby Championship.

They play Australia in Perth (September 6) and New Zealand in Wellington (September 13).