The mantelpiece at SA Rugby headquarters has made room for another trophy: the Championship Cup, which joins the Webb Ellis Cup, the Nelson Mandela Plate (for victories over Australia), and the Freedom Trophy (for beating New Zealand).
Mbombela Stadium is a happy hunting ground for the Boks – they have never lost there since the stadium was constructed for the Fifa World Cup in 2010 – and something unique about the atmosphere fizzes about the Lowveld arena.
It feeds intravenously into the veins of the Springboks and last night they picked up from where they left in 2022 when they smashed the All Blacks before an adoring crowd.
The Argentinians never had a hope given the incandescent spirit of the 45 000 fans and the Bok team’s screaming fervour to do justice to the great warrior in their midst, Eben Etzebeth, who has etched himself into Springbok immortality by becoming the most capped player to wear the green and gold in his 128th Test.
During the anthems, the cameras homed in on Etzebeth, and – the cameras do not lie – tears crept out of his eyes as the enormity of what he has achieved sunk in. All South African men now have the license to cry…
Bursting with emotion, the Boks erupted out of the blocks. For eight minutes the Pumas were desperados hanging on for dear life as green wave after wave engulfed them.
The Bok scrum was a monster and the tired Pumas collapsed and space was created for fullback Aphelele Fassi to scream through a gap in the 22 for a try.
There was a gasp from the crowd when scrumhalf Jaden Hendrikse stepped up to kick over the conversion. Assistant coach Mzwandile Stick had said there was a plan to take the pressure off unreliable goal-kicker Manie Libbok, and it was to entrust the duties to Hendrikse.
The plan was partly successful because Hendrikse kicked with a 50 percent success rate. When World Cup hero Hanre Pollard replaced Libbok with 15 minutes to go, he nailed three out of three.
The second Bok try saw Pieter-Steph du Toit take a play out of the American football playbook when he dived, swallow-like, over a teeming ruck and acrobatically grounded the ball with one hand. It was a remarkable feat for a big man and the grounding could only be achieved by a man who has hubcaps for hands.
It was 14-0 after as many minutes, but when Pumas flyhalf Tomas Albornoz danced through the defence for a try, it was déjà vu from the week before when the Pumas hit back from an early 17-0 deficit.
Hendrikse kicked a penalty on 20 minutes and it was the same score as the previous week after the same time interval: 17-7.
But that is where the similarities ended.
The relentless Bok pressure told on many fronts.
Star centre Santiago Chocobares limped off injured and then dangerous wing Mateo Carreras was yellow-carded for a clumsy collision with Fassi in the air.
Meanwhile, the Bok mindset was hugely positive. The ball went wide and into space repeatedly, mostly to the right hand side of the field where Cheslin Kolbe was skilfully employed.
Kolbe was sublime in creating the Boks’ third try. He wriggled through tackles and when caught, miraculously sprung to his feet and threw the ball inside, where the predatory Fassi dived over for his second try.
It was Kolbe’s turn a few minutes later when he took a long pass from Fassi on the touchline and magically emerged from a swarm of tacklers to score.
The dominance of the Springbok forwards and the resulting front-foot ball meant Libbok was freed to conduct his backline orchestra with poise and finesse.
Pumas coach Felipe Contepomi had attempted to counter the ‘Bomb Squad’ by selecting some of his best players on the bench, but it misfired when Pablo Matera came on and was sin-binned for a head-to-head clear-out of Vincent Koch.
As author Chinua Chanebe would say, it was “Things Fall Apart” for the Pumas when fullback Santiago Carreras was yellow-carded for slapping down a pass.
Pollard kicked to the corner and Malcolm Marx powered over for his 21st try in Test rugby.
Points scorers
South Africa 48 — Tries: Aphelele Fassi (2), Pieter-Steph du Toit (2), Cheslin Kolbe, Jesse Kriel. Conversions: Jaden Hendrikse (2), Handre Pollard (3). Penalty: Hendrikse
Argentina 7 — Try: Tomas Albornoz. Conversion: Albornoz