South African coach Paul Treu admitted it is back to the drawing board for his team after a bitterly disappointing opening day at Hong Kong.

The Springbok will have to defeat Australia and Wales on Saturday if they want to advance to the knockout stages of Round Six of the World Series - following their 0-21 whitewash at the hands of Argentina.

Both sided made several errors during a tough tussle in the first half, although the South Americans succeeded in their efforts to frustrate the BlitzBokke in their own half.

South Africa dominated possession and led the passing statistics 22-5 at half-time, but Argentina kept them scoreless with some stubborn defence.

Argentina switched to a clever kicking tactic after half-time, which saw them gaining huge amounts of territory from where they launched several attacks.

Substitute Nicolas Bruzzone made an immediate impact after coming on to eventually broke the deadlock with a burst through the SA defensive line.

South Africa tried everything to break the tackling stronghold of the Pumas, but their efforts were undone by several unforced errors in the slippery and heavy underfoot conditions.

A clever grubber and quick follow up from Bruzzone led to Argentina's second converted try, and with just over two minutes to go the odds were heavily stacked against a BlitzBokke comeback.

In their effort to run from deep inside their own territory, a BlitzBokke stray pass found the outstretched hands of Juan Ignacio Brex, who gratefully scored a try in the dying seconds to round off an impressive display by the Pumas over the Las Vegas champions.

Treu admitted unforced errors led to the downfall of his team.

"We knew Argentina would be physical, difficult to break down and strong in the tackle," Treu said.

"They did well to keep us in our own territory in the first half, but we did not perhaps use our possession as well as we could have.

"In the second half they changed their tactic somewhat and gained good territory with their kicking game, which led to their first two tries. However, we committed silly errors, such as the one that gifted them their third try.

"It's now back to the drawing board for us, we will regroup and must bounce back with a positive and much better display against Wales tomorrow morning. There are still much to play for," Treu added.