South Africa moved to the top of the table after the opening round of the inaugural Rugby Championship.
The Springboks comprehensively beat a resolute Argentina 27-6 in their historic Test in Cape Town on Saturday, with the Boks outscoring the Pumas by three tries to none.
Argentina made liberal use of the boot, especially against a Bok defensive line that allowed them no space.
And South Africa, with Morné Steyn in sublime form, looked far more inventive than they have been for some time.
After a frenetic start by the Boks, in which they ran hard at the Pumas, Morné Steyn was handed a chance to put his team in the lead and he made no mistake with his opening penalty.
However, the Boks also suffered an early injury blow when Bismarck du Plessis limped off with what looked a serious knee injury. The incident was off the ball.
The Pumas then enjoyed a period in which they sustained the pressure by taking the ball through multiple phases, before they were rewarded for the territorial advantage with a penalty - with Juan Martín Hernández slotting the penalty to level the scores.
However, the Boks hit back almost immediately - a Puma scrum being free-kicked and Francois Hougaard taking a quick tap. A powerful run by Willem Alberts gave the Boks the momentum, with a quick recycle and snappy hands putting Zane Kirchner over in the left corner. Morné Steyn added the conversion - 10-3 after 17 minutes.
That lead became 13-3 in the 24th minute, when hooker Eusebio Guiñazu went offside on defence as the Boks looked to press home their advantage.
Minutes later Marcell Coetzee scored his first Test try, as he barged over in the right corner off the back of a powerful Bok maul. Morné Steyn kept his 100 percent kicking record with the conversion - 20-3.
Just on the half-hour mark the Pumas, through some strong phase play, forced the Boks to rush out of the defensive line too early and Hernández slotted a second penalty - 6-20.
However, the Boks lost another Du Plessis brother, with Jannie walking off after what appeared to be a head knock and Pat Cilliers came on for his Bok debut. Luckily it was only a temporary replacement, as Du Plessis returned from the 'concussion bin' after a few minutes.
The Boks managed to hold onto their 14-point lead going into the half-time break.
Argentina had three early opportunities to closer the gap, but all three penalty kick were well wide.
Then, from a pin-point kick by Morné Steyn, Bryan Habana plucked the ball out the air to go over for South Africa's third try in the 57th minute. Steyn continued his fine form by slotting the conversion - 27-6 with just a quarter of the match left.
The Boks then went in search of the bonus-point try, but found the Argentinean defence a lot more resolute than it had been earlier and the game ended with the South Africans still leading by 21 points.
The scorers:
For South Africa:
Tries: Kirchner, Coetzee, Habana
Cons: Steyn 3
Pens: Steyn 2
For Argentina:
Pens: Hernández 2
Teams
South Africa: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Bryan Habana, 13 Jean de Villiers (captain), 12 Frans Steyn, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 François Hougaard, 8 Keegan Daniel, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 Andries Bekker, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Pat Cilliers, 18 Flip van der Merwe, 19 Jacques Potgieter, 20 Ruan Pienaar, 21 Pat Lambie, 22 JJ Engelbrecht.
Argentina: 15 Lucas Amorosino, 14 Gonzalo Camacho, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Santiago Fernández, 11 Horacio Agulla, 10 Juan Martín Hernández, 9 Nicolas Vergallo, 8 Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe (captain), 7 Álvaro Galindo, 6 Julio Cabello, 5 Patricio Albacete, 4 Manuel Carizza, 3 Juan Figallo, 2 Eusebio Guiñazu, 1 Rodrigo Roncero.
Replacements: 16 Bruno Postiglioni, 17 Marcos Ayerza, 18 Juan Pablo Orlandi, 19 Tomás Leonardi, 20 Leonardo Senatore, 21 Martín Landajo, 22 Martín Rodríguez.
Referee: Steve Walsh (Australia)
Assistant referees: Jérôme Garces (France), John Lacey (Ireland)
TMO: Johann Meuwesen (South Africa)
