South Africa vs Argentina player ratings: Eben Etzebeth and Francois louw star for Springboks but Bryan Habana draws a blank
Man for man marking from the Rugby World Cup bronze final
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.South Africa had enough in the tank to see of Argentina and claim bronze in the Rugby World Cup thanks to a 24-13 victory at the Olympic Stadium on Friday.
An early try from the wing JP Pietersen put the Springboks into a lead they would not relinquish, and with scrum-half Tomas Cubelli sin-binned early for a cynical penalty, fly-half Handre Pollard kept the scoreboard ticking with three further penalties.
In fact, Argentina did not get on the score board until after half-time when Nicolas Sanchez landed a low drop-goal, but immediately South Africa responded with Eben Etzebeth going over in the left corner, although Bryan Habana’s try-giving pass looked suspiciously forward.
Habana was having a nightmare though. He missed three chances to score in the first half and the stadium was left stunned when he was replaced by Jan Serfontein with well over 10 minutes remaining, ending any chance of him beating Jonah Lomu’s World Cup try scoring record of 15.
Argentina did get over the try line at least as replacement prop Juan Pablo Orlandi barged his way over.
So how did the players perform? Click on the gallery below to find out.
Who do you think was the man of the match? Leave your thoughts in the comment box below.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments