The term “historic” is thrown around a lot when speaking of Los Pumas. And rightfully so. Argentina’s national rugby team has been on an upward trajectory since making it to the World Cup quarterfinals in 1999, racking up wins against top-tier teams and notching three semifinal appearances (2007, 2015, and 2023) at the sports top tournament. The 2024 Rugby Championship, however, has the potential to become a turning point.
With its 29-28 victory against current world champion South Africa on Saturday in the Madre de Ciudades stadium in Santiago del Estero, Argentina is in a position to win the tournament for the first time in its history. Los Pumas, who trail the Springboks in the standings by five points (14 to 19), will play its final match on September 28 away against South Africa in the Mbombela Stadium to determine this year’s winner.
To be clear, the Springboks are the favorites to win it all. Not only are they above in the standings, they will also be playing in front of an expected home crowd of more than 43,000. In order to pull off the upset, Argentina will have to win and secure the two bonus points the tournament grants (one for offensive production and another for defensive achievements), while also denying its rival a bonus point for offense.
This scenario earns Argentina five points, enough to tie South Africa for a total of 19. Los Pumas, however, would become champions because they would have beaten their direct rival in the two games they played against each other. An outcome that would no doubt be the most important achievement in Argentine rugby history.
Argentina started off Saturday a bit jittery and quickly found itself down on the scoreboard 17-0 following tries by Aphelele Fassi and Jesse Kriel and a penalty kick by Handre Pollard. But coach Felipe Contepomi’s squad managed to regroup and score four tries to end the first half on top 26-22.
The second half was not nearly as dynamic as the first, as both teams were suffering the intense heat in Santiago and exhaustion began to set in. South Africa managed to pull ahead 28-26 on two Pollard penalty kicks, but Argentina countered with a penalty of its own courtesy of Tomás Albornoz to set the final 29-28 score they managed to hang on to until the end.
Speaking after the match, Contemponi downplayed Argentina’s chances of winning the 2024 Rugby Championship and highlighted the team’s play and what it means for the future. “I’d be happy if we can improve what we did today in terms of offensive and defensive production and reduce our mistakes, so that next year we can talk about having a better performance,” he said.
Regardless of the outcome, Argentina’s 2024 Rugby Championship will go down as its best performance ever. It has already secured its highest point total since it began playing the competition in 2012 alongside New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa, as well as the most wins in a single tournament (3). Los Pumas also logged at least one win against all three of its rivals with scoring records to boot, managing the most points it ever had against the mighty All Blacks (38) and setting a record for the most points the Wallabies have ever suffered (67).