South Africans escape a trip to the plate competition with hard-fought victory over Argentina
South Africa leapt straight back into cup contention with one of the hardest-fought wins of the tournament when they defeated group favourites Argentina 12-5, thanks to a late try by captain Jaco Pretorius.
The Springboks needed nothing less than victory to have a chance of joining the big boys in the cup and they responded to the pressure-cooker situation in admirable fashion to join previously unbeaten Argentina through to the last eight.
The win also saw South Africa go through as group winners at the expense of unheralded Tunisia, who had shocked the South Africans on Friday, but did their cup hopes no favours when they lost their final pool encounter against Kenya.
South Africa coach Paul Treu was a relieved man after he watched his side notch their most important victory after Danwell Demas first touched down and Pretorius ran through the Argentine defence to seal victory. Argentina's Santiago Gomez Cora scored his side's lone try.
'I am very happy with our performance. I am not so happy with our play, but our performance was good. It's a win and I am going to take the win,' said Treu.
'It was important to get another win under our belt to go through to the quarter-finals. It didn't really matter if Tunisia had won or lost, because if they had won their match [against Kenya], we would have gone through on points difference. Even before the start of the match, I could really see that the boys were focused and they had a certain confidence.