Blitzboks blow it as six-man Argentina pull off huge upset to reach Olympic semi-finals

CAPE TOWN – DESPITE playing for most of the match with six men due to a red card, Argentina pulled off a mighty upset to beat the Springbok Sevens team 19-14 in the Tokyo Olympics quarter-final on Tuesday.

Gaston Revol was sent off for a late, high and dangerous tackle on Selvyn Davids in the third minute, with the South Africans already leading 7-0 after Davids had finished following a terrific run down the right by Kurt-Lee Arendse.

The speedy Marcos Moneta started the comeback, flying down the left-hand side and sprinting away from the Blitzbok defenders to produce a memorable five-pointer, which was converted superbly by Santiago Mare from close to the touchline.

Disbelief and remarkable scenes on the rugby field at #Tokyo2020 as Argentina, who ended the match with five players, knock the Blitzboks out of medal contention 🙆‍♂️

— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) July 27, 2021

That levelled matters at 7-7, but Moneta wasn’t done yet. With the South Africans failing to win a lineout and committing a few unforced handling errors, the Argentinians took full advantage.

Moneta got the ball on the right, and chipped ahead before outstripping the Blitzboks to re-gather and dot down to put Argentina into a 14-7 halftime lead.

Even a penalty try to the Blitzboks soon after that was not enough. Argentina were reduced to five men due to a yellow card for a deliberate knockdown, but they managed to win the kickoff and boot the ball into touch and send South Africa crashing out of medal contention.

Points-Scorers

South Africa 14 – Tries: Selvyn Davids, Penalty Try. Conversion: Justin Geduld (1).

Argentina 19 – Tries: Marcos Moneta (2), Santiago Alvarez. Conversions: Santiago Mare (2).

@ashfakmohamed

IOL Sport