The Blitzboks lost 17-19 to Argentina despite a spirited fightback in the second half, scoring 17 unanswered points in the second half. The Blitzoks will face Fiji at 12;19 (SA Time) in a Cup quarter final.
Argentina started like a house on fire and scored an "easy' try in the corner with the Blitzboks running out of defenders. Matteo Graziano's try gave Argentina a 07-00 lead after three minutes of play.
Two minutes later, Argentina scored their second try following another defence blunder by the Blitzboks. Marcos Moneta's try extended Argentina's lead to 12-00.
Argentina's dominance led to their third try when Matias Osadczuk danced over the tryline. A dominant Argentina led 19-00 at the halftime break.
Quewin Nortje opened the scoring for the Blitzboks down the touchline to cut Argentina's lead to 19-05.
From the kick-off, Selvyn Davids pounced on his grubber to score the Blitzboks' second try.
With twenty seconds left to play Shilton van Wyk scored another try, however, Argentina kicked the ball out from the kick-off to secure a 19-17 win.
Scorers:
Bitzboks: Tries: Quewin Nortje, Selvyn Davids, Shilton van Wyk. Conversions: Ronald Brown.
Argentina: Tries: Matteo Graziano, Marcos Moneta, Matias Osadczuk. Conversions: Jaquin Pellandini.
Teams:
Blitzboks: Quewin Nortje, Donavan Don, Dewald Human, David Brits, Zain Davids, Ricardo Duarttee, Impi Visser. Replacements: Ryan Oosthuizen, Siviwe Soyizwapi, Shilton van Wyk, Selvyn Davids, Ronald Brown.
Argentina: Santiago Mare, Luciano Gonzalez, Matteo Graziano, Marcos Moneta, Jaquin Pellandini, Matias Osadczuk, Santiago Alvarez. Replacements: Santino Zangara, Santiago Vera Feld, Tobias Wade, Facundo Pueyrredon, Austin Fraga.