Pride and disappointment from Wiese and Kolisi after Argentina win

There were mixed emotions from man-of-the-match Jasper Wiese and captain Siya Kolisi after the Springboks clinched a 38-21 win over Argentina at Kings Park Stadium on Saturday night but missed out on winning the Rugby Championship.

The All Blacks ended the competition on 19 points, with the Boks just behind on 18, in a tight competition that saw the top two sides finish with four wins a piece.

Wiese has enjoyed a really good international season for the Boks so far and topped it off with another impressive showing against Argentina.

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“It is always tough playing Argentina. They put on a hell of a performance. Lucky we got the win, but it’s a bit disappointing not to win the Rugby Championship,” said Wiese.

“We wanted to get the (winning) margin we needed, but unfortunately we couldn’t get it. But we got the win over a very tough side.

“All the guys are helping me and everyone is supporting me so I can’t take any credit for my performance. Everybody has given me their backing and I am just really privileged to be in this position.”

Tough to miss out

Kolisi admitted that it was tough to not win the championship, but that the team was proud of getting another win over a strong opponent to finish the competition well.

“It is tough to take, but we will never take a win for granted. It’s always an honour to get a win, especially against a great side like this. We knew they were coming here to win, they also had opportunities to win the Rugby Championship,” explained Kolisi.

“I felt we started well, we had a plan and we made some inroads towards our goals. We were able to score some points but our discipline let us down at times,” the skipper added.

“It was going well (towards the end of the first half), we wanted score again (before halftime) but they scored which set us back and then they started well in the second half and that put us on the back foot. We then conceded two yellow cards and it was similar to what happened last week.

“It was great effort from them, they really played well and we knew they were never going to back down because they’re passionate like us. I wish we could have done it (won the Rugby Champs), but I am grateful to get the win in the end.”