Angry Argentina coach walks out of press conference
Argentina coach Felipe Contempomi
Check out the moment Argentina coach Felipe Contepomi took exception to a line of questioning after Saturday’s loss to the Springboks.
The Springboks emphatically overpowered Argentina on Saturday, dashing the slight chance the Pumas had of claiming a historic Rugby Championship title.
For the most part the match was well handled by referee Ben O’Keeffe and his team of officials, although Argentina did see their good disciplinary record in the competition come to an end as they conceded a host of penalties and saw a couple players sent from the field.
After the match, coach Felipe Contepomi was asked about a report that he had gone to speak to the officials at half-time, with the Springboks leading 27-7 at the break.
However, he emphatically denied this suggestion after the match, and after clearly taking offence to the questions, the former Argentina star opted to cut the press conference short.
HAPPY DAYS FOR THE SPRINGBOKS
Although Argentina didn’t get the result they came for, Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus said he was pleased with the way the team performed to complete a memorable season.
“The pressure has been on the players to gel quickly, and I must give credit to the coaching staff and all the backroom team and the guys for keeping on believing despite all the changes,” he said.
“We’ve used 49 players this year and 35 in the Rugby Championship. But when you get to these crunch games it’s the older heads and the calmer heads that sometimes pull it through and they help pull though a guy like Manie [who missed a potential match-winning penalty seven days previously].
“They understand the bigger picture and then things like this happen where all of us are privileged to sit with Eben today.
“It was gutsy performance and there was enough effort, and I do think there were brilliant plays at stages. So, it was a much better performance, it wasn’t perfect but there was some really good stuff that we can build on.
“We showed good intent; Argentina are a very physical side, a nippy, great attacking side – Jerry [Flannery, defence coach] was very nervous during the week so to keep them to one score was great.
“It was a much better performance than in Argentina, but it was a good performance and something to build on.
“Overall, I’m very happy, happy for Manie, happy for South Africa. But the end-of-year tour is now our target and going through that undefeated.”
