The whole of South Africa will be giving Aphiwe Dyantyi twee duime op after his performance in the Springboks’ 38-21 win over Argentina in Durban on Saturday.
The 23-year-old left winger scored two of his team’s six tries – the others belonging to fellow wing Makazole Mapimpi (2), centre Lukhanyo Am and scrumhalf Faf de Klerk.
But it wasn’t the tries that made Dyanti stand out in this victory.
He looked threatening with ball in hand every single time, popped up on the right wing to put Mapimpi away for his try and also chased kicks without end to complete a well-deserved Man of the Match performance.
The Boks needed someone to stand up like Dyanti did in a match where they failed to make the most of their opportunities.
Another backline player that can be happy with his effort on the day was Am, who scored the team’s first try after the hosts had dominated the Pumas in the first eight minutes of the match.
Flyhalf Handre Pollard, who missed four of his six attempts at goal, failed to add the extras at his first attempt (5-0).
And despite dominating possession early on, Rassie Erasmus' manne fell behind in the 15th minute when fullback Willie le Roux failed to gather a high kick from the Pumas, which led to Argentina flyhalf ultimately cutting through and dotting down under the sticks (7-5).
The visitors doubled their scoring tally 10 minutes later after a good counterattack by Dyantyi saw him offload captain Siya Kolisi down the left touchline and out of the Boks’ 22.
When Kolisi was tackled, scrumhalf De Klerk was nowhere near the ruck and the Pumas simply stole the ball, made a few passes and dotted down casually through Pablo Matera (14-5).
Lady Luck then smiled on SA nine minutes from half time after the referee missed a forward pass from Pieter-Steph du Toit to Warren Whiteley before Le Roux gave a cross kick that Dyantyi dotted down for (14-10).
Four points down when the two teams took the field again after the break, SA had their noses in front after Dyanti chased down a De Klerk box kick to reach out and score his second of the match (17-14).
Having upped the tempo in the second half, De Klerk flung a long pass to Mapimpi to score his first try of the match and give the Boks some breathing space (22-14) with 30 minutes left to play.
The right wing didn’t have to wait long for his second five-pointer after some good phases from the entire got the Boks close to the tryline, before the ball went wide for him to dot down (27-14).
With 15 minutes left on the clock, coach Rassie Erasmus had brought on a number of his replacements and Damian Willemse, who came on at flyhalf, then flung a wild pass to fellow debutant Marco van Staden and the ball was intercepted by the Pumas to give the Boks a late scare (27-21).
But when De Klerk dove over from close quarters with 10 minutes left, it was game over for Argentina and the Boks could celebrate.
South Africa – Tries:
Lukhanyo Am, Aphiwe Dyantyi (2), Makazole Mapimpi (2) and Faf de Klerk; Conversions: Handre Pollard (2).
Argentina – Tries:
Nicolas Sanchez, Pablo Matera and Matias Moroni; Conversions: Nicolas Sanchez (3).