A decade of toil: Springboks have not had it easy in Argentina in Rugby Championship

It's been a decade since Argentina's inclusion for the Rugby Championship and one that has seen the Springboks embark on several perilous journeys to South America.

While the win record still looks healthy, the picture could easily have been starkly different.

Sport24 goes down memory lane.

2012: Pumas 16-16 Springboks, Mendoza

Fielding a pack light on experience - a combined 130 caps - the Boks were lucky to walk away with a draw that essentially felt like a defeat.

A general lack of physicality on defence proved a major problem as the Argentinians raced into a 10-0 lead after just 17 minutes, leaving a listless visiting side on the rack.

Even the expected comeback in the second half didn't materialise as Heyneke Meyer's troops lacked accuracy.

In fact, even their try to move back into contention was plainly fortunate, with Frans Steyn dotting down from a charge down that appeared more like an effort to protect his face from close range.

There was an opportunity for an off-colour Morne Steyn to go for a potential winning penalty, which wasn't taken, six minutes from time but that would've proven an injustice.

The prevailing sentiment was that a more savvy Pumas outfit - this was after all only their second Rugby Championship outing in history - would've walked home comfortably.

2013: Pumas 17-22 Springboks, Mendoza

A week after hammering the South Americans 73-13 at the FNB Stadium, the Springboks found a week is a long time in rugby.

Like the previous year, the South Africans looked totally switched off.

The Pumas were on the board within two minutes after Ruan Pienaar was caught in possession and Bjorn Basson conjured up one of the weakest covering tackles in ages to Juan-Manuel Leguizamon's try.

Freakishly, the Boks again remained