Pre-tournament favourites South Africa edged closer to their fifth World Rugby Classic title after a 17-7 victory over defending champions Argentina last night.The Classic Pumas had been confident of defending their crown but simply ran into a superior team who made less errors and coped with the atrocious conditions far better.A torrential downpour during France’s 14-0 win over the USA earlier in the evening had left parts of the North Field with deep puddles, making handling the ball extremely difficult.Unsurprisingly it was the star-studded Springboks that seemed more comfortable despite the slippery underfoot conditions not suited to running rugby.They also looked far more solid and robust in defence and took an early lead through Neil Cole who dived under the posts for an easy conversion kicked by Percy Montgomery.South Africa’s added a second try when speedy winger Egon Seconds intercepted a loose pass just inside his own half and outpaced the cover to finish at the corner for 12-0.By now the Springboks were firmly in control and increased their advantage in the second half after a melee on the Argentina line to make it 17-0.Argentina, who defeated the Classic Lions in last year’s final, did manage to reduce the deficit when Lucas Borges burst through for a try which Santiago van der Ghotte converted.Montgomery, who missed two of his three conversions, believed South Africa’s strength up front laid the foundations for their hard-fought win.He said: “The weather conditions were a bit awkward and it was always going to be a difficult game against Argentina.“I think we kept the ball a bit better than them and didn’t make as many errors. We were a bit lucky with the intercepted try but our defence was very strong and gave the team lots of confidence.”South Africa will now meet the winner of tonight’s semi-final between Australia and the Classic Lions with Montgomery braced for another tough contest.“You just need to keep winning in a competition like this and if we keep the momentum then hopefully we can go all the way,” said the fullback, who won 102 caps for his country.“In the final it will be important to keep possession that’s the key for me. It’s going to be tough to win it; whoever we play in the final will be a tough game. It would be great if we could pull it off, though.”He added: “It’s been a good Classic; it’s tough off the field and on the field. It’s been great seeing all the boys again who I’ve played with throughout my career it’s been good to catch up with them.”In last night’s Plate semi-final, which was almost abandoned due to heavy rain, France proved too strong for USA with tries from Francis N’tamack and Gregory Tutard. Cedric Rosalen kicked both conversions.French flanker Serge Betsen said: “It was really tough in the first half and the referee told me he may cancel the game. But thankfully the rain stopped and we kept playing and kept enjoying it.“We had to reduce our ambitions to play wide and stuck together and kept going step by step. We did really well, really well, and it was important to win because we struggled against Argentina in the first game.“We really wanted to do something special today and we’re pleased to make the win.”Tonight sees the Plate semi-final between Canada and Italy while Classic Lions take on Australia for a place in the main final.