There was another slice of history for Rassie Erasmus’s Springboks, with back-to-back Rugby Championship titles for the first time. After this patchy victory against Argentina, owing everything to their scrum dominance, two pressing questions emerged. When will they get the chance to make it three? And would it even be two if this match had been played in Argentina?
To address the first, despite the most thrilling edition in years, there will be no Rugby Championship in 2026 with South Africa instead hosting New Zealand in what is being billed as the “Greatest Rivalry”. There will probably be a truncated version in 2027 before the World Cup, but what happens thereafter is uncertain.
According to the latest reports, if it survives as a competition it may even move to February and run concurrently with the Six Nations. “Maybe this is the last Rugby Championship,” said Erasmus, South Africa’s head coach. “I’m not 100% sure how it will work in the future. So it meant a hell of a lot.”
In many ways, that brings us to the second question. It was a financial decision by Argentina to come to Twickenham, no doubt in part because there is no tournament next year. Precisely what Argentina and Australia do is unclear so the bottom line was all the more important.
Such was South Africa’s superiority at scrum-time here that it did not feel like a match that merited such a small winning margin, but Erasmus, with tongue pressed into cheek, admitted his side were “fortunate that we didn’t play them in Argentina”. No doubt the All Blacks, who settle for second place on points difference, would agree. “They were bloody tough here, but there’s no doubt that they’re tougher in Argentina,” said Erasmus.
He is stating the obvious because in a crowd of more than 70,000, swamped by a sea of green, only a few pockets of Pumas fans were visible. This was a “home” match for Argentina, but they gave up any advantage. Twickenham is fast becoming a second home for the Springboks. This was a fifth straight win here and a third victory in three years in matches in which England were not involved.
Argentina S Carreras; Delguy, Piccardo, Chocobares, Mallia; Prisciantelli (Isgro 65), Benitez Cruz (Moyano 71); Vivas, Montoya (capt; Ruiz 73), Coria Marchetti (Rapetti 55), Petti (Molina 54), Rubiolo, Matera (Gonzalez 48), Kremer, Grondona (Oviedo 48). Tries Delguy 2, Isgro. Cons Carreras 2. Pens Carreras 2. Sin-bin Vivas 43.
South Africa Willemse; Kolbe, Moodie (Kriel 50), De Allende; Hooker; Feinberg-Mngomezulu (Libbok 68), Reinach (Williams 68); Nche (Wessels 50), Marx (Mbonambi 61), T Du Toit (Louw 50), Etzebeth (Snyman 48), Nortje, Kolisi (capt; Smith 60), PS Du Toit, Wiese. Tries Reinach 2, Marx 2. Cons Feinberg-Mngomezulu 3. Pens Feinberg-Mngomezulu. Sin-bin Moodie 2.
Referee Andrea Piardi (It). Attendance 70,360.
They will not return in November, but there was a reminder of the set piece standards the world’s No 1 side can set. No one needs telling South Africa can scrummage, but it was an awesome flex of the muscles with the hooker, Malcolm Marx, in particularly destructive form.
South Africa began the tournament by throwing away a 22-0 lead at home to Australia, a performance described by Erasmus as uncomplimentary, graphic terms. There were times here when, in some facets of their game, they were not a great deal better, but such were the heights they hit with a record victory in Wellington and last Saturday’s 67-30 win against Argentina, they deserve their title. It has been an exhilarating tournament because of how competitive it has been, but South Africa have at times found a gear beyond their rivals.
Here they rode their luck – Canan Moodie really ought to have been shown a second yellow card and therefore a red in the first half – and Erasmus admitted as much. Argentina, for their part, could not quite match their record of exacting revenge victories against all three opponents. If they had half a scrum they might have and credit the Pumas for fighting until the end. Rodrigo Isgró’s try was scored with the game already up, however.
Moodie’s yellow card came inside the first two minutes after he caught Juan Cruz Mallía with a high tackle. Argentina capitalised almost immediately with Bautista Delguy wriggling over on the right. Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu – scorer of 37 points last week – got the Boks on the board with a penalty but two for Santiago Carreras gave Argentina a fully deserved 13-3 lead. Moodie then escaped a second yellow for slapping down Mallía’s pass and to rub salt in the wounds another knock-on was missed in the buildup to Cobus Reinach’s first try shortly before half-time.
The writing was on the wall for Argentina when Mayco Vivas was sent to the sin-bin for a high tackle on Eben Etzebeth early in the second half and Marx was almost immediately over from a driving lineout. Close-range finishes from Reinach and the irrepressible Marx hinted at a procession – Feinberg-Mngomezulu was enjoying himself by this stage, flinging backdoor offloads – but Argentina hung in the fight.
Delguy had his second after an interception before Carreras struck the upright with a 77th-minute penalty that would have set up a grandstand finish. Isgró’s late try gave the scoreline a kinder complexion, but the Springboks had the job done by then.
