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Springboks pip Pumas to retain Rugby Championship crown
Reuters •  October 5th, 2025 6:00 am
Siya Kolisi raises the Rugby Championship trophy after South Africa's win over Argentina | Photo: AP
World champions South Africa have turned on the power in the second half to beat Argentina 29-27 at Twickenham and win the Rugby Championship for the sixth time, but only on points difference.
New Zealand's 28-14 bonus-point win over Australia in Perth across the other side of the world earlier on Saturday meant the Springboks needed a bonus-point victory to win the title with clear water, though their overwhelming points advantage effectively meant any win would be enough.
But after an error-strewn first half, they trailed 13-10 only for two tries from Malcolm Marx and a second for Cobus Reinach, who'd also scored before the break, to prove a fair reflection of their dominant second half.
South Africa's Malcolm Marx burrows over for a key try in their Twickenham triumph | Photo: AP
Only the second of Bautista Delguy's tries from an interception and Rodrigo Isgro's score at the death denied the Springboks the bonus point they needed.
South Africa, who won the Rugby Championship title two years in a row for the first time, finished on 19 points, with New Zealand second, also on 19, while Australia were third on 11 and Argentina last on 10.
Siya Kolisi's champions had begun the tournament poorly, suffering two defeats from their opening three games but they hit back strongly to win three on the bounce, including a record-breaking hammering of the All Blacks.
Though staged in England, it felt like a home triumph for the South Africans, with a 70,300 crowd at Twickenham dominated by England's South African expat community.
It was officially a home game for Argentina, but what they lost in support they will gain in finance via their share of the huge gate receipts.
"It's unreal, we spoke about lifting the trophy the whole week. We had not won it back-to-back before. We still have a lot of improvements to make, but we are getting there," man-of-the-match Reinach said.
"We knew we would not just run out here and roll over them. It takes teams 60 or 70 minutes to break the opposition down and Argentina are unreal. They have a lot of dog in them, they keep fighting all game."
Argentina took an early 7-0 lead via a brilliant finish by winger Delguy and though South Africa had much possession and a dominant scrum, handling errors betrayed them.
The Springboks' dominant scrum eventually paid dividends, earning a series of penalties on the Argentina line before scrumhalf Reinach found a gap to reduce the deficit to three points at the break.
A week ago South Africa led the Pumas 25-23 at halftime but poured on the power to win 67-30 and, for a while it looked as if a repeat might be on the cards.
Skipper Siya Kolisi kisses the trophy after South Africa won back-to-back titles for the first time | Photo: AP
Argentina prop Mayco Visas was yellow-carded for a high hit after 43 minutes and the South African pack took immediate advantage to bundle Marx over.
Reinach slipped through for his second and another forward drive ended with Marx claiming his second as South Africa powered ahead 29-13.
Delguy's interception after 65 minutes gave Argentina a glimmer of hope, but when Santi Carreras struck the post with a penalty three minutes from time, that disappeared.
Argentina replacement Rodrigo Isgro had the last word when he caught a lovely wide kick by Carreras to score in the corner but the vast majority of the crowd in green were already celebrating.
