Jack Wilkinson
Sports Journalist @jacktwilkinson
Argentina 27-29 South Africa: Springboks seal successive Rugby Championship titles for first time
South Africa defend Rugby Championship for first time as New Zealand denied title on final day; Cobus Reinach and Malcolm Marx score twice as Springboks come from behind to defeat Los Pumas at Twickenham
Last Updated: 04/10/25 4:57pm
South Africa clinched back-to-back Rugby Championship titles for the first time, as a second-half surge sealed a comeback 29-27 victory over Argentina at Allianz Stadium.
The Springboks knew that any kind of victory would be enough to retain their crown, while a win for Los Pumas would have confirmed New Zealand - top of the standings after their bonus-point victory over Australia earlier on Saturday - as champions.
South Africa were second-best for much of the first half and were fortunate not to be reduced to 14 men when centre Canan Moodie, who had already been sent to the sin-bin for a high tackle, escaped punishment for a potential deliberate knock-on.
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Trailing 13-3 until the stroke of half-time, two tries from scrum-half Cobus Reinach and hooker Malcolm Marx transformed the contest and propelled the Springboks into an insurmountable lead.
Bautista Delguy, whose early try had given Argentina the lead, reignited Los Pumas' hopes with an intercept try 14 minutes from time. But the Springboks stood firm, ensuring Rodrigo Isgro's late score was nothing more than a consolation as they wrote their names into the history books.
Springboks tame Los Pumas at Twickenham
The All Blacks had laid down the gauntlet by moving top of the Rugby Championship with a 28-14 victory over Australia - and South Africa's response got off to the worst possible start at Twickenham.
Moodie was sent to the bin inside two minutes after making head-on-head contact with Juan Cruz Mallia, and Los Pumas made immediate use of their numerical advantage as wing Delguy weaved superbly between Ethan Hooker and Reinach to ground the first try in the corner.
Fly-half Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu got the Springboks on the scoreboard with a penalty, but Argentina responded with two of their own from the boot of Santiago Carreras to stretch their lead into double digits.
The game's most contentious moment came on the half-hour mark, with Moodie fortunate to avoid a second yellow - and a red - after officials chose not to review a potential deliberate knock-on.
The Springboks took full advantage of their reprieve, as Reinach darted over from the base of a scrum to cut Argentina's lead to three at the break.
Argentina prop Mayco Vivas was shown a yellow card for an upright shoulder-to-head tackle on Eben Etzebeth early in the second half, opening the door for the Springboks to seize control.
A pirouetting try from a driving maul by Marx gave South Africa the lead for the first time on 44 minutes, before Reinach grabbed his second, sniping over from the base of a ruck.
Marx pounced on a loose ball after Argentina had stolen a South African line-out, forcing his way over for a second try that left Los Pumas needing three scores.
Argentina got one of them when Delguy intercepted a loose pass from Springbok wing Cheslin Kolbe and raced away to score. But their second came too late to inspire a comeback, with Isgro dotting down from Carreras' stunning cross-field kick after the clock had turned red.
'We feel we're never going to lose'
South Africa captain Siya Kolisi speaking on Sky Sports Mix: "It was a tough day. All credit to Argentina - they came hard like we knew they would - but once again, I'm so proud of our boys. It wasn't the perfect game, but the fight we showed every single time was incredible.
"It doesn't always go our way, but we always find second gear. That says a lot about the bench we have - it's been special.
"We play quality teams. It's been a tough Championship. You saw how close it was, what happened this morning, and Argentina played really well. They challenged us a lot.
"Since 2018, the mindset in this team means you never feel like you're going to lose - no matter how it looks. That's hard to build, and I know how it feels on the other side when wins are hard to come by. I'm so proud of our country."
Reinach: 'Unreal' feeling to create history
Player of the Match - Cobus Reinach - speaking on Sky Sports Mix: "It's unreal. We spoke about it the whole week. We haven't won it ever back-to-back. And the last time we won a proper one was 2012. So going back-to-back, it shows a lot of character from the team.
"We're still growing. There's still a lot of improvements to make. But we're slowly getting there. We're building and we keep on building.
"You're not just going to run over any team in the world now. We have to break teams down, and it takes some teams 50, 60, 70 minutes.
"Argentina, credit to them. They have a lot of dog in them, very similar to us. They don't stop. They keep fighting. It was tough."
