What the Springboks need against Argentina to win the Rugby Championship
Springboks scrum-half Grant Williams takes on the All Blacks defence.
South Africa are on the cusp of winning the Rugby Championship for the first time since 2019.
The Springboks have started the tournament with four straight victories defeating Australia and New Zealand twice in succession.
This leaves Rassie Erasmus’ charges with the opportunity to clinch the title in Argentina and here’s how.
What the Springboks’ need
The Rugby Championship will take a break for a week to accommodate the travel demands on the squad with South Africa heading to Argentina and New Zealand to Australia.
Erasmus has confirmed that he will be splitting his squad with half the team heading to Argentina to tackle Los Pumas while the rest of the squad remains in the Republic to prepare for the final round of the competition in South Africa.
However, the Boks can secure the title in Santiago del Estero and they will have one simple task in order to bring the trophy back to South Africa – win.
Regardless of the results in the other three matches remaining in the competition, if the Springboks beat Argentina with or without a bonus point they will have racked up an unassailable 22 log points.
Back-to-back bonus point victories for the All Blacks over Australia would leave them on 16 points while Argentina can only rack up a maximum of 17 points if they lose with two bonus points and claim a bonus point victory a week later.
Two losing bonus points could be enough for Erasmus’ men provided that Argentina fail to claim a bonus point win in one of the two clashes against the world champions.
South Africa’s form in the Championship
The Springboks kicked their campaign off in Australia against the Wallabies and started the competition well claiming a first in Brisbane since 2013.
First half-tries from Siya Kolisi, Pieter-Steph du Toit and Kurt-Lee Arendse put Erasmus’ side in a commanding 21-0 lead at the break. Kwagga Smith and Arendse extended that advantage in the second half with Australia scoring a consolation try in the final five minutes as the Boks emerged 33-7 victors.
Eager to complete the double, Erasmus freshened up his squad for the clash against Australia in Perth but the result was no different as the Springboks marched to another bonus point win with Aphelele Fassi, Marco van Staden and Malcolm Marx (20) all grabbing tries in the 30-12 win.
The Boks returned home for their back-to-back matches against the All Blacks and their first against their great rivals since the 2023 Rugby World Cup final. Despite being down 17-27 in the final ten minutes, Erasmus’ men fought back and clinched a 31-27 thanks to a late try by replacement scrum-half Grant Williams.
It was another tight affair in Cape Town with the Springboks overturning a 3-9 half-time deficit thanks to tries from Kolisi and Marx to claim a 18-12 victory and a fourth successive win over the All Blacks.
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