Jack Wilkinson
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 4:18pm
Malcolm Marx scores the match-winning try for South Africa
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 victory of any kind would be enough to retain their crown, while a Los Pumas victory 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.
But having trailed 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, gave Los Pumas renewed hope with an intercept try 14 minutes from time, but the Springboks stood firm, ensuring Rodrigo Isgro’s late try was nothing more than a consolation as they wrote their names in the history books.
Springboks tame Los Pumas at Twickenham
Argentina’s Bautista Delguy scores the game’s first try as they take an early lead over South Africa in the Rugby Championship
New Zealand laid the gauntlet down to South Africa by moving top of the Rugby Championship with a 28-14 victory in Australia – and the Springboks’ response got off to the worst possible start at Twickenham.
Centre Moodie was sent to the bin inside two minutes after making head-on-head contact with Juan Cruz Mallia and Los Pumas put their numerical advantage to immediate use as wing Delguy weaved superbly between Ethan Hooker and Reinach to ground the first try in the corner.
Canan Moodie escapes a second yellow card in what looked like a deliberate knock-on
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 into a double-digit lead.
The game’s contentious moment came on the half-hour mark, with Moodie fortunate to avoid a second yellow and red card after the officials chose not to review a potential deliberate knock on.
Cobus Reinach scores his 16th try for South Africa as the Springboks close the gap on Argentina in the Rugby Championship
The Springboks took full advantage of their reprieve as Reinach darted over from the base of a scrum to cut Argentina’s lead down to three at the break.
Argentina prop Mayco Vivas yellow was shown a yellow for an upright shoulder-to-head tackle on Eben Etzebeth early in the second half, opening the door for the Springboks to seize control of the game.
Malcolm Marx goes over for South Africa to gain the lead against Argentina
A pirouetting try from a driving maul from Marx gave the Springboks 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 has stolen a South Africa line-out, forcing his way over for a second try that left Los Pumas needing three scores.
Bautista Delguy collects his brace with an intercept try from Cheslin Kolbe’s wild pass
Argentina got one of them when Delguy raced away after intercepting a loose pass from Springboks wing Kolbe but their second came too late to inspire a comeback, with Isgro dotting down from Carreras’ stunning cross-field after the clock had turned red.
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.”