Springboks retain the Rugby Championship crown after beating Argentina 29-27

LONDON (AP) — South Africa retained the Rugby Championship crown for the first time after beating Argentina 29-27 at Twickenham on Saturday.

The title was decided on points difference for the first time, the Springboks’ 57-plus margin eclipsing New Zealand’s eight-plus.

The All Blacks beat Australia 28-14 in Perth hours earlier to put pressure on the Springboks, who clinched the title decider in typically punchy style.

They didn’t lead until the 44th minute, gradually overwhelming the Pumas with the power of their set-piece.

“Not the most perfect game we’ve played but it is the fight we show each and every week,” Springboks captain Siya Kolisi said. “It doesn’t always go the way we want it to go but we are always able to find that second gear. With the bench that we have, they are special.”

Taking advantage of the superior muscle up front, scrumhalf Cobus Reinach — named the player of the match — and hooker Malcolm Marx scored two tries each.

The Pumas weren’t as close to South Africa as the scoreline suggested. They scored two late converted tries but finished with the wooden spoon for the first time since 2022.

Argentina gave up the scheduled home match to relocate to Twickenham for bigger ticket revenue, and the Springboks felt more at home thanks to expatriates filling an impressive crowd of 70,360. They celebrated the Springboks’ sixth title in 30 tournaments and their first back-to-back crowns.

“After the way we started (with the shocking loss to the Wallabies at Ellis Park), you could not have said we would be here now,” Kolisi said. “But the belief we have in ourselves is because of what coach Rassie (Erasmus) has instilled into this team. Since 2018, the mindset created means you don’t feel at any moment that you are going to lose. No matter how it looks.”

Pumas go 13-3 up

It didn’t go to plan at the start on Saturday either.

Center Canan Moodie was yellow-carded in the second minute for head-on-head contact, and moments later Argentina gave right winger Bautista Delguy space and time to bust through Reinach and Ethan Hooker to the try-line.

South Africa’s first scrum tighthead was rewarded with a Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu penalty.

World Cup winner Ox Nche gave a torrid time to scrum opposite Francisco Coria Marchetti. He debuted in June against the British and Irish Lions and always appeared off the bench until Joel Sclavi was injured on Friday in the captain’s run. That forced the Pumas to start Coria Marchetti, their 10th change to the starting XV that lost to the Springboks 67-30 in Durban last weekend.

Despite Nche being the only change to the Springboks starting XV, they struggled to click at Twickenham. Feinberg-Mngomezulu, the star in Durban, passed over Cheslin Kolbe’s head in one of 10 handling errors in the half.

Santiago Carreras’ second penalty extended Argentina’s lead to 13-3 then Moodie was lucky not to receive a second yellow card and subsequent red when his deliberate knock-on was only penalized.

But South Africa finished the half strong. Lock Eben Etzebeth was held up over the line by Pumas flyhalf Geronimo Prisciantelli but when No. 8 Jasper Wiese lost control of a pushover try attempt Reinach was too close to the line to be stopped.

The second half started badly for Argentina. Loosehead prop Mayco Vivas was sin-binned for a high tackle, and South Africa drove the subsequent lineout, dishing a 26th test try for Marx.

South Africa finally had the lead and an extra man. RG Snyman took over for Etzebeth, who went to the blood bin, and his pop-up helped Reinach burrow over for his second try and extend the lead to 22-13.

Before the game was an hour old, Marx regained an Argentina lineout tap down from his own throw-in then crashed over for his second try of the match. It also was his 17th in championship history, tying him with Richie McCaw for the most tries by a forward.

When Coria Marchetti injured his right leg, the Pumas finishing props were four-cap Boris Wenger and 20-year-old debutant Tomás Rapetti. They were consoled by Delguy’s second try from a wild pass by Kolbe, and fellow wing Rodrigo Isgro scoring after the hooter from a crossfield kick by Carreras.

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AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby