A final quarter domination from the Springboks saw South Africa putting Argentina to the sword in Durban. The world no 1 converted a 25-23 half-time lead into a 67-30 victory. The scoreline was easily the most points scored by any competitor in the 2025 Rugby Championship.
The massive win looked unlikely at half-time and also on 52 minutes when replacement Tomás Albornoz scored to make it a nine point deficit with South Africa ahead 39-30. From there, South Africa ran-in four unanswered tries to now be clear favorites to secure the 2025 Rugby Championship title.
The nine tries to three victory saw the Springboks in control of the aerial game, possession, and the collisions. As the match unfolded, the home side outmuscled the visitors from South America.
Early proceedings were evenly balanced. Santiago Carreras and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu both landed two penalties in the opening quarter. Carreras put Argentina 9-6 up on 25 minutes.
South Africa then responded with the game’s opening try. Hooker Malcolm Marx scored after Eben Etzebeth had earlier been denied by the TMO. Marx’s try on 30 minutes was Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s only missed kick at goal of the night.
Two unlikely tries followed. First, a mental lapse from Cheslin Kolbe saw the winger tapping and drop-kicking the ball in goal only for Santiago Chocbares to snap it up and score. Second, a clearance from Argentina saw Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu returning the kick and finding no Pumas anywhere on defense for him to chase and score.
South Africa disrupted two attacking Argentine lineouts in the first-half. It was not all going South Africa’s way though as a set-piece move saw Argentina over to score only for Malcolm Marx to hold the ball up inside the try zone. The TMO intervened, deeming Marx to have come in from the side and to have collapsed the maul. Argentina came away with a penalty try.
Referee Angus Gardner ruled time for play to continue. Argentina then failed to win the re-start and were punished. Three minutes of South African waves of attack culminated with Feinberg-Mngomezulu darting over for his second try.
Feinberg-Mngomezulu was everywhere in Durban. He put-in a cross-kick for Kolbe to open the second-half scoring. He then scored his third try to complete a hat-trick.
The injection of Tomás Albornoz saw promising chances for Los Pumas. He scored after a break from Juan Cruz Mallía to indicate that this match should go the distance. It was false hope; however, as South Africa scored four tries in the final quarter. Two of them were scored by Pieter-Steph du Toit.
Argentina’s defensive flaws were compounded by injuries to Tomás Albornoz and Gonzalo García. The latter was stretchered off due to a head-knock leading-up to a try to Manie Libbok. Both players are unlikely to be fit for the final round of the competition.
The Rugby Championship will conclude next weekend. The final round sees Australia hosting New Zealand in Perth and Argentina facing South Africa in London, England.
- Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu broke the South African record of points scored in a match. His 37 points passed 35 scored by Percy Montgomery vs Namibia. South Africa won that match 105-13 in 2007 in Cape Town.
- Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu scored a hat-trick.
- Julián Montoya captained Argentina for the 51st time in a rugby test match. This ties the all-time Argentine record previously held only by Agustín Creevy.
- 45,158 were in attendance at Kings Park in Durban.
SOUTH AFRICA (67)
TRY – M Marx, S Feinberg-Mngomezulu (3), C Kolbe, M van den Berg, PS du Toit (2), M Libbok
CON – S Feinberg-Mngomezulu (8)
PEN – S Feinberg-Mngomezulu (2)
YC – M Marx
ARGENTINA (30)
TRY – S Chocobares, Penalty Try, T Albornoz
CON – S Carreras (2)
PEN – S Carreras (3)
SOUTH AFRICA
1 Boan Venter, 2 Malcolm Marx, 3 Thomas du Toit, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 5 Ruan Nortje, 6 Siya Kolisi (capt.), 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 8 Jasper Wiese, 9 Cobus Reinach, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 11 Ethan Hooker, 12 Damian de Allende, 13 Canan Moodie, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 15 Damian Willemse
Replacements: 16 Marco van Staden, 17 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 Rudolph Gerhardus Snyman, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Morne van den Berg, 22 Manie Libbok, 23 Andre Esterhuizen
ARGENTINA
1 Mayco Vivas, 2 Julián Montoya (capt.), 3 Joel Sclavi, 4 Franco Molina, 5 Lucas Paulos, 6 Pablo Matera (vice-capt.), 7 Marcos Kremer, 8 Joaquín Oviedo, 9 Gonzalo García, 10 Santiago Carreras, 11 Mateo Carreras, 12 Santiago Chocobares, 12 Lucio Cinti, 14 Rodrigo Isgró, 15 Juan Cruz Mallía (vice-capt.)
Replacements: 16 Ignacio Ruiz, 17 Boris Wenger, 18 Francisco Coria Marchetti, 19 Guido Petti, 20 Pedro Rubiolo, 21 Juan Martín González, 22 Simón Benítez Cruz, 23 Tomás Albornoz
Video: To Follow
Referee: Angus Gardner (Australia)
Assistant Referees: Angus Mabey (New Zealand); Pierre Brousset (France)
Television Match Official: Brett Cronan (Australia)
Split Screen/FPRO: Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)
