The 2025 Rugby Championship concludes on Saturday with Argentina and South Africa squaring-off in London. The relocated fixture will see Siya Kolisi having the opportunity to lift the trophy at the Head Quarters of England Rugby; that is, if South Africa win the match.
The match falls seven days after the Springboks were 67-30 win over Argentina in Durban. It was easily the biggest defeat suffered by Los Pumas under Felipe Contepomi. The South Americans are now looking for a much improve performance and Contepomi has not held back in dropping players nor in moving positions.
The match will be played several hours after Australia play host to New Zealand in Perth, Western Australia. The winner of that match can still win the Rugby Championship. This would require Argentina to also defeat South Africa. On the flip side, Los Pumas cannot overtake South Africa so cannot finish higher than second.
The match will conclude the final normal Rugby Championship this World Cup cycle. South Africa and New Zealand have decided to break away from the four country alliance to contest “The Greatest Rugby Rivalry” in 2026. The outcome is that the Rugby Championship will be biennial rather than an annual after 2025 and that the next normal Rugby Championship will next be in 2029.
Current World Ranking: 6 (84.40 points)
2025-09-27– South Africa 67-30 Argentina (Durban, ZA)
2025-09-13 – Australia 26-28 Argentina (Sydney, AU)
2025-08-23 – Australia 28-24 Argentina (Townsville, AU)
2025-08-23 – Argentina 29-23 New Zealand (Buenos Aires, AR)
2025-08-16 – Argentina 24-41 New Zealand (Córdoba, AR)
2025-07-19 – Argentina 52-17 Uruguay (Salta, AR)
2025-07-12 – Argentina 17-22 England (San Juan, AR)
2025-07-05 – Argentina 12-35 England (La Plata, AR)
2025-06-20 – British & Irish Lions 24-28 Argentina (Dublin, IE)
Current World Ranking: 1 (91.62 points)
2025-09-27– South Africa 67-30 Argentina (Durban, ZA)
2025-09-13 – New Zealand 10-43 South Africa (Wellington, NZ)
2025-09-06 – New Zealand 24-17 South Africa (Auckland, NZ)
2025-08-23 – South Africa 30-22 Australia (Cape Town, ZA)
2025-08-16 – South Africa 22-38 Australia (Johannesburg, ZA)
2025-07-19 – South Africa 55-10 Georgia (Nelspruit, ZA)
2025-07-12 – South Africa 45-0 Italy (Port Elizabeth, ZA)
2025-07-05 – South Africa 42-24 Italy (Pretoria, ZA)
2025-06-28 – South Africa 54-07 Barbarians (Cape Town, ZA)
 + STARTING LINEUP CHANGES |
|
IN | OUT |
| 4 | Guido Petti | Franco Molina |
| 5 | Pedro Rubiolo | Lucas Paulos |
| 8 | Santiago Grondona | Joaquín Oviedo |
| 9 | Simón Benítez Cruz | Gonzalo García |
| 10 | Gerónimo Prisciantelli | Santiago Carreras |
| 11 | Juan Cruz Mallía | Mateo Carreras |
| 13 | Justo Piccardo | Lucio Cinti |
| 14 | Bautista Delguy | Rodrigo Isgró |
| 15 | Santiago Carreras | Juan Cruz Mallía |
|
IN | OUT |
| 1 | Ox Nche | Boan Venter |
| + MOST CAPS |
– P Matera (117), J Montoya (113), G Petti (94), M Kremer (78), S Carreras (60), JM González (47), JC Mallía (47), B Delguy (36), M Vivas (36)
– E Etzebeth (137), S Kolisi (97), D de Allende (92), PS du Toit (92), J Kriel (83), M Marx (83), B Mbonambi (80), K Smith (58), C Reinach (45), C Kolbe (45), O Nche (45), D Willemse (44)
| + LEAST CAPS |
– G Prisciantelli (1), B Wenger (3), A Moyano (4), J Piccardo (7), S Benítez Cruz (6), F Coria Marchetti (6), R Isgró (12), F Molina (17), J Oviedo (18)
– E Hooker (4), JH Wessels (8), R Nortje (12), S Feinberg-Mngomezulu (14), M Libbok (23), C Moodie (19), W Louw (23), G Williams (23)
| + NOTABLE ABSENTEES |
– Ignacio Calles (LH), Thomas Gallo (LO), Eduardo Bello (TH), Gonzalo García (SH), Tomás Albornoz (FH)
– Frans Malherbe (TH), Lood de Jager (LO), Kurt-Lee Arendse (WI), Aphelele Fassi (FB)
Felipe Contepomi (Head Coach)
“South Africa is a team that does what it does very well, they are precise in their game plan. It’s a bit of trying to impose our conditions or what we want to do, because what we saw in Durban was that they imposed conditions. It’s trying also to win that strategic battle to be more competitive. The match taught us a lot and we gave ourselves some tough self-criticism.”
Rassie Erasmus (Head Coach)
“They may be out of the title race, but they have beaten the All Blacks, Wallabies, and British & Irish Lions this season, and it would be a big target for them to defeat us as well, so it’s going to be another hard grind. They have a powerful pack and hard-running backs, and they showed in the first half last week that if they stick to their structures and play well, they are a huge threat. We’ll be in the fortunate position to know exactly what we need to do in the match to win the competition before we take the field as Australia and New Zealand face one another before our match, but we still need to go out there and deliver against a quality outfit.”
- Julián Montoya becomes the most capped Pumas captain in history. He first led Argentina in 2021 against Romania. His 52 test as captain are followed by Agustín Creevy with 51, Lisandro Arbizu with 48, Hugo Porta with 38 and Agustín Pichot with 31.
- The Springboks have an 87.1% winning record against Argentina since the first test match in 1993.
- The match will be played at the neutral location of Twickenham Stadium in London. It will be the second time Los Pumas and the Springboks play each other in London. The previous time was at the Olympic Stadium for the Bronze Final of Rugby World Cup 2015. Julián Montoya and Guido Petti played that day for Argentina while Damian de Allende, Jessie Kriel and Eben Etzebeth played for South Africa.
- Argentina enter with two rookies in the halves: Simón Benítez Cruz and Geronimo Prisciantelli. They both play in elite rugby competitions with the former having joined Newcastle Red Bulls and the latter Racing 92. It sees Santiago Carreras moving from fly half to fullback and Juan Cruz Mallía from fullback to wing.
- Pumas centers Santiago Chocobares and Justo Piccardo start together for the first-time ever. Lucio Cinti is out of the team and 23 for the first time in thew 2025 Rugby Championship.
- Santiago Grondona earns his first cap of the 2025 Rugby Championship. Usually a flanker, he starts at N8.
- 8 of the Pumas presently play in the English Premiership: Rodrigo Isgró, Guido Petti and Boris Wenger (Harlequins), Pedro Rubiolo and Santiago Grondona (Bristol Bears), Juan Martín Gonzalez (Saracens), Simón Benítez Cruz (Newcastle Red Bulls), and Santiago Carreras (Bath).
- Thomas du Toit is the one Springbok presently playing in the English Premiership. He and Santiago Carreras will be teammates at Bath after the Puma signed from Gloucester.
- The Springboks starting XV has a combined total of 797 test caps. Argentina’s starters have 709 caps.
- Eben Etzebeth earns his 138th Springboks cap and captain Siya Kolisi earns his 98th. Etzebeth is the most capped Springbok of all-time.
- Pablo Matera is the most capped Puma with 117 caps. Montoya is second with 113 caps. Guido Petti will earn his 95th cap. Only four Pumas, past and / or present, have reached 100 caps. Eight Springboks, past and / or present are test centurions.
- Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu needs 5 points to reach the mark of 100 test points for South Africa.
- Mayco Vivas, Julián Montoya, Pedro Rubiolo and Pablo Matera have played in all 9 Pumas’ matches in 2025.
Rassie Erasmus’s men have destiny in their hands and have the firepower to get the job done. His team was complacent in week one of the Rugby Championship against Australia but that performance served as a wake-up call. In contrast, Felipe Contepomi’s Pumas had a disappointing opening round match, followed by three positive performances and a second-half humbling against South Africa last weekend in Durban. Different to how that game unfolded, Argentina will need to be the protagonists in order to compete for 80 minutes. The weather will provide friendly conditions for attacking rugby. South Africa are clear favorites to win in London and secure the 2025 Rugby Championship title.
ARGENTINA
1 Mayco Vivas, 2 Julián Montoya (capt.), 3 Joel Sclavi, 4 Guido Petti, 5 Pedro Rubiolo, 6 Pablo Matera, 7 Marcos Kremer, 8 Santiago Grondona, 9 Simón Benítez Cruz, 10 Gerónimo Prisciantelli, 11 Juan Cruz Mallía, 12 Santiago Chocobares, 13 Justo Piccardo, 14 Bautista Delguy, 15 Santiago Carreras
Replacements: 16 Ignacio Ruiz, 17 Boris Wenger, 18 Francisco Coria Marchetti, 19 Franco Molina, 20 Juan Martín Gonzalez, 21 Joaquín Oviedo, 22 Agustín Moyano, 23 Rodrigo Isgró
SOUTH AFRICA
1 Ox Nche, 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 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Grant Williams, 22 Manie Libbok, 23 Jesse Kriel
Date: Saturday, October 04
Kickoff: 2:00pm (UK); 10:00am (Argentina)
Venue: Twickenham Stadium, London (UK)
Broadcasts: ESPN, Disney + (Argentina)
Weather Forecast: Cloudy; 14°C; Wind 30 km/h
Referee: Andrea Piardi (Italy)
Assistant Referees: Nika Amashukeli (Georgia), Eoghan Cross (Ireland)
Television Match Official: Ian Tempest (England)
Split Screen/FPRO: Matteo Liperini (Italy)
| HISTORY vs (1993-2025) |
Sep 27, 2025 – South Africa 67-30 Argentina (Durban, ZA)
Sep 28, 2024 – South Africa 48-07 Argentina (Nelspruit, ZA)
Sep 21, 2024 – Argentina 29-28 South Africa (Santiago del Estero, AR)
Aug 05, 2023 – Argentina 13-24 South Africa (Buenos Aires, AR)
Jul 29, 2023 – South Africa 22-21 Argentina (Johannesburg, ZA)
Sep 24, 2022 – South Africa 38-21 Argentina (Durban, ZA)
Sep 17, 2022 – Argentina 20-36 South Africa (Buenos Aires, AR)
Aug 21, 2021 – South Africa 29-10 Argentina (Port Elizabeth, ZA)
Aug 14, 2021 – South Africa 32-12 Argentina (Port Elizabeth, ZA)
Aug 17, 2019 – South Africa 24-18 Argentina (Pretoria, ZA)
Aug 10, 2019 – Argentina 13-46 South Africa (Salta, AR)
Aug 25, 2018 – Argentina 32-19 South Africa (Mendoza, AR)
Aug 18, 2018 – South Africa 34-21 Argentina (Durban, ZA)
Aug 26, 2017 – Argentina 23-41 South Africa (Salta, AR)
Aug 19, 2017 – South Africa 37-15 Argentina (Port Elizabeth, AR)
Aug 27, 2016 – Argentina 26-24 South Africa (Salta, AR)
Oct 20, 2016 – South Africa 30-23 Argentina (Nelspruit, ZA)
Oct 30, 2015 – South Africa 24-13 Argentina (London, UK)
Aug 15, 2015 – Argentina 12-26 South Africa (Buenos Aires, AR)
Aug 08, 2015 – South Africa 25-37 Argentina (Durban, ZA)
Aug 23, 2014 – Argentina 31-33 South Africa (Salta, AR)
Aug 16, 2014 – South Africa 13-06 Argentina (Pretoria, ZA)
Aug 24, 2013 – Argentina 17-22 South Africa (Mendoza, AR)
Aug 17, 2013 – South Africa 73-13 Argentina (Johannesburg, ZA)
Aug 25, 2012 – Argentina 16-16 South Africa (Mendoza, AR)
Aug 18, 2012 – South Africa 27-06 Argentina (Cape Town, ZA)
Aug 19, 2008 – South Africa 63-09 Argentina (Johannesburg, ZA)
Oct 14, 2007 – South Africa 37-13 Argentina (Paris, FR)
Nov 05, 2005 – Argentina 23-34 South Africa (Buenos Aires, AR)
Dec 04, 2004 – Argentina 07-39 South Africa (Buenos Aires, AR)
June 28, 2003 – South Africa 26-25 Argentina (Port Elizabeth, ZA)
June 29, 2002 – South Africa 49-29 Argentina (Springs, ZA)
Dec 12, 2000 – Argentina 33-37 South Africa (Buenos Aires, AR)
Nov 16, 1996 – Argentina 21-44 South Africa (Buenos Aires, AR)
Nov 09, 1996 – Argentina 15-46 South Africa (Buenos Aires, AR)
Oct 15, 1994 – South Africa 46-26 Argentina (Johannesburg, ZA)
Oct 08, 1994 – South Africa 42-22 Argentina (Port Elizabeth, ZA)
Nov 13, 1993 – Argentina 23-52 South Africa (Buenos Aires, AR)
Nov 06, 1993 – Argentina 26-29 South Africa (Buenos Aires, AR)
| HEAD TO HEAD vs |
South Africa Wins 34
Argentina Wins 4
Draws 1
