At a heaving Twickenham, South Africa kept their nerve and their crown, sealing the title with a 29-27 victory over Argentina in a finale that crackled with tension. In the end, the Springboks completed a historic first, winning the Rugby Championship 2025 for back to back glory, and they did it with a performance that mixed scrum steel, third quarter surge, and late drama.
How the decider was shaped by pressure and poise
The stakes were unmistakable. Earlier in the day New Zealand defeated Australia with a bonus point, turning London into a winner takes all stage for Siya Kolisi and his team. South Africa needed a win to finish level on points with their great rivals, and then let points differential carry the day. That is exactly what happened, delivering the country its first back to back triumph in the SANZAAR era.
The scoreboard suggests a nail-biter, yet for a defining stretch the Boks were irresistible. From the 37th minute to the 58th, South Africa rattled off 26 unanswered points, flipping a 13-3 deficit into a commanding 29-13 lead. It was the same irresistible pattern we saw in Wellington and in Durban during this campaign, a stretch of play where the Springboks looked a class apart.
Early trouble, then set-piece dominance
Argentina struck first, riding fast ruck speed and field position after Canan Moodie’s yellow card for an illegal tackle inside the opening two minutes. Bautista Delguy finished smartly, and with Santiago Carreras adding two penalties, Los Pumas surged 13-3 ahead. South Africa, however, began to bend the game at the scrum, where they won penalty after penalty and turned pressure into territory. A Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu penalty stopped the bleeding, and the Boks’ dominant scrum finally cashed in just before halftime when Cobus Reinach dived over, with Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s conversion trimming the gap to 13-10.
The second half began with more power and more discipline from South Africa. Another scrum penalty, then a yellow card to Pumas loosehead Mayco Vivos for a high tackle, tilted the field further. Malcolm Marx, immense in contact and in mindset, swivelled over in the corner to give the Boks their first lead at 15-13. The pressure did not relent.
Third quarter surge that broke the game open
Reinach struck again in the 52nd minute, reaching out to complete his brace. Then Marx powered over for his second after South Africa pounced on a Pumas lineout tap near their own line. In little more than 20 minutes the Boks had stormed from ten down to 16 ahead, with their third quarter surge all but locking the trophy in the cabinet.
Yet Argentina are never out of a fight. A long Kolbe pass inside his own half went astray, Delguy snaffled the gift and suddenly the lead was cut to single digits. Carreras then had a late penalty to set up a grandstand finish, but his strike hit the post. Rodrigo Isco scored from a cross-kick after the hooter, a consolation that could not alter the outcome, but it did sharpen the post-match conversation about South Africa’s late-game game management.
Kolisi on staying in the moment
Siya Kolisi carried the same message through the week and into the post-match analysis. Focus on performance, not headlines. Respect the opponent. Trust the process. Before kickoff he framed the decider with a calm clarity that resonated.
Of course it is a big thing, but we have still got to play the Test match. We have to stay focused in the moment and on what is in front of us, we cannot control the result. We just want to make sure that we play as hard as we can, and the magnitude of the game does not change how we play.
After lifting the trophy, he leaned into the theme of resilience that defined the campaign. South Africa lost their opener to Australia at Ellis Park, yet they kept climbing, kept believing, and kept finding an extra gear when it mattered.
We have had to, because we are playing against quality teams. It really has been a tough Rugby Championship and you can see that by how close it was on the log. Argentina have been playing really well, they challenged us a lot today and we knew they would go down fighting.
It was a tough day today. Credit to the Argentinian team, they came hard. It was not the perfect game of rugby, but the fight we show each time is something to be proud of. It does not always go the way we want it to, but we are always able to find another gear. It also shows how important the players that come off the bench are for us.
Erasmus on learning while winning
Head coach Rassie Erasmus acknowledged the mixture of satisfaction and unfinished business that comes with a narrow winning margin after long stretches of control. His assessment was sober, proud, and practical, exactly the tone a champion side needs as it looks ahead.
I am satisfied with the result and winning the Castle Lager Rugby Championship back to back. This was a massive game for us, and although it was a far from perfect performance, I would prefer to see us learn while we are winning than losing.
We are still in a good position for the Rugby World Cup draw, but there is no doubt we have five tough matches ahead, and there is a lot of work ahead for us. The reality is that Argentina defeated Australia, New Zealand, and the British and Irish Lions, so we will celebrate tonight and take that positive from this match.
Why the final score flattered the contest
Context matters. The Rugby Championship log shows South Africa and New Zealand level on points, with the title decided by points differential. Critics might see a thin margin. The tape tells a different story. The Boks produced extended patches of dominance that blew open games, including 26 unanswered points at Twickenham and similar avalanches in Wellington and Durban. In those cities the winning margins stretched to 33 and 37, a marker of a team that can throttle opponents when rhythm meets accuracy. Had Kolbe’s late pass gone to hand in London, the gap probably would have ballooned to 30 or more, not narrowed to two.
The small print of a season can be revealing. South Africa’s wobbliest moments came when ambition overran balance. At Ellis Park they flew to 22-0 in the first quarter, then overplayed, lost their shape, and paid for it in a 38-22 defeat. In London, a risky pass handed Los Pumas a lifeline. The lesson is not to retreat, it is to choose the moment, to apply the throttle with control. That is the next step in the Boks’ evolving game management.
The evolution that powered back to back champions
Given where they started this Championship, the end result is a testament to growth. The Springboks retained their No. 1 status while expanding their attacking repertoire and deepening the squad. They began the tournament with a clear idea of first-choice players in most positions, and finished it with genuine options across the sheet. In many jerseys, three contenders now feel ready to slot in without a drop in quality, a luxury that fortifies South Africa as the year closes and the horizon shifts toward 2027.
New names altered the conversation. The rise of Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu was headline material after his record display in Durban. Around him, Ethan Hooker, Canan Moodie, Wilco Louw, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, and Ruan Nortje either announced themselves or took decisive steps forward. Damian Willemse and Manie Libbok confirmed their pedigree. Veterans anchored the project, with Damian de Allende influential in the trenches, Marx and Pieter-Steph du Toit operating at Player of the Championship standards, and Eben Etzebeth doing what Eben Etzebeth does.
Up front, the bench delivered energy and edge. Wilco Louw repeatedly smashed the first scrum after his introduction, a tone-setter that matters in tight Tests. Thomas du Toit grew in influence. Skipper Kolisi looked at home again at No. 6, and Handre Pollard, hero in the Cape Town win over Australia, gave the coaching staff different ways to close matches. This blend of old and new is the current team’s quiet superpower, depth married to clarity of role.
Set piece, defense, and the quest for the complete performance
The decider showcased the Springbok blueprint. Win collisions, squeeze at the scrum, and attack with variety. The scrum was a weapon, drawing penalties and dictating field position. The maul and close-quarter carries set the table for Reinach’s brace and Marx’s double. On defense, there were moments to fix, especially in slow starts. The last four games featured first halves that fell short of the standard, then explosive surges after the break. The challenge now is to stitch together the elusive 80-minute performance.
That is what France and Ireland will be thinking about as they prepare for November. Paris and Dublin await, venues that demand clarity under pressure. The Boks have proved they can dominate portions of Tests like few others. The next leap is to extend that rhythm across the full arc of a match, and to cut out the gifts that opponents seized in Johannesburg and London.
Key numbers and scorers
South Africa 29
- Cobus Reinach two tries,
- Malcolm Marx two tries,
- Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu three conversions and one penalty.
Argentina 27
- Bautista Delguy two tries,
- Rodrigo Isco one try,
- Santiago Carreras three conversions and three penalties.
Turning points at Twickenham
- Canan Moodie’s early yellow card and a sharp Pumas start to 13-3,
- the Springboks’ scrum squeeze that produced repeat penalties and momentum,
- Reinach’s try just before halftime that flipped belief and set up the second half surge.
Why this title feels bigger than the margin
Championships are not only about the final whistle, they are about the journey. This was a tight Rugby Championship, something Kolisi emphasized, with the All Blacks level on 19 points and the Wallabies and Los Pumas landing statement wins that kept the race alive until the last afternoon. Argentina beat New Zealand in Buenos Aires, Australia stunned South Africa in Johannesburg, and that parity sharpened minds across the southern hemisphere.
Within that pressure cooker, South Africa proved they could win in different ways. London was not perfect, yet it was composed. It featured ruthless set-piece work, clinical finishing in the decisive window, and the nerve to ride out a late surge. The title arrived by points differential, but the performance profile across the tournament said more about quality than arithmetic. In the critical stretches, there was no argument about who set the standard.
What comes next for a team on the rise
Five Tests remain this year, and the calendar brings heavyweight collisions in Europe. The Boks will take the confidence of back to back titles and the humility of clear work-ons into those games. Erasmus has been frank that learning continues. The team’s attacking transition is real, the depth is expanding, and the margins are tightening. Opponents will target game management and early accuracy as pressure points, while South Africa will look to protect possession better in their own half and continue to squeeze at scrum time.
Call it a golden moment, perhaps even a golden age. The Springboks are at least twenty percent better than they were a year ago according to voices around the camp, and they are moving quickly. The rest of the rugby world can read the signs. If South Africa connect their halves, and turn long spells of dominance into complete performances, the chase for a historic World Cup three-peat in 2027 will grow louder with every month.
The final word
Twickenham offered a fitting snapshot of the champions that South Africa have become. A slow start, a thunderous response, a test of nerve, and a trophy hoisted high. The Springboks did not just survive Argentina, they won the moments that decide titles. In a competition that asked hard questions, they had the best answers, and they still see room to improve. That is the mark of a worthy champion, and a warning to everyone else.
