Dominant Springboks were able to clinch the Rugby Championship title in fine style with seven tries to win 48-7 against Argentina at a fully-packed Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit in the final round of this year’s Rugby Championship on Saturday.

With that win, the Springboks claimed the Rugby Championship title for the first time since 2019. The Boks, who entered the encounter after that disappointing 29-28 defeat in Santiago del Estero in round five, needed a win to seal the Rugby Championship title.

Like last week, Rassie Erasmus’s team started the brightest and dominated the early exchanges. They put the visitors under immense pressure in the opening seven minutes and were rewarded when Aphelele Fassi dived over for the first try of the game.

His try came on the back of a powerful scrum before he was brilliantly put in the gap by Manie Libbok, and Jaden Hendrikse added the extra two points. The Springboks maintained the intensity, and in the 12th minute, doubled their tally through a Pieter-Steph du Toit try after several phases in Argentina’s half.

Trailing 14-0 with under 20 minutes played, Los Pumas gained momentum and hit back almost immediately when flyhalf Tomas Albornoz scored under the poles after a line-break through the Bok defense from Santiago Grondona.

That would be the first and last time Argentina scored any points in the first half as the Boks ran rampant from the 20th minute until halftime. They added a further 13 points with Fassi completing his brace before hot-stepper Cheslin Kolbe dotted over in the corner, and Hendrikse slotted in a penalty from close range.

The visitors were also forced to play the latter parts of the half with a man down after winger Mateo Carreras took out Fassi in the air while contesting for a high ball. The Boks, with plenty of territory and possession, had more chances to extend their lead but had to settle for a 27-7 lead at halftime.

The second half was a more balanced battle between the two teams, and Argentina started to make headway in efforts to get themselves back into the match. In the 45th minute, Hendrikse missed a penalty for the Boks, while on the other side of the pitch, Argentina fumbled two opportunities inside the Springboks half.

Ill-discipline cost Argentina again, as a Pablo Matera hit on Vincent Koch’s head saw him sent to the sin bin, and the yellow card was later upgraded to a 20-minute red card. Soon after, the visitors were forced to play with 13 men after another yellow card to fullback, Santiago Carreras for a deliberate tap-down inside their half. 

The Boks then ran rampant and scored three tries in the last 15 minutes of the match. Malcolm Marx barged over from the back of a rolling maul before Pieter-Steph du Toit got his brace, and Jesse Kriel picked up a Handre Pollard grubber kick to complete a near-perfect campaign for the World Champions.

Full-time, 48-7, and the Springboks claimed the Rugby Championship title with five wins out of six matches.