South Africa’s 2025 Rugby Championship campaign got its first win on Saturday, beating Australia 30-22 in the second of back-to-back games.
Key performances came from Handre Pollard, who contributed 15 points with his kicking (three penalties and three conversions), and tries scored by Canan Moodie, Kwagga Smith, and Eben Etzebeth. The match was intensely physical, with South Africa showing strong defence and execution, although they conceded some penalties.
Australia scored three tries but failed to capitalise on crucial penalty kicks by James O’Connor in the closing moments, which would have closed the gap. With the win after a disappointing collapse last weekend when they were beaten 38-22 after giving up 38 unanswered points following a 22-0 lead, the Springboks stay in third place in the Rugby Championship standings.
A doubleheader against New Zealand will take place next, who won their opening match against Argentina before playing in the late hours of Saturday night.
Will the Springboks kick on in their quest to retain the Rugby Championship?
With the team entering the competition as the favourites to win and retain the title that they had won last year, the opening day defeat would have been considered a huge setback. However, those who managed to find the betting sites bonuses on Goal.com to use on South Africa for the second match and those to come in this competition will have been pleased to see them bounce back this weekend.
Still, will they kick on and compete for the title? Some might say that they have an even harder challenge ahead of them in the All Blacks. The Springboks still must beat New Zealand twice on their tour in Auckland and Wellington to keep any serious hopes of defending their title alive.
Nonetheless, their win over Australia has restored some momentum for their Rugby Championship campaign. Coach Rassie Erasmus emphasized that while the victory was important to regain belief after a shock loss the previous week, he acknowledged the team’s performance was not perfect, highlighting they didn’t take all their chances, but securing the win and denying Australia a bonus point was crucial.
It showed that they had the character within the team to recover, as several changes were made to the team that had lost in the opening weekend. The entire squad will be needed to get past New Zealand in the upcoming tests, with the tours in Auckland and Wellington likely to be anything but easy.
Pollard’s kicking ability could be required once again, as he may be needed to apply scoreboard pressure if they are unable to score tries. He had 15 points in the victory against Australia, converting all six of his place kicks.
Should they manage to get positive results against New Zealand, two final fixtures will take place against Argentina. They are a nation that can cause problems, but the world’s #1-ranked nation will feel they have enough to deal with their challenge effectively enough. It’s just whether they are ready to take on New Zealand…
