Boks v Pumas: By the numbers

THE RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP 2025

ARGENTINA v SOUTH AFRICA – ALLIANZ STADIUM, TWICKENHAM, ENGLAND

KICK-OFF SATURDAY 3PM (SAST)

Referee

Andrea Piardi (Italy)

Test debut: 17 March, 2018 – Switzerland 30-24 Poland

Tests as referee: 18

• Andrea Piardi will take charge South Africa for the first time in a Test.

• The Italian has been an assistant referee once for this fixture, South Africa’s 38-21 victory in September 2022.

• This will be the second time that Piardi referees Argentina, Los Pumas have been beaten 42-10 by New Zealand in last year’s Rugby Championship.

• Piardi takes charge of his second match of the 2025 tournament, having overseen New Zealand’s 33-24 defeat of Australia at Eden Park last weekend.

• This is Piardi’s fifth Test of the year, having also overseen Scotland’s 35-29 defeat of Wales in the Guinness Men’s Six Nations in March, Ireland’s 34-5 win over Georgia and the British & Irish Lions’ 29-26 victory over Australia in the second Test in July.

Head-to-head

Played: 39 – South Africa leads 34-4 with one draw

Points for: Argentina 757/South Africa 1 382 (Avg. score: 19-35)

Highest score: Argentina 37 (37-25 on 8 August, 2015)/South Africa 73 (73-13 on 17 August, 2013)

Biggest winning margin: Argentina 13 (32-19 on 25 August, 2018)/South Africa 60 (73-13 on 17 August, 2013)

First met: 6 November, 1993 – South Africa 29-26 Argentina – Ferro Carril Oeste Stadium, Buenos Aires

Last met: 27 September, 2025 – South Africa 67-30 Argentina – Hollywoodbets Kings Park, Durban

Head-to-head notes

• This match takes place on neutral soil, at Allianz Stadium in Twickenham, although Argentina are considered the home team by SANZAAR.

• The sides have met in London once before – at The Stadium, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in the Rugby World Cup 2015 bronze final, a game South Africa won 24-13.

• Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu broke the South Africa record for points scored in a single Test with 37 in last week’s 67-30 win in Durban.

• The flyhalf scored a hat-trick of tries, converted eight of South Africa's nine tries and kicked two penalties to beat the previous record of 35 points set by Percy Montgomery against Namibia in 2007.

• Pieter-Steph du Toit bagged a brace in the second half as the Springboks built on their slender 25-23 half-time lead.

• South Africa’s other try scorers were Malcolm Marx, who also picked up a yellow card, Cheslin Kolbe, Morne van den Berg and Manie Libbok.

• It was the most points South Africa have scored against Argentina in 12 years – since a 73-13 win in August 2013.

• Argentina spent 15 minutes in the lead in the first half, thanks to 11 points from the boot of Santiago Carreras, Santiago Chocobares’ try and a penalty try.

• However, they were only able to score seven more points after the break, through Tomás Albornoz’s try and Carreras’ conversion.

• South Africa have won 10 of their last 11 Tests against Argentina.

• South Africa were Argentina’s first opponents when The Rugby Championship started in 2012, the Springboks winning 27-6 in Cape Town.

• Argentina, however, held them to a 16-16 draw in the return match to earn their first points in the competition.

Team notes

• Argentina are now out of title contention as they are six points behind South Africa at the foot of The Rugby Championship 2025 standings.

• Los Pumas have conceded the most points (185) and tries (26) in the competition.

• The 67 points Argentina conceded last week is the most points since they were beaten by a record score and margin by South Africa in August 2013 (73-13).

• Argentina have alternated between wins and losses in their last seven Tests.

• Argentina lost 41-24 to New Zealand in the opening round in Salta before bouncing back to beat the All Blacks for the first time on home soil a week later in Buenos Aires, 29-23.

• Argentina conceded a last-gasp score to lose 28-24 to Australia in Townsville.

• Once again, Los Pumas responded the right way, coming out on top – 28-26 – when the sides met in Sydney a week later.

• Argentina have won three out of their last four home matches in The Rugby Championship.

• Argentina have scored between 20 and 29 points in each of their five Rugby Championship matches to date, which have brought them two wins and three defeats.

• Argentina are the most penalised team in the competition (52) and are the only team averaging more than 10 penalties per game (10.4).

• Eighty of Argentina’s 135 points have come from kicks at goal, including 20 penalties and 10 conversions.

• Carreras is the competition’s leading points scorer with 60.

• Argentina have only missed four of their 33 shots at goal (88%).

• Juan Cruz Mallía has been on the pitch the whole of the campaign, clocking up a maximum 400 minutes.

• Mateo Carreras has made 17 tackle breaks in the tournament, the most of any player.

• Marcos Kremer has made the most tackles (80) and averages 19.8 per 80 minutes on the field of play.

• Argentina won on their last visit to Allianz Stadium, Twickenham, beating England 30-29 in November 2022.

• hat ended a four-game losing streak at the home of English rugby, including Barbarians fixtures.

• Argentina enjoyed their most successful Rugby Championship campaign in 2024, having beaten New Zealand, Australia and South Africa in the same tournament for the first time in history.

• Argentina finished with the same number of wins as the All Blacks but were denied an historic second-place finish behind champions South Africa, as they only picked up two bonus points to New Zealand’s four.

• Los Pumas had to settle for third place but their final competition points tally of 14 was their best return yet.

• Pablo Matera became the most-capped Puma earlier in the year, overtaking Agustín Creevy’s 110 Test appearances in the second Test defeat to England in San Juan.

• South Africa currently top The Rugby Championship 2025 standings as they look to go ‘back-to-back’ for the first time in the competition’s history.

• After three wins and two defeats, South Africa are on 15 points, one more than New Zealand in second place.

• The Springboks are the leading points (179) and try-scorers (23) in the tournament and have conceded the fewest points (124).

• South Africa only need to score 10 more points and score a couple of tries on Saturday to better their record in winning last year’s title (188 points/24 tries).

• They have made the most clean breaks (42) in the current tournament, beaten the most defenders (139), gained the most metres (2 381) and made the most offloads (46).

• South Africa have conceded the fewest penalties (46) across the first five rounds.

• South Africa’s tackle success rate of 78.8% is the worst in the competition.

• South Africa have kicked the ball 154 times in open play, the most in the competition, averaging 30.8 kicks per match.

• All four of South Africa’s missed shots at goal (three conversions and a penalty) have come on the right-hand side of the field.

• South Africa have won on their last three visits to Allianz Stadium in Twickenham, beating Wales 41-13 in their most recent encounter there in June 2024.

• Before that run of wins, though, the Springboks had lost four in a row at the home of English rugby.

• In their last 10 Tests there, South Africa’s record is W6, L4.

• South Africa are the reigning champions of both Rugby World Cup and The Rugby Championship and also the No 1 ranked team in the world.

• South Africa ended their five-year wait for a Rugby Championship title when they won the 2024 edition.

• It was their second title since Argentina joined the competition to form The Rugby Championship in 2012, having previously lifted the trophy in 2019.

• The Springboks picked up 24 competition points – eight more than runners-up New Zealand – from five wins and one defeat.

• The reigning champions began their title defence this year with a 38-22 loss to Australia at Airline Emirates Park but won the return match in Cape Town, 30-22.

• The Johannesburg defeat was their first on the opening weekend of The Rugby Championship in 10 years.

• It was the first time they’d been beaten since they lost 29-28 to Argentina in the penultimate round of the 2024 Rugby Championship, ending a seven-Test winning run.

• South Africa led 22-0 after 20 minutes of this Rugby Championship opener, a match in which Willie le Roux became the Springboks’ latest Test centurion, after tries from Kurt-Lee Arendse, Andre Esterhuizen and Siya Kolisi.

• However, they conceded 38 unanswered points to lose by 16 points, a margin of defeat that saw the Springboks temporarily lose top spot in the World Rugby Men’s Rankings.

• A week later a much-changed team bounced back with tries from Canan Moodie, Kwagga Smith and Eben Etzebeth, together with 15 points from the boot of Handre Pollard, to secure a 30-22 win.

• South Africa fell to a 24-17 defeat to New Zealand at Eden Park in round three, after mounting a late fightback, before coming from behind to register the record 43-10 win over the All Blacks in Wellington.

• It was a triumphant return for No 8 Jasper Wiese, as it was his first game back from the four-match ban he received for his red card in the 45-0 win over Italy in July.

• South Africa’s year started with a 54-7 win over the Barbarians before beating Italy twice – they also won 42-24 – and Georgia 55-10 in the July internationals.

Team news

• Argentina coach Felipe Contepomi has rung the changes with seven personnel and two positional switches to the starting line-up.

• The front row is unchanged of Mayco Vivas, captain Julián Montoya and Joel Sclavi. Montoya will lead his country for the 52nd time, surpassing Agustín Creevy’s record of 51.

• Guido Petti and Pedro Rubiolo form the new second row with Matera and Kremer joined in the back row this weekend by Santiago Grondona.

• Los Pumas field a half-back pairing with just seven Test caps between them with Simón Benítez Cruz earning a first Rugby Championship start at scrumhalf and Geromino Prisciantelli a first Test start at 10.

• Chocobares continues at inside centre but will have Justo Piccardo outside him.

• An all-change back three sees Carreras shift to full-back with Mallía moving to the left wing and Bautista Delguy coming onto the right wing.

• South Africa make only one change to their starting line-up for the rematch with Argentina with Ox Nche returning at loosehead after an injury niggle saw him drop out of the team in Durban.

• Nche joins Marx and Thomas du Toit in the front row with Etzebeth and Ruan Nortje once more paired together in the engine room.

• Captain Kolisi and flanker Du Toit, who scored a brace of tries last weekend, go again in the back row as two of the four players in the starting line-up with 90 or more Tests to their name.

• Wiese completes the back-row triumvirate at No 8.

• Cobus Reinach and Feinberg-Mngomezulu continue their half-back pairing with Damian de Allende and Moodie outside them in midfield.

• The back three of Ethan Hooker, Kolbe and Damian Willemse go again.

• There are three new faces on the bench in Bongi Mbonambi, Grant Williams and Jesse Kriel with the former in line for a first start since the opening round against Australia.

Coach notes

• Contepomi replaced Michael Cheika as Argentina head coach in December 2023 and has a 48% win record (P21, W10, L11).

• The former Los Pumas captain made his professional head coaching debut in 2015 with Argentina XV, before taking assistant roles with the Jaguares, Leinster and, most recently, Los Pumas.

• As an assistant to Cheika, Contepomi helped guide Argentina to a fourth-place finish at Rugby World Cup 2023.

• During his 15-year Test career as a skilful flyhalf/centre, 46-year-old Contepomi won 87 caps, 25 as captain, scored 651 points and played in four Rugby World Cups, including the historic third-place finish in 2007.

• The twin brother of fellow Pumas international Manuel, he combined his playing career with his medical studies and finally collected his degree from the Royal College of Surgeons in May 2007.

• Rassie Erasmus returned to the Springboks head coach role in February 2024, signing a contract that takes him up to the end of 2027.

• He has overseen 21 Tests in his second spell as head coach, winning 17 and losing four (81%).

• Erasmus was the mastermind behind the Springboks’ back-to-back Rugby World Cup successes of 2019 and 2023 – as head coach and then director of rugby.

• He also led South Africa to their first Rugby Championship title in five years in 2024 and a clean sweep of victories in the Autumn Nations Series that followed.

• His first reign in charge started with a defeat to Wales in Washington DC in June 2018.

• Erasmus won 36 caps for South Africa as a back-row forward from 1997-2001.

Ranking permutations

• South Africa could lose to Argentina in London this weekend and still remain top of the World Rugby Men’s Rankings, providing that they don’t lose to Los Pumas by more than 15 points or New Zealand beat Australia by that same margin.

• These scenarios would see a third change at the top during The Rugby Championship 2025 with New Zealand and South Africa swapping places again, dropping the world champions to third.

• A South Africa win could see their advantage over Ireland at the top increase by nearly one rating point to 2.66 points if they beat Argentina on Saturday.

• If both South Africa and New Zealand win, then the All Blacks will climb above Ireland into second place behind the Springboks.

• South Africa will be replaced at No 1 by Ireland if they lose by more than 15 points and the Bledisloe Cup match in Perth ends in a draw.

• Argentina, who have elected to play their home match with South Africa at Allianz Stadium in Twickenham, cannot catch England above in fifth even with an emphatic victory.

• However, defeat for Los Pumas could see them again swap places with Australia in the rankings if the Wallabies avoid defeat against New Zealand.

• This will see Australia climb to sixth and what would be a place in Band 1 for the Men’s Rugby World Cup 2027 Draw in December.

• Australia cannot slip from seventh this weekend even if beaten heavily at home.

Argentina v South Africa at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham, England - 3pm

Referee: Andrea Piardi (FIR)

Assistant Referees: Nika Amashukeli (GRU), Eoghan Cross (IRFU)

Television Match Official: Ian Tempest (RFU)

Split Screen/FPRO: Matteo Liperini (FIR)

Los Pumas starting XV: 15 Santiago Carreras, 14 Bautista Delguy, 13 Justo Piccardo, 12 Santiago Chocobares, Juan Cruz Mallia; 10 Geronimo Prisciantelli, 9 Simon Benitez Cruz; 8 Santiago Grondona, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Pablo Matera; 5 Pedro Rubiolo, 4 Guido Petti; 3 Joel Sclavi, 2 Julian Montoya (capt), 1 Mayco Vivas. Replacements: 16 Ignacio Ruiz, 17 Boris Wenger, 18 Marchetti Coria, 19 Franco Molina, 20 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 21 Joaquin Oviedo, 22 Agustin Moyano, 23 Rodrigo Isgro.

Springbok starting XV: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Canan Moodie, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Ethan Hooker; 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Cobus Reinach; 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (capt); 5 Ruan Nortje, 0 pts, 4 Eben Etzebeth; 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Ox Nche. 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.