Boks home from home at Twickenham

The Pumas are going to make a pile of money and the Springboks are going to feel right at home.

Sat, 04 Oct, 2025 - 06:36

Mark Maguire

South Africa will be 9,000 kms (5,600 miles) from home at Twickenham on Saturday and probably won’t feel much of a difference.

The Springboks were drawn to London by Argentina, which sacrificed staging the match at home for much bigger ticket revenue.

The downside for the Pumas in not playing at 57,000-seat Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes or 49,500-seat José Amalfitani Stadium is going into the heart of the largest concentration of South African expatriates.

The chance for supporters to witness the Springboks make history and win their first back-to-back Rugby Championship trophies has bumped ticket sales north of 70,000. The Pumas are going to make a pile of money and the Springboks are going to feel right at home.

This is the third time in two years the Springboks are at Twickenham and not facing England; 80,827 watched them beat New Zealand 35-7 in a 2023 World Cup warmup, and 60,000 saw them beat Wales 41-13 in mid-2024. Both games sounded more like Johannesburg than Auckland or Cardiff.

“We thoroughly enjoyed the experience,” Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus said.

The Pumas also chose Twickenham for the only other Rugby Championship match played outside of the four SANZAAR countries and it didn’t go well; 48,515 watched Australia beat them 33-21 in 2016.

South Africa arrives at the final round leading the standings for the first time and owning its fate following big wins over New Zealand ( 43-10 ) and Argentina ( 67-30 ). The All Blacks are a point behind, the Wallabies four behind, and the Pumas out of contention and set to take the wooden spoon for the first time since 2022.

Last weekend in Durban, the Springboks had their noses in front of the Pumas at halftime then blew away the visitors with nine tries, two of them while a man short.

The only change to the starting XV is the return from injury of loosehead prop Ox Nche.

“The focus for us is on what we have to do to try to win the competition twice in a row for the first time, so the stakes are high for us,” Erasmus said. “We know what we are capable of if we remain within our structures and play for the full 80 minutes.”

Pumas coach Felipe Contepomi blew up his embarrassed side, making seven changes and two positional moves.

The main talking points were switching Santiago Carreras from flyhalf to his more natural fullback position, and, because of injuries, choosing rookie halves Simón Benítez Cruz and Gerónimo Prisciantelli, who has seven minutes of test experience. Together, they have less than four hours.

“He (Prisciantelli) is playing against the best team in the world and a top 10 (Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu), so it’s not easy,” Contepomi said. “We have complete confidence in him. It’s his preparation and understanding of what the team wants to do.”

Meanwhile New Zealand lock Tupou Vaa'i has been ruled out of the final Rugby Championship test against Australia in Perth on Saturday after injuring his right knee in training. Fabian Holland will take Vaa'i's place in the starting side with Patrick Tuipulotu providing cover off the bench.

NEW ZEALAND (v Australia): W Jordan, L Carter, Q Tupaea, J Barrett, L Fainga'anuku, D McKenzie, C Roigard; (8-1): P Lakai, A Savea, S Parker, F Holland, S Barrett (capt), F Newell, C Taylor, T Williams.

Replacements: S Taukei'aho, G Bower, P Tosi, P Tuipulotu, W Sititi, C Ratima, R Ioane, R Love.

- AP/Reuters