5 Things We Learned from the 2025 Rugby Championship - Springboks retain the title

In front of a huge crowd at the Allianz Stadium in Twickenham, Rassie Erasmus' men firmly established themselves as the number one side in the world to take the victory and rid the All Blacks of a trophy that they had long held.

Los Pumas' summer has been a mixed one. From losing a series to England, who had many players unavailable due to the British and Irish Lions tour, Argentina never kicked on and finished at the bottom of the table for the first time since 2022.

Despite a first ever home victory over New Zealand, Argentina did not gain significant momentum and only gained two wins from six matches. Last weekend's narrow loss to champions South Africa showed signs of improvement but ultimately the skill of the Springboks was enough to sweep aside Argentina.

It has long been a conundrum of the rugby world as to why Argentina have never fully challenged at the top level despite possessing some hugely exciting players. Julian Montoya, Santi Carreras, Guido Petti and Rodrigo Isgros have all played continually in Europe's elite competitions and yet are unable to bring their vast experience to their national side.

The main issue in the South American side remains their domestic league situation. With the disbandment of the Super Rugby side, Jaguares, in 2022, Argentina do not currently have a hugely competitive league in their home country.

However, there still is time to develop and grow as many Argentinians continue to move across the Atlantic to England and France, which will hopefully make them into a more complete and competitive group in the near future.

South Africa's back-to-back tournament victory would have been exactly what Rassie Erasmus wanted. But it was the way the way that they played which would have pleased Erasmus the most.

A side set on standards of physicality and power, the Springboks used their forwards superbly to dismantle their opposition, particularly shown in their 67-30 rout of Argentina.

It was not only South Africa's ability to use their world class but to develop players at their disposal. Across the tournament, South Africa chopped and changed their team to give players valuable game time in a test match environment.

Whilst this may have cost them in their defeats to New Zealand and Australia early on, the Springboks now have a huge player base in which they can slot in seamlessly to replace injured or unavailable members of the squad.

All is well for the southern hemisphere outfit. Number one in the world and the team to beat when it comes to the autumn.

After a record breaking Lions tour albeit losing the series 2-1, Australia have finally found their feet and will look to climb the rankings after a period of frustration.

There has been some debate around the faltering Wallabies side and how they bounce back. One of the most recognisable and traditionally competitive teams in world rugby had been in a time of recession. Now, they look to be back on the right track to challenge.

With a side of young players including Max Jorgensen and Joseph Sua'ali'i, paired with experience, Australia have a perfect platform to kick on.

Whilst two defeats to New Zealand and one to South Africa scuppered their progress in the tournament, a remarkable comeback win against the Springboks in Johannesburg underlines the talent that this team has.

They will need to find some consistency and cut down on errors such as their penalty count against Argentina, which cost them victory. However, there is no doubt that Australia are finally back to ruthless nature, which will serve them well as they look to progress under new coach Les Kiss.

Long have New Zealand been rugby union's greatest ever side and arguably, they still are.

The All Blacks still have the capacity to recalibrate mid-game, to absorb pressure and find ways to win. Their ability to grind through tight games and secure bonus-point wins, for example their 28-14 win over Australia, shows that their systems are still robust.

However, their defence and discipline sometimes cracked under intensity, especially when opposition packs got on top. Also, their points differential (+8) was far less flattering than South Africa’s (+57) — meaning in 'easier' matches, they were less consistent.

They also struggled in matches where their forwards were overpowered, especially in Wellington vs South Africa.

The All Blacks need to maintain flexibility and mental strength, but ensure they shore up set-piece and physical collisions so that they don’t get overrun when the going is tough.

This year's Rugby Championship has not been about whether a side has won but the manner in which they did it in.

All three of South Africa, Australia and Argentina recorded three bonus points. If New Zealand had avoided a heavy defeat to South Africa and retained some of their points difference total, then potentially they would sitting top of the table.

Meanwhile, Argentina, despite having the same results as Australia, missed out by one point for the third spot, having recorded one less bonus point than the Wallabies.

The trend is clear. You have to win big or avoid losing by a huge margin.

Big wins are great, but heavy defeats are devastating. Argentina’s two lopsided losses (67–30 vs SA, 43–13 vs NZ) destroyed their differential and killed any outside title chance.

Teams always have to aim to maximise scoring opportunities, manage risk and avoid swings. Otherwise, over a tournament, points difference will bite you, as it did to New Zealand.