Durban is the venue for Saturday's Rugby Championship Round 5 clash between South Africa and Argentina and the Boks are now the new outright favourites to win the title.

South Africa v Argentina, Saturday 27th September, Durban, KO 17:10 (South African time)

Referee: Angus Gardner (RA)
Assistant Referees: Pierre Brousset (FFR), Angus Mabey (NZR)
TMO: Brett Cronan (RA)

Weather Forecast – Durban

South Africa:

South Africa started the Round 4 clash with New Zealand in Wellington as 6.5 point underdogs on the bookmakers main handicap line but an awesome second half performance saw them inflict a record margin home defeat on the All Blacks. The Boks ran in 6 tries in total, 5 of which came in the second half as they turned a 10-7 half time deficit into an emphatic 43-10 victory. Kolbe (2), Willemse, Smith, Snyman and Esterhuizen scored the tries, 5 of which were converted by Libbok who also landed a penalty.

That outcome was in some contrast to a 24-17 Round 3 defeat to New Zealand in Auckland and gives the Boks every chance of defending the title they won in 2024. South Africa hosted Australia in the first 2 rounds of this tournament. In Round 1 in Johannesburg they they came unstuck as the Wallabies put in a sterling second half display to come back from 22-0 down early on to win 38-22. In Cape Town in Round 2 the Boks came out on top 30-22.

South Africa have 10 log points and are 1 behind Australia. They will take on Los Pumas for a second time in the final round in a game which will be staged at Twickenham. South Africa are now 17/20 favourites with Hollywoodbets to win the title.

Argentina:

Argentina are also in the hunt for the title on a congested log after they held on for a 28-26 Round 4 victory over the Wallabies in Sydney. Montoya scored their only try, converted by Carreras who punished the Wallabies by landing 7 penalties. Los Pumas were comfortably in front at half time and held a 21 point lead heading into the final 16 minutes before the Wallabies launched a comeback which came up just short.

Their Round 3 clash with the Wallabies in Townsville was also a thriller although on that occasion the Wallabies come back prevailed as Los Pumas conceded a try well after the siren to go down 28-24. .

In the earlier rounds Argentina hosted the All Blacks twice. In Cordoba in Round 1 they slipped to a 41-24 defeat but Round 2 was a different story as Argentina made history, beating the All Blacks 29-23 in Buenos Aires, their first ever home win over the New Zealanders.

Los Pumas now have 9 log points, 1 shy of New Zealand and South Africa and 2 behind Australia. . After this the second clash against South Africa will be staged at Twickenham. Argentina are now 20/1 shots to win the Rugby Championship title with Hollywoodbets

Recent Head to Head

2024 RC Nelspruit South Africa 48-7 Argentina

2024 RC Santiago Argentina 29–28 South Africa

2023 RC Johannesburg South Africa 22-21 Argentina

2022 RC Durban South Africa 38-21 Argentina

2022 RC Buenos Aires Argentina 20–36 South Africa

Team News

Late change, Boan Venter will start in place of Ox Nche with Marco van Staden on the bench

South Africa: 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 (captain), 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Boan Venter.
Replacements: 16 Marco van Staden, 17 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Morné van den Berg, 22 Manie Libbok, 23 Andre Esterhuizen

Argentina: 15 Juan Cruz Mallía, 14 Rodrigo Isgró, 13 Lucio Cinti, 12 Santiago Chocobares, 11 Mateo Carreras, 10 Santiago Carreras, 9 Gonzalo García, 8 Joaquín Oviedo, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Lucas Paulos, 4 Franco Molina, 3 Joel Sclavi, 2 Julián Montoya (captain), 1 Mayco Vivas.
Replacements: 16 Ignacio Ruiz, 17 Boris Wenger, 18 Francisco Coria Marchetti, 19 Guido Petti, 20 Pedro Rubiolo, 21 Juan Martín González, 22 Simón Benítez Cruz, 23 Tomás Albornoz

The Betting

Average early show, subject to change

South Africa -15.5 points at 9/10

Argentina +15.5 points at 9/10

Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.

This Weeks Bets

Brent Graham's betting angle and plays for Week 5 of the Rugby Championship will be posted on this Blog.

Likewise the Womens RWC Final bets will be posted in this blog and we also have previews and a blog for the opening round of the URC.

Finally, all this week's rugby tips from members of the Goodforthegame community can be found on the weekly rugby thread on our brand new discussion forum. If you haven't done so already, register a forum account here.

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