Boks beat Argentina in London to win Rugby Championship

The Springboks were crowned as Rugby Championship champions after a hard-fought 29-27 win over Argentina at Twickenham Stadium in London on Saturday.

The Boks secured victory through a brace of tries from Cobus Reinach and Malcolm Marx as they wrapped up what has been a tumultuous campaign.

South Africa started the campaign by losing to Australia but recovered to record wins over the Wallabies, New Zealand and two against Argentina to seal back-to-back titles.

The Pumas scored their tries from the efforts of a brace by Bautista Delguy and one from Rodrigo Isgro.

The Boks recovered from a sluggish first half to exert themselves in the game and overtake New Zealand for their second Rugby Championship title in succession.

Earlier in rainy Perth, the All Blacks beat Australia 28-14 and South Africa needed to beat the Pumas to be crowned champions and they did just that.

It was also a significant day for Springbok captain Siya Kolisi, who has earned 98 Test caps and is on the verge of joining an exclusive club of centurions that includes Percy Montgomery, John Smit, Victor Matfield, Bryan Habana, Jean de Villiers, Tendai Mtawarira, Eben Etzebeth and Willie le Roux.

South Africa suffered a huge blow inside the opening two minutes when Canan Moodie was sent to the sin bin for a head-on tackle on Juan Cruz Mallia.

The Pumas immediately benefited from their numerical advantage when Bautista Delguy crossed over for Santiago Carreras to convert after a spell of pressure on the visitors.

The Boks got their name on the scoresheet for the first time after 10 minutes when Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu scored a penalty and shortly after that returned to full complement with Moodie back on the field.

Argentina pulled away after 18 minutes when Carreras found the middle of the poles with a penalty after Marx was penalised.

South Africa continued to concede penalties and Carreras was spot on again shortly before the half-hour mark from the kicking tee to give Argentina a 10-point lead.

The Springboks finally scored their first try in the 38th minute after putting Argentina under pressure when Reinach claimed a loose ball to cross over the line and Feinberg-Mngomezulu converted.

The second half got off to an inviting start for the Springboks when Mayco Vivas was shown a yellow card for a high tackle on Etzebeth.

The Boks took full advantage immediately when Marx pulled away from the maul as South Africa went into the lead for the first time in the match but Feinberg-Mngomezulu could not find the middle of the poles with his conversion.

The Springboks revival continued when Reinach went over to score his second try of the afternoon as they began to take full control of the match.

Then Marx powered over the line for his second try with Feinberg-Mngomezulu converting to maintain their advantage.

Argentina roared back in the game when Delguy scored his second try, benefiting from a mistake from Cheslin Kolbe who mistimed his pass that was intended for Jesse Kriel.

Isgro scored a converted try after the hooter had sounded but it did not matter that much because South Africa prevailed by two points.