South Africa win against Argentina not enough to deny New Zealand Rugby Championship title

South Africa won the battle but lost the war following their victory over ill-disciplined Argentina in Durban, a result that handed the 2022 Rugby Championship title to New Zealand.

The All Blacks topped the standings with 19 points from their six games, one more than South Africa, who could not manage the try-scoring bonus point they needed to go with a 39-point winning margin on the scoreboard to claim the trophy.

Instead, Argentina ran them close in Durban but were once again let down by their discipline as they received four yellow cards and conceded two penalty tries. The Boks also scored through No 8 Jasper Wiese, captain Siya Kolisi and replacement full-back Kurt-Lee Arendse.

The visitors looked dangerous every time they had ball in hand and scored three tries through scrum-half Gonzalo Bertranou, back row Juan Martín Gonzalez and centre Matias Moroni, but spent much of the time on defence as they conceded 22 penalties.