Colloquially becoming known as the ‘Braai Boys Derby’ thanks to both nations’ love of cooking food over open coals, early encounters between the two sides were often one-sided in favour of the Springboks.
However, the Los Pumas have grown from strength to strength over the past decade and recent seasons have produced some thrilling and competitive games marked by Argentina’s growing physicality and tactical nous challenging South Africa’s power game.
The following Tests stand out for being close scores with historic firsts and pivotal moments in the Rugby Championship.
Argentina 16-16 South Africa (25 August 2012, Estadio Malvinas Argentinas, Mendoza)
Los Pumas’ debut Test at home in the Rugby Championship ended in a dramatic draw to record their first-ever points in the competition.
Los Pumas matched the Springboks’ physicality at the breakdown, with fly-half Nicolas Sanchez’s composure and full-back Martin Rodriguez’s accurate kicking keeping South Africa at arm’s length.
The Pumas led early through a try by Santiago Fernandez and ran up an impressive 13-3 lead by halftime, backed up by a firm defensive line that conceded just one penalty.
The Boks fought back in the second half through a try by Francois Steyn but Los Pumas’ resilience held firm to cling on for a famous draw.
The result snapped Argentina’s 14-match losing streak against the Springboks and was a sign of things to come from the rising Southern Hemisphere nation.
South Africa 22-17 Argentina (24 August 2013, Estadio Malvinas, Argentina)
Los Pumas almost claimed their maiden Rugby Championship victory against the Springboks at the same venue before falling just short at the final hurdle.
Coming off the back of a humbling 73-13 defeat in Soweto, no one gave Argentina much of a chance in the return leg a week later but they once again showed their grit and determination to give the Springboks a real scare.
Los Pumas got off to a fast start with Juan Manuel Leguizamon scoring the opening try of the game inside the first minute, with Marcelo Bosch adding a second shortly before halftime.
South Africa scored a try of their own in the first half via Bjorn Basson but had to rely on the boot of Morne Steyn, as they so often did, who kicked five penalties and a conversion to secure a come-from-behind win for the Springboks.
Argentina 29-28 South Africa (22 September 2024, Estadio Unico Madre de Ciudades, Santiago del Estero)
A modern classic and one of the greatest upsets in Rugby Championship history, this one-point thriller denied the world champion Springboks an early chance to seal the tournament title.
In sweltering heat reaching 35°C, it was South Africa who would get the fast start by racing out to a 17-point lead inside the opening 13 minutes thanks to tries from Aphelele Fassi and Jesse Kriel.
However, the momentum began to shift around the quarter-hour mark when Mateo Carreras provided the spark with a try of his own before setting up another two scored by Pablo Matera and Joel Sclavi – taking advantage of their numerical supremacy thanks to a yellow card given to Kurt-Lee Arendse for a high tackle on Matera.
Cobus Renaich scored the Springboks’ third try on the stroke of half-time to get things close again but Argentina defended like trojans in the second half, conceding just two penalty goals while Tomas Albornoz’s 69th-minute penalty maintained their lead by a single point.
South Africa threw everything they had at Los Pumas in the final ten minutes of the game before winning a penalty in the dying moments. Unfortunately, Manie Libbok pulled his attempt wide of the posts to hand Argentina a famous victory.
South Africa 48-7 Argentina (28 September 2024, Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit)
Things would be oh-so-different a week later in Mbombela as the Springboks returned to familiar form to dismantle Los Pumas to eventually claim the 2024 Rugby Championship title.
The decisive rematch and title-clincher for South Africa contrasted sharply with the drama from a week before and was memorable for its one-sided dominance after a tense buildup.
South Africa raced out of the blocks once again with Fassi and Pieter-Steph du Toit both crossing the whitewash inside the opening 15 minutes. Cheslin Kolbe (39′), Malcolm Marx (69′) and Kriel also added tries as the Springboks ran riot in a 48-7 thrashing of Argentina.
Los Pumas’ discipline let them down on the day as yellow cards to Santiago Carreras and Pablo Matera, which was later upgraded to a 20-minute red card, meant they had to play a decent portion of the match with just 13 players on the field.
It was a significant bounce-back win for the Springboks against a strong Argentina side that had also beaten New Zealand and Australia in the competition that year, while sealing their first Rugby Championship title since 2019.
