Boks shut out the noise as Rugby Champs finale looms
The Springboks have a strong case for being called the best team in the world at the moment, and on Saturday, they can solidify that statement by winning the Rugby Championship back-to-back when they face Argentina in London.
While South Africa has won multiple titles, they have never managed back-to-back Rugby Championship wins, with their titles being more spread out: 1998, 2004, 2009, 2019, and 2023.
There have been back-to-back victories in the competition, going back to the time it was called the Tri Nations (until 2011).
New Zealand is the dominant team in the competition’s history and has won it back-to-back multiple times (including long streaks, like 2012–2014, 2016–2018).
The Wallabies won it back-to-back in 2000 and 2001 during the Tri-Nations era.
Even though South Africa is No.1 at the moment, other teams like New Zealand, Ireland, or France are always in contention, capable of big performances and upsetting the pecking order. A few big losses or wins can shift rankings quickly.
The Springboks have been on an upward trajectory this season, which culminated in their last two victories against New Zealand (43-10) and Argentina (67-30).
South Africa heads into the Rugby Championship decider this weekend as firm favourites to take the title, but assistant coach Mzwandile Stick and captain Siya Kolisi were hesitant to start speculating about a possible victory.
Speaking to reporters from London, Stick and Kolisi remained focused on the job at hand, reminding everyone of their struggling first-half performance against Los Pumas in Durban last weekend.
“Of course it’s a big thing [back-to-back victories], but we’ve still got to play the Test match. Last week was tough. We were only able to pull it through in the 60th minute,” Kolisi said.
“We have to stay focused in the moment and on what is in front of us.
“We can’t control the result, so we just have to make sure that we play as hard as we can, and the magnitude of the game doesn’t change how we play.
“We are playing for the guys who haven’t won a Rugby Championship, so that is also in the back of our mind.
“Putting on the Springbok jersey, we just want to make sure that we honour that in everything we do.
“To think of all the records is not the time. We just want to focus on the performance.
“We can’t think that far ahead, but it is obviously something that we think about as a group. The most important thing is to make sure we do the job tomorrow [Saturday],” the captain reiterated.
Assistant coach Stick was in agreement with Kolisi, sitting next to him.
“From my side, the main focus for us now is on Argentina and going for an 80-minute performance. Last week is all in the past.
“Regarding breaking records, we will focus on that hopefully after the game if we win, and then we can celebrate that.
“The key thing for us is that we keep on improving. That was the main goal this season.
“We’ve still got a tough end-of-year tour, so yes, it’s nice to break records, it’s nice to win competitions, but the key thing this week is to make sure we have a good performance against Argentina.”
