Boks keep champagne on ice after Argentina blitz

THE Springboks were all smiles on Saturday night after they put 67 sparkling points past Argentina in Durban, but Siya Kolisi and Rassie Erasmus said the champagne is on ice until they complete the Rugby Championship job in London this week.

- MIKE GREENAWAY

SPRINGBOKS Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu dives to score one of his three tries during the Rugby Championship match against Argentina. | AFP

(AFP)

The Boks are tantalisingly close to making history by defending their Rugby Championship title, something they have never achieved since the tournament’ inception in 1996. With one round remaining, they top the log with 15 points, followed by New Zealand (14), Australia (11) and Argentina (9).

“We're flying tomorrow (Sunday) and we're playing at Twickenham next week, and we have to win that game or it’s just another missed Rugby Championship,’ Erasmus said after Saturday night's astonishing display at Kings Park.

The Boks scored nine tries, and their handsome points tally gives them a healthy points differential compared to second-placed New Zealand.

“The main thing we take out of this game is that we are building a nice understanding between the players, in that we can swap combinations in and out without any change to the performance. But we’ve won nothing yet in this Championship; we've had one win and one loss against New Zealand and Australia, and we know Argentina will come even harder in London.”