OPINION: Springboks must hammer home Rugby Championship advantage

After a scarcely believable weekend in the Rugby Championship for the Springboks they now have a golden opportunity to hammer home their advantage and make a major statement in the second Test against the Wallabies in Perth.

It was arguably a perfect weekend for the Boks, picking up a bonus point 33-7 win over the hosts in Brisbane, while their biggest rivals, the All Blacks, suffered a surprise 38-30 home defeat against Argentina.

This sees the Boks topping the Rugby Championship log on five points, ahead of Los Pumas on four points, while the All Blacks and Wallabies have zero points after the first round of fixtures.

Follow-up performance

The Boks thus now have a great chance to build on their advantage if they can pick up another bonus point win over the Wallabies in the second Test in Perth this weekend.

The All Blacks will likely bounce back against Los Pumas, although if they are able to pick up a win in their second Test, they will have to play out of their skins to pick up a bonus point against a very competitive Argentinian side, whereas the Boks’ absolute dominance over the Wallabies indicates that they should be able to follow up their top start with another big performance.

However, the Boks have often been favourites against the Wallabies in Australia in recent times, and in their last five games in the country they have suffered three defeats, so they will have to still put in a strong showing if they want to get another positive result.

It does bode well that the Boks left a hatful of points out on the field in Brisbane, after they didn’t convert a number of good chances, so they have plenty of room for improvement and they will be working hard on that in the week.

If things go well again this coming weekend, the Boks could head back to South Africa in a fantastic position, which could set them up perfectly to claim their first Rugby Championship title since 2019.

They host the All Blacks in two massive Tests at the end of August and start of September, and the Boks could head into those games able to lose one and still go on to win the competition comfortably.