The first action of the 2025 edition of the Rugby Championship comes from Johannesburg on Saturday where South Africa begin their defence of the title with a clash against Australia
South Africa v Australia, Saturday 16th August, Johannesburg, KO 17:10 (South African time)
Referee: Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees: James Doleman (New Zealand), Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)
TMO: Tual Trainini (France)
Weather Forecast – Johannesburg
South Africa:
South Africa returned to action with a one off clash against the Barbarians in Cape Town at the end of June and they ran in 8 tries on their way to a 54-7 victory. After that a two match series against a visiting Italian side saw the Boks come out on top 42-24 in the first test and 45-0 in the second. Most recently they beat Georgia 55-10.
The Boks started the 2024 Rugby Championship campaign with back to back wins over the Wallabies in Australia ( 30-12 and 33-7) and then beat the All Blacks in two close games on home turf, coming from behind on both occasions to win 18-12 in Cape Town and 31-27 in Johannesburg. Their only defeat came in Argentina where they went down 29-28 to Los Pumas but a round later they beat the same opposition 48-7 in South Africa to clinch the title.
In the November 2024 internationals in Europe South Africa reeled off wins over Scotland (32-15), England (29-20) and Wales (45-12).
After this South Africa take on Australia again in Cape Town before a double header with the All Blacks in New Zealand. They host Argentina in Round 5 and then take on Los Pumas again in the final round in a game which will be staged at Twickenham.
Australia:
Australia recently concluded their 3 match series against the British and Irish Lions. They lost the first test 27-17 but improved in the second contest despite going down 29-26. Although the series was gone the Wallabies finished it on a high with a 22-12 win on the 2nd August.
The Wallabies 2024 Rugby Championship campaign delivered just the 1 win and 5 defeats and they finished with the wooden spoon. They started that tournament with back to back losses away to the Springboks (33-7 and 30-12) before heading to Argentina where they won (20-19) in Round 3 before suffering a 67-27 hiding a week later. Their final 2 matches saw them edged out 31-28 at home to the All Blacks and they lost the return in New Zealand 33-13.
Novemeber 2024 internationals in Europe saw the Wallabies beat England (42-37) and Wales (52-20) before defeats in Scotland (27-13) and Ireland (22-19).
After this Australia take on the Boks again in Cape Town before two home fixtures against Argentina. They travel to New Zealand in Round 5 and then host the All Blacks in the final round.
Recent Head to Head
2024 RC Perth Australia 12–30 South Africa
2024 RC Brisbane Australia 7-33 South Africa
2023 RC Pretoria South Africa 43-12 Australia
2022 RC Sydney Australia 8-24 South Africa
2022 RC Adelaide Australia 25-17 South Africa
2021 RC Brisbane Australia 30-17 South Africa
2021 RC Brisbane Australia 28-26 South Africa
2019 RC Johannesburg South Africa 35-17 Australia
Team News
South Africa: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Edwill van der Merwe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Siya Kolisi (captain), 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit , 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Ox Nche.
Replacements: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 18 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 19 Franco Mostert, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Canan Moodie, 23 Damian Willemse
Australia: tbc
The Betting
Average early show, subject to change
South Africa -18.5 points at 9/10
Australia +18.5 points at 9/10
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
Brent Graham's betting angle and plays for the Rugby Championship will be posted on our Rugby Championship Blog which you can view here.
Likewise Currie Cup Week 4 bets will be posted on this blog.