Argentina’s national rugby union team Los Pumas are set to face the South Africa’s Springboks this Saturday, September 27 at Kings Park in Durban. The matchup for the fifth round of the 2025 Rugby Championship comes with a special spice to it, as it is do or die for Argentina’s title chances.

The Pumas have been impressive so far in this Rugby Championship. The team coached by Felipe Contepomi has traded blows on equal footing with New Zealand and Australia, coming out with two wins and two losses. The team looked to have gained an extra gear since last year’s tournament, and mistakes have been corrected from fixture to fixture.

In the results table Argentina is currently last, on nine points. Yet, all other teams have won two and lost two, and they are separated only by the extra points granted to teams for scoring or defending. Still, the Pumas will need two wins to secure the title, as New Zealand and Australia, who each have 10 points, face each other.

The biggest question for Contepomi ahead of the game is who’ll play at fly-half. Tomás Albornoz was fundamental on the opener against the All Blacks, but had to be subbed off in the second game with a dislocated finger. He hasn’t played in a month, and missed both matchups against Australia, where replacement Santiago Carreras shined. 

Still, there’s the question of what a player of Albornóz’s quality can bring to the team in two key games. He even earned praise from the Springboks assistant coach Tony Brown, who branded him “last year’s tournament revelation player” and said he has “a bright future ahead of him.”

This will be the last chance for the Pumas to lift the Rugby Championship trophy. After this tournament, the tournament will only be played once every two years as South Africa and New Zealand are splitting off to play extended tours against each other. 

“We think about every match like it’s the biggest one we have,” Pumas fullback Juan Cruz Mallía told the press in a recent interview. “The objective is to go out and win that game, playing better than we did last week, knowing that this is our baseline and trying to grow and learn after every game.”

The Cordoban player admitted they “respect” two-time defending world champions South Africa, but that the team is “focusing on what they can do.”

“We know that they are strong at home, they draw energy from the crowd, so we know that we will be on our own there. We’ll have to come together, knowing that it’s us against the whole of South Africa,” he added.

The Pumas are set to face South Africa on Saturday at 12:10 p.m. If they win, they’ll arrive with a chance at the title in the second meet up, played at Twickenham, in the UK, on Saturday, October 4 at 10 a.m. All times are Argentina time.