Pieter-Steph du Toit & mighty Marx lead Boks charge to glory

The young guns hogged the pre-match headlines but when it came to biggest moments, in the gutters of the Allianz Stadium at Twickenham, it was the old boys Malcolm Marx and Pieter-Steph du Toit who led the charge to a historic first-ever Springboks back-to-back Castle Rugby Championship title, writes Mark Keohane.

Malcolm Marx scored his 25th and 26th Test tries. He was special for the sixty minutes he played. Tries, turnovers and tackles.

He also carried with presence and precision.

Cobus Reinach, 34 years-old and having returned to South Africa after several years in France to link up with the Stormers, revelled behind a power Bok pack and functional line out. He got two tries in his 67 minutes, but his value was far greater.

Siya Kolisi: The King. He was tops in everything.

Eben Etzebeth: He had a target on his back and the Pumas hunted him all day, cut him in half on several occasions with brutal tackles, made him bleed and eventually forced him from the field through blood. But every time he rose and went back at them.

Pieter-Steph du Toit: Just sensational. The way New Zealanders talk about Richie McCaw is the way South Africans should talk about Du Toit.

He was powerful, forceful and busy for 80 minutes in every attack and in every tackle.

Then there was Damian de Allende.

He has been the premier No 12 in Test rugby for the past six years, winning back to back World Cups in 2019 and 2023, a British & Irish Lions Series in 2021 and been at the forefront of the biggest of those 32 Springboks wins from 38 since the start of the 2021 season.

De Allende, to quote the iconic All Blacks and Kiwis (Rugby League) dual international Sonny Bill Williams is the glue among South Africa’s backs and the most understated giant in the Boks domination of Test rugby since beating England in the 2019 World Cup final in Japan.

De Allende was big at the Allianz Stadium at Twickenham and his presence gives the likes of Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (10) and Canan Moodie (13) such confidence and comfort.

The youngsters were good at Twickenham, without being exceptional, but it was the old boys who controlled the biggest moments and ensured that this was a ‘final’ the Boks were never going to lose.

Argentina were passionate, brave and deserving of every accolade but this was no two-point match.

The Boks, 13-3 down on 35 minutes, scored 26 unanswered points to seal the title on the hour and a seven pointer after the buzzer makes for a more appealing final score than the flow of the match.

Kolisi’s Boks have done it all since winning the World Cup in 2019 and they have done it with coach Rassie Erasmus using close to 60 players in the process.

The Boks, champions of the world and the Southern Hemisphere, have not exclusively relied on the tried and tested, but got joy from the newbies and the oldies.

In Wellington, New Zealand and Durban, South Africa, it was the next generation Boks who produced the sparkle and sprinkled the gold dust.

At Twickenham, on Saturday, the Bok veterans reminded the rugby world why they won’t easily surrender the jersey en-route to the 2027 Rugby World Cup in South Africa, when the Boks aim for an unprecedented three titles in succession.

All credit to the Pumas for their opening 30 minutes and their belated comeback in the final 15.

They played with pride and passion, but they were up against the greatest Boks team in the professional era and an international team on par with anything the sport has witnessed.

Read: SA Rugby Mag for all the reaction on the Boks 2025 Castle Rugby Championship title win.

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