RUGBY WRAP: Rugby Championship going down to the wire; Bulls see off Lions in URC opener and more!

Rugby Championship R5: Boks get the job done in Buenos Aires, All Blacks seal late win in Bledisloe 1

The Springboks claimed a 36-20 bonus-point win over Argentina in Buenos Aires on Saturday to go level on points with the All Blacks at the summit of The Rugby Championship standings. Jacques Nienaber’s men scored five tries to the hosts’ two to keep them right in contention for the title – with their campaign all hanging on their performance at Kings Park this weekend.

Thursday saw New Zealand beat Australia 39-37 in a classic encounter in Melbourne after a controversial call from referee Mathieu Raynal late on. Bledisloe 2 gets underway at Eden Park on Saturday with 13-points separating the Kiwis from the world champions in the points difference stakes. If Ian Foster’s side earn a full house in Auckland, they will be favourites to take the championship given this significant gap.

URC R1: Bulls overcome Lions in round one

The Bulls beat the Lions 31-15 in Johannesburg thanks to 12-points off the boot of Chris Smith. As was to be expected, both sides were a tad rusty in this season opener, but last season’s runners-up showed their quality to earn trans-Jukskei derby bragging rights in the end. Cash van Rooyen’s charges take on Ospreys while the Bulls tackle Edinburgh in round two. The Sharks and Stormers get their campaigns underway against Zebre and Connacht respectively.

In other results, Benetton hammered Glasgow 33-11 in Treviso, Leinster snuck a 33-29 win away at Zebre, Cardiff beat Munster 20-13 in the Welsh capital, hosts Scarlets and Ospreys played out a 23-all draw, Edinburgh smacked Dragons 44-6 at Murrayfield and Ulster saw off Connacht 36-10 win in Belfast.

Gallagher Prem R2: Sarries come back to down Quins

Saracens came back from 24-12 down at half-time to claim a 30-27 win over Harlequins at The Stoop in their first game of the season. Mark McCall’s men began slowly but produced a very impressive second-half to come away with all five-points, while Quins were made to rue the absence of the talismanic Marcus Smith and conceded their first defeat of the new campaign.

Elsewhere, Saints beat London Irish 38-22 at Franklin’s Gardens, Bristol outplayed Wasps 23-8 at the Ricoh, Sale claimed a 37-20 win at Bath, Tigers won 36-21 over the Falcons at Welford Road and Chiefs whacked Worcester 36-21.