The Rugby Championship just keeps on giving!
Oh how we were treated over the weekend with yet another incredible two intense Test matches on Saturday night.
It came right down to the wire yet again between the Wallabies and Pumas in Sydney, while the Springboks put on one of their most clinical performances to hammer the All Blacks in Wellington.
In the tightest TRC for some time, incredibly it's the Wallabies who find themselves on the top of the table despite their loss, while the Springboks have leap-frogged the All Blacks and sit in second with just two points separating top and bottom.
Read on as we break down the biggest talking points of the weekend.
CHECK, CHECK: ARE YOU STILL THERE TMO?
Pumas coach Felipe Contepomi didn't hold back in his assessment of the referee team on Saturday and rightly so.
With the game on the line and minutes left on the clock, a clear and obvious forward pass from Andrew Kellaway to Filipo Daugunu in the final movement in the replacement wing's second try should never have been given the green light. It was egregious, poor and quite frankly embarrassing.
Human error can be excused for referee Christophe Ridley and his touch judge to miss the call in the moment, but at least they had the good sense to go upstairs to check one final time with TMO Glenn Newman before awarding the try. But in what can only be labelled farcical, somehow Newman saw no issue with the pass and gave Ridley the thumbs up.
It was astounding and even left those in the press box speechless at just how bad the decision was. Even Wallabies players had given up hope and had their heads in their hands with the assumption the try would be snuffed out.
Rugby remains one of the most highly entertaining sports in the world, but it is also one of the most controversial and subjective, with so many grey areas around the laws. It leaves so many decisions up to interpretation with fans often divided down the middle on where calls are made.
Add too the northern-southern hemisphere divide with referees from either side of the equator interpreting the game in completely different ways, leaving players and fans scratching their heads, it's a recipe for the slow decline of the sport.
But putting all that aside, it still doesn't answer for several bizarre decisions that were made in Sydney.
The non-call forward pass will live long in people's memories, so too a pass that was deemed forward just minutes earlier that ended a Wallabies' attacking raid which looked marginal at best but failed to convince the TMO.
But what shouldn't be forgotten was the decision to not penalize Harry Wilson in the first half for high contact on Argentina's Gonzalo Garcia only to later ping Marcos Kremer for a similar shot on Joseph-Auksuo Suaalii in the second half.
Questions will also be asked how the Pumas managed to get away with lazy runners finding themselves in the Wallabies backline without punishment, while the Wallabies found themselves penalised while attempting to leave the breakdown zone.
Contepomi put it best: "Consistency. That's the word."
Who saw this coming⁉️
— ESPN Scrum (@espnscrum) September 14, 2025
With two rounds to go, the Wallabies have found themselves on top of the Rugby Championship ladder👀 pic.twitter.com/YbERXnk7i0
BEST RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP IN YEARS, SO WHY WON'T IT BE THERE NEXT YEAR?
It's the most competitive Rugby Championship that we've seen in years with all four sides in with a chance of snatching the title, and yet there's no plans for the tournament to take place next year. Rugby sure does know how to look at a gift horse in the mouth.
With the All Blacks and Springboks set to return to an old-school tour including three Tests and five tour matches in South Africa next year it's left the Rugby Championship in limbo with both Rugby Australia and Union Argentina de Rugby scrambling to organise their own fixtures for the August-September window.
ESPN understands Rugby Australia have secured seven home Tests in 2026 including against three northern hemisphere sides in July and a Bledisloe Cup clash with New Zealand, but it is not understood who will feature in the remainder. While Argentine Rugby president Gabriel Travaglini confirmed Argentina will host Australia twice and the Springboks once in 2026, where they stand with the All Blacks is unknown.
Meanwhile, it's clear New Zealand Rugby's and South Africa Rugby Union's decision to go it alone has rankled quite a few feathers in Argentina with Agustin Pichot the latest to hit out at the sporting bodies, labelling both unions "selfish" but acknowledged the enormous economic benefit made sense.
Either way, the southern hemisphere showpiece will look mighty different going forward with the Rugby Championship unlikely to feature in its full form until 2027 at the earliest. Where it goes from there no one knows and, given the current contract ends in 2030, it's uncertain if the tournament will exist after that. What a sad day that will be for rugby in the southern hemisphere.
SCOTT ROBERTSON OUT OF THE FRYING PAN AND INTO THE FIRE
Just two weeks after he was labelled public enemy No. 1 by New Zealand media outlets, All Blacks coach Scott Robertson has found himself front and centre of media scrutiny once again after his side's capitulation at the hands of the Springboks in Wellington.
Criticism came thick and fast after the record defeat with former All Blacks back-rower Kieran Read questioning, "Where's that spine?" Mils Muliana, meanwhile, said "they almost gave up." Certainly not statements normally made of the All Blacks.
Maintaining a slim lead into the break, the All Blacks were very much in the contest. Until they weren't. It was simply their worst 30-minute passage of play of the year.
Letting in 36 unanswered points in the second 40, the All Blacks looked panicked with no answers for the many Springboks questions. Their lineout fell to pieces, their scrum was dominated, they were absent in the air, and they missed an astounding 46 tackles over the 80 minutes. Meanwhile the lack of leadership was badly exposed.
Seeing in two record defeats in three weeks and a sixth loss in 21 Tests, Robertson has failed to find any consistency with his side or make genuine progress. With an Eden Park unbeaten run and Bledisloe Cup on the line over the next three weeks, the pressure valve certainly won't be released any time soon.
ONCE AGAIN, RASSIE HAS LAST LAUGH
As the Springboks walked out onto the Sky Stadium pitch on Friday afternoon for their final training run, they were welcomed by a giant image of the All Blacks lifting the Freedom Cup with a message emblazoned: "Freedom Cup secured." There's no doubt it didn't go unnoticed by the players or Rassie Erasmus in particular.
While it was tight in the opening 40, the Springboks came out firing in the second; perfectly blending old and new, strength and power with skill and athleticism. Finally the world had a glimpse of exactly what Erasmus had been building within his group.
The pace at which the Boks play the game is phenomenal with speed and precision a highlight of their game while they made sure to play it simple, no more midfield lineout lifts, instead they pummeled through the middle, dismantled the All Blacks lineout and scrum, with Chelsin Kolbe and Ethan Hooker astute in the air.
While he claimed the Springboks had "achieved nothing" with their record win, there's no doubt the Boks coach will quietly be reveling in the victory after he went under the microscope just a week earlier.