With all teams banking one win apiece, the 2025 Rugby Championship is off to a great start. After two rounds of world-class rugby action, what can we expect in the third round? Check out our Rugby Championship R3 betting tips and analysis.
South Africa travel to Eden Park this weekend after seeing off the Wallabies in Cape Town. The All Blacks haven’t lost at this venue since 1994, but a second-round defeat to Argentina will be an unpleasant afterthought as they head into this crunch clash. Still, the home side will be the popular pick across Rugby Championship 2025 predictions for this match.
Australia and Argentina will renew their rivalry at the Queensland Country Bank Stadium. Both teams have been excellent in the first two rounds, and will look to build on further momentum in the third round. Los Pumas won in their last trip down under – and have claimed three of the last four between these two – but Australia leads the head-to-head stats overall.
| ℹ️ Event: | Rugby Championship 2025, Round 3 |
| 🏉 Venues: | Queensland Country Bank Stadium in Queensland, Australia, and Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand |
| 🗓️ Date: | Saturday, 6 September 2025 |
Australia’s 38-22 upset in Johannesburg forced the Springboks to rethink their game plan in Cape Town. This time, the Springboks switched to an aerial approach, and Handre Pollard’s fly-half brilliance gave them the X-factor they needed to win.
Canan Moodie, Kwagga Smith, and Eben Etzebeth also starred for the winning team, while Australia threatened with three tries from wings Corey Toole and Max Jorgensen and hooker Brandon Paenga-Amosa.
Argentina recorded a landmark 29-23 triumph over New Zealand, meanwhile, securing their first-ever home win against the All Blacks. The result defied most Rugby Championship 2025 predictions for the game, but after full-time, Buenos Aires went into festival mode.
Juan Martin Gonzalez and Gonzalo Garcia found the try line before and after the break, while Santiago Carreras sealed the deal with a 13-point contribution. Their combined efforts helped Argentina defy the odds on betting sites for rugby and beat New Zealand.
Tries from Billy Proctor, Fletcher Newell, and Samisoni Taukei’aho weren’t enough for New Zealand, as poor discipline led to three sin-binnings, including a double in the final minutes before the break.
Here’s how the standings look heading into the third round of the 2025 Rugby Championship:
| Team | Won | Drew | Lost | Points | Point Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Zealand | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 11 |
| Australia | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 8 |
| South Africa | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | -8 |
| Argentina | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | -11 |
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Argentina can be a tricky opposition for Australia in Queensland, but recent trends say the visitors are unlikely to open the scoring. Los Pumas have been unable to draw first blood in any of their last five matches.
Even in their 52-17 thumping of Uruguay in July, Argentina had to come from behind as Uruguay’s Felipe Aliaga broke the deadlock. So, backing Australia to score first seems to be one of the safest R3 2025 Rugby Championship predictions to make.
Australia scored first against South Africa in Cape Town, and if you look at the last three matches of the Wallabies, you will see that they have opened the scoring twice.
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New Zealand will come to this fixture licking its wounds following a shock defeat to Argentina. South Africa, meanwhile, is happy to return to winning ways, fighting off a resilient Australia. Still, sportsbooks have assigned favorable 2025 Rugby Championship odds to the All Blacks to win this Test.
This is a rematch of the World Cup final and a battle between the best two teams in the world. So, we expect this to be a close battle, but New Zealand should be able to win by at least four points given their record in Auckland.
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In a high-profile clash like this, both teams will look to go for a cautious approach and avoid the game slipping away early. Eden Park is a daunting place to visit, so South Africa will be eager to slow the tempo of the game initially.
Things should speed up after the interval, and that’s when we expect most of the scoring to happen. So, we believe the second half will be the highest-scoring half of the Test.
For our final Rugby Championship R3 betting tips, we recommend Australia to score first against Argentina and New Zealand vs South Africa to produce a points-heavy second half.
