KABUL (Pajhwok): South Africa have trounced Afghanistan by seven wickets in the third and final match of the One-Day International series at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. Afghan skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi won the toss and opted to bat first — a decision that backfired. The hosts were bundled out for 169 runs.

Los Pumas are in with a shot at winning the Rugby Championship if they beat the Springboks convincingly at Mbombela Stadium this weekend.

South Africa can clinch the Rugby Championship with a game to spare this weekend. The world champion Springboks face Argentina in Santiago del Estero on Saturday.

South Africa coach Rassie Erasmus refused to blame Manie Libbok for the surprise 29-28 Rugby Championship defeat in Argentina on Saturday after the flyhalf missed a kick from virtually in front of the posts to win the game.

A group still led by Pablo Matera will have to match South Africa today. The visitors are without four of their regular starting five at the back of the scrum - if Argentina can get on top of that remodelled group at the breakdown and dominate the lineout, a shock could very well be on the cards.

There are some interesting deciding factors if the Springboks and Argentina finish level on log points in the Rugby Championship standings.

With one round to go in the Rugby Championship, we run through the permutations of the final weekend with the Springboks and Argentina still in the running for the title. After defeating Australia and New Zealand twice in the opening four rounds of the tournament,

Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus said they were hurting after their nail-biting defeat against Argentina in the penultimate round of the Rugby Championship in Santigo del Estero on Saturday night.