South Africa clinched their first major international trophy for 10 years as Handre Pollard fired them to 46-13 win over Argentina in the Rugby Championship in Salta, Argentina on Saturday.

Pollard dominated the match with 31 points, a tally that comprised two tries, five penalties and three conversions.

The result gave the Springboks 12 points from three matches, four more than runners-up Australia, who beat world champions New Zealand 47-27 in Perth earlier on Saturday.

Santiago Cordero gave Argentina the lead with a second-minute try before Mbongeni Mbonambi went over in the 13th minute for South Africa.

Pollard then crossed the line on the stroke of halftime to give the visitors an 11-point advantage.

Faf de Klerk was sin-binned early in the second half but that did little to halt South Africa's momentum. Pollard, Makazole Mapimpi and Cheslin Kolbe each crossed within 20 minutes as the Springboks secured a bonus point and their first Rugby Championship title since 1999, when the competition was called the Tri-Nations.

This year's tournament was abridged to three matches per team because of the World Cup in Japan starting on September 20. 

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