Three leading rugby nations opened the July international window with victories, as South Africa, England and Australia each recorded wins in their first Tests of 2025 on 5–6 July. In Pretoria, the Springboks raced to a 28–3 half-time advantage and went on to beat Italy 42–24. South Africa crossed six times, with scrum-half Morne van den Berg scoring two tries and fly-half Handré Pollard converting all six. Italy rallied after the break with three tries to ‘win’ the second half 21-14, but never cut the deficit to single figures. England ground out a 3–0 interval lead in La Plata before overpowering Argentina 35–12. The tourists’ defence held firm while second-row Alex Coles served a yellow-card spell, and a burst of three unanswered tries early in the second period broke the match open. Pablo Matera’s late score was Argentina’s lone try in the first of a two-match series. In Newcastle, a last-minute try from No. 8 Harry Wilson gave the Wallabies a 21–18 win over Fiji. Australia led 14-5 at half-time but fell behind 15-14 after losing fly-half Noah Lolesio to a head injury. Wilson’s close-range finish, converted from in front, spared the hosts an upset in their sole warm-up before the British & Irish Lions tour.