The Rugby Championship

The Rugby Championship was originally known as the Tri Nations (1996-2011 and 2020) and the tournament was contested annually by Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Launched in 1996, this southern hemisphere rugby union championship was created as a direct equivalent to the Five Nations Championship, which was held in the northern hemisphere and contested by England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and France.

Fast forward to 2012 and the competition expanded to include the four top national teams from the southern hemisphere. This was the year that Argentina joined the tournament and, with the addition of Los Pumas, it became known as The Rugby Championship.

The opening tournament of 1996 was contested by New Zealand, Australia and South Africa, with each nation playing each other home and away. New Zealand dominated the inaugural year and won every game they played. Although New Zealand won many of the early tournaments, most editions of the Tri Nations were hugely competitive and each nation had won the tournament at least once by 2000.

The success of the Tri Nations saw the tournament expand in 2006, when it was decided that each nation would play the others three times instead of twice. Then, in 2009, it was announced that Argentina would enter the competition in 2012. Until that point, Argentina had been the only tier one nation in the world that didn’t face regular international competition. When Argentina entered The Rugby Championship, the tournament reverted to a double round robin.