No one knew it at the time, but the February 29 loss for the Cheetahs three years ago at the Dragons was the match that marked the end of the Bloemfontein-based franchise’s participation in the PRO16.
SANZAAR has confirmed the match schedule for the condensed 2023 Rugby Championship. As is customary in a World Cup year, the usual 12-match tournament is reduced to a one-round, home or away, six-match tournament in July.
The Rugby Championship celebrates the best of rugby union in the southern hemisphere. Contested annually by Argentina, South Africa, New Zealand and Australia, it’s the southern hemisphere’s version of the Six Nations Championship and one of the best international rugby tournaments in the world.
Keen to follow this year’s The Rugby Championship? From information about the competition and news about the teams to upcoming matches and all the latest results, keep scrolling to find the latest coverage here at RugbyPass.
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.
