Rugby Championship tournaments

The Rugby Championship is an international competition contested annually by the four highest ranking sides in the Southern Hemisphere, New Zealand, South Africa, Australia and Argentina.

The competition, first played in 1996, was known as the Tri Nations until Argentina joined in 2012. (In 2020, with South Africa unable to attend due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the name Tri Nations was again used.)

The tournament is administered by Sanzaar, a body consisting of the four members.

With three of the participants in the top teams of world rankings over the years, the quality of the competition, played on a home and away basis except in World Cup years when a single round is played, is of a high standard.

New Zealand have dominated the competition with 11 wins in the Tri Nations to the three each by South Africa and Australia (SA did not play in the 2020 Tri-Nations due to Covid-19 considerations).

In the Rugby Championship the New Zealand All Blacks have won six of the eight tournament and South Africa (in 2019) and Australia one each.

The competition since 1996 has therefore been won by New Zealand 17 times, with four each going to South Arica and Australia. The competition is especially arduous because of the travel demands covering 16 time zones.