The 2020 Tri Nations Series was the seventeenth edition of the annual southern hemisphere

competition Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, indi ...

, involving

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. On 16 October 2020,

2019 Rugby Championship The 2019 Rugby Championship was the eighth edition of the annual southern hemisphere The Rugby Championship, Rugby Championship, featuring Argentina national rugby union team, Argentina, Australia national rugby union team, Australia, South Afric ...

winners and

2019 Rugby World Cup The 2019 Rugby World Cup () was the ninth edition of the Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's rugby union teams. It was hosted in Japan from 20 September to 2 November in 12 venues all across the country. The opening matc ...

champions South Africa confirmed their withdrawal from the originally planned 2020 Rugby Championship due to South African government travel restrictions, player welfare and safety concerns related to COVID-19. This meant that the competition temporarily returned to its previous Tri-Nations format - played across six weekends with each team playing each other twice. As a result of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, the tournament was moved to later in the year than usual. It had been mooted that all matches might be played in

, however, in September 2020 it was announced that all matches would be held in Australia rather than in all of the competing nations.

Background

The competition was operated by

SANZAAR SANZAAR (South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Argentina Rugby; previously known as SANZAR) is the body which oversees Super Rugby and The Rugby Championship competitions in rugby union. SANZAAR meets annually and is composed of the CEOs fr ...

, a joint venture of the four countries' national unions, and known for sponsorship reasons as ''The

Investec Investec is an Anglo- South African international banking and wealth management group, founded in Johannesburg, South Africa. It provides a range of financial products and services to a client base in Europe, Southern Africa, and Asia-Pacific. ...

Tri Nations Series'' in New Zealand, ''The

eToro eToro Group Ltd. is an Israel, Israeli multi-asset Investment management, investment and social trading company focused on providing Financial trading, financial services. eToro was founded in 2007 in Tel Aviv by Yoni Assia, Ronen Assia, and Da ...

Tri Nations Series'' in Australia, and ''The

Personal Personal may refer to: Aspects of persons' respective individualities * Privacy * Personality * Personal, personal advertisement, variety of classified advertisement used to find romance or friendship Companies * Personal, Inc., a Washington, ...

Tri Nations Series'' in Argentina. The format for the 2020 tournament should have returned to the previous Championship format which was used in 2018, after the shortening of the 2019 edition due to the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

. Each side would have played the others once at home and once away, giving a total of six matches each, and twelve in total. A win earns a team four league points, a draw two league points, and a loss by eight or more points zero league points. A bonus point is earned in one of two ways: by scoring at least three tries more than the opponent in a match, or losing by seven points or fewer. The competition winner is the side with the most points at the end of the tournament. The competition went through several schedule changes throughout 2020. The dates and venues for the original tournament were confirmed on 4 February, with

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

being the final nation to announce their home Tests for the first half of the international season.

New Zealand Rugby New Zealand Rugby (NZR) is the Sports governing body, governing body of rugby union in New Zealand. It was founded in 1892 as the New Zealand Rugby Football Union (NZRFU), 12 years after the first provincial unions in New Zealand. In 1949 it b ...

, the

Argentine Rugby Union The Argentine Rugby Union (, abbreviated "UAR") is the governing body for rugby union in Argentina. It is a member of World Rugby, with a seat on that body's Executive Council, and a founding member of Sudamérica Rugby. The UAR organises all the ...

, and

Rugby Australia Rugby Australia Ltd, previously named Australian Rugby Union Limited and Australian Rugby Football Union Limited, is an Australian company operating the premier rugby union competition in Australia and teams. It has its origins in 1949. It is a ...

announced their Test schedules for the 2020 Rugby Championship on 2 December 2019, 8 January and 30 January respectively. These dates ultimately changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a second schedule was released, where double-headed games would take place in Australia across six weekends. On 8 October, the schedule was revised to allow a quarantine period for New Zealand on their return home (to avoid a clash with Christmas), and therefore round six was split and the Australia v New Zealand game moved to 31 October. Following the withdrawal of South Africa from the tournament, the competition reverted to its Tri-Nations format (not played since Argentina joined the competition in 2012) with the tournament played over six consecutive weekends with only one game played each round, rather than the originally planned double headers. The global quarantining measures and need to maintain a bubble meant that match official neutrality was not possible, and the team of match officials came from Australia and New Zealand. All coaches were supportive of this necessary position - including the two Australia-New Zealand games which were fairly appointed in the same manner as that of the first two Bledisloe Cup matches.

Other cups

The Bledisloe Cup, Mandela Challenge Plate, Freedom Cup and the Puma Trophy are contested annually during the Rugby Championship by select teams. The

Bledisloe Cup The Bledisloe Cup is an annual rugby union competition between the national teams of Australia's Wallabies and New Zealand's All Blacks that has been contested since the 1930s. The frequency that the competition is held has varied, as has the n ...

is traditionally contested by Australia and New Zealand in two home-and-away legs, with an additional leg in non-World Cup years, as is the case in 2020. However, due to the special circumstances of this edition due to the

, the Bledisloe Cup was contested over four Tests: two stand-alone matches played in New Zealand in October in consecutive Sundays, and a further two to be hosted in Australia which will double as the first two Rugby Championship fixtures. New Zealand retained the trophy for an 18th consecutive year after winning Game 2 (27-7) and Game 3 (5-43); Australia won Game 4 (24-22), and Game 1 finished in a 16-all draw. Unlike the Bledisloe Cup, the Mandela Challenge Plate (contested between Australia and South Africa), the Freedom Cup (contested between New Zealand and South Africa) and the Puma Trophy (Argentina and Australia) are not decided by a third match. The teams play each other twice during the Rugby Championship (but only once in

Rugby World Cup The Men's Rugby World Cup is a rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams, the winners of which are recognised as the World championship, world champions of the sport. The tournament is administer ...

years), and the challengers are required to beat the holders in both games to win the plate or trophy.

Overview

The 2020 Tri Nations Series had multiple elements of the unknown; they have come about as a result of many changes within the national setups, as is often the case in a year post-

. The 2020 tournament sees a mix of the ''outgoing'' World Champions and current World No. 2 ranked

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...

, an expected resurgent

Wallabies A wallaby () is a small or middle-sized macropod native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and other countries. They belong to the same taxonomic family as kangaroos and som ...

( World Ranking of 6th), and a Los Pumas side (ranked 11th) looking to build on their 2019 record and the preceding

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It has previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Super Rugby started as the S ...

season, all clashing heads. A number of senior players retired from International duty from all four of the sides at the conclusion of the 2019 season and new Head Coaches were appointed, including significantly new coaching setups at the All Blacks, Wallabies and Springboks. The Rugby Championship was the first testing ground for the three teams since their respective changes, and the first round of International Rugby for them all since the

, after the July Internationals were either cancelled or postponed due to the

Table

Fixtures

Matchday 1

Notes: *

Noah Lolesio Noah Lolesio () (born 18 December 1999) is an Australians, Australian rugby union player who plays for the Brumbies in Super Rugby, and for the Australia national rugby union team, Wallabies (the Australian national team). His playing position ...

, Fraser McReight, Tate McDermott and Irae Simone (all Australia) made their international debuts. * New Zealand retained the

for the 18th consecutive time. * New Zealand recorded their largest winning margin over Australia, surpassing the 37-point difference set in 1996.

Matchday 2

Notes: *

James Slipper James Alexander Slipper (born 6 June 1989), nicknamed Slips and the Golden Slipper, is an Australian professional rugby union player who plays as a prop for Super Rugby club ACT Brumbies and the Australia national team. In September 2024, Slipp ...

(Australia) became the thirteenth Wallaby to earn his 100th test cap. *

Angus Bell Angus Bell (born 4 October 2000) is an Australian rugby union player who plays for the NSW Waratahs in Super Rugby. His playing position is prop. He has signed to the Waratahs squad for the 2020 season. He made his debut for the Wallabies on 7 ...

, Lachlan Swinton and Tom Wright (all Australia) and

Asafo Aumua Asafo Junior Aumua (; born 5 May 1997) is a New Zealand professional rugby union player who plays as a hooker for the Hurricanes in Super Rugby and Wellington in the Bunnings NPC. Early life Asafo Junior Aumua was born on 5 May 1997 in Well ...

, Cullen Grace,

Akira Ioane Akira Ioane (born 16 June 1995) is a New Zealand rugby union player, who currently plays as a flanker or number 8 for in the Japan Rugby League One competition. He previously played for in New Zealand's National Provincial Championship and ...

and Will Jordan (all New Zealand) made their international debut. * Patrick Tuipulotu was originally named on the bench, but withdrew ahead of kick off and was replaced by Tupou Vaa'i. * Australia and New Zealand played each other for the fourth time in 2020, the most games between the two nations in one year since the four-test Bledisloe Cup series in 2010.

Matchday 3

Notes: * Santiago Chocobares and Santiago Grondona (both Argentina) made their international debuts. * This was Argentina's first win over New Zealand in 30 attempts. * This was New Zealand's first loss in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

since 2015 when they lost 27–19 to Australia in the

2015 Rugby Championship The 2015 Rugby Championship was the fourth edition of the expanded annual southern hemisphere The Rugby Championship, Rugby Championship consisting of Argentina national rugby union team, Argentina, Australia national rugby union team, Australia, ...

match at

Stadium Australia Stadium Australia, currently known as Accor Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium located in the suburb of Sydney Olympic Park, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The stadium, which is sometimes referred to as Sydney Ol ...

. * New Zealand lost back-to-back matches for the first time since

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

. * Nicolás Sánchez scored the most points for Argentina in a single-match against New Zealand, surpassing

Hugo Porta Hugo Porta (born 11 September 1951) is an Argentine retired rugby union player. Considered one of the best fly-halves the sport has seen, he is an inductee of both the International Rugby Hall of Fame and IRB Hall of Fame. During the 1970s and ...

's 21 points in the 21–21 draw at the

Estadio Arquitecto Ricardo Etcheverry Estadio Arquitecto Ricardo Etcheverri, formerly known as Estadio Ferro Carril Oeste, is a football stadium located in the Caballito district of Buenos Aires. It is owned and operated by club Ferro Carril Oeste. The stadium, opened in 1905 and lo ...

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

Matchday 4

Notes: * This is the first drawn match between these two sides since their 19–19 draw in 1987.

Matchday 5

Notes: * Lucas Paulos (Argentina) made his international debut. * Joe Moody (New Zealand) earned his 50th test cap. * New Zealand kept Argentina scoreless for the first time.

Matchday 6

Notes: * Francisco Gorrissen and Domingo Miotti (Argentina) made their international debuts. * Argentina and Australia drew back-to-matches for the first time. * Australia retained the Puma Trophy.

Squads

Note: Ages, caps and clubs/franchises are of 31 October 2020 – the starting date of the tournament Jerónimo De la Fuente was Argentina's captain for the final Test (Matchday 6) against Australia.

Argentina

On October 2, 2020 Argentina named a 45-man roster for the Rugby Championship.

Australia

The

squad for the 2020 Rugby Championship was announced on 13 September 2020.

New Zealand

All Blacks 38-man traveling squad for the 2020 Tri Nations Series.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rugby Championship

2020 in Argentine rugby union 2020 in Australian rugby union 2020 in New Zealand rugby union 2020 in South African rugby union Tri Nations Series Tri Nations Series Tri Nations Series Tri Nations Series Tri Nations Series