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, indiv ...

, involving

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, Australia and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. On 16 October 2020,

2019 Rugby Championship Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Mus ...

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 match ...

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, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, 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, 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. It provides a range of financial products and services to a client base in Europe, Southern Africa, and Asia-Pacific. Investec is dual-listed on the London S ...

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

eToro eToro is an Israeli social trading and multi-asset investment company that focuses on providing financial and copy trading services. Its headquarters are located in Central Israel, and the company has registered offices in Cyprus, the Unite ...

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 concept i ...

. 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. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

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 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 became an affiliate to t ...

, the Argentine Rugby Union, and

Rugby Australia Rugby Australia Ltd, previously named the 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 ...

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 originally staged 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 va ...

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 Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament is administered by World Rugby, the sport's international governing body. The winners are awarded the Webb E ...

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 ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987, ...

, 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 so ...

(

World Ranking A ranking is a relationship between a set of items such that, for any two items, the first is either "ranked higher than", "ranked lower than" or "ranked equal to" the second. In mathematics, this is known as a weak order or total preorder of ...

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

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

Super Rugby 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 Australian rugby union player who plays for the Brumbies in Super Rugby, and for the Wallabies (the Australian national team). His playing position is Fly-half. He is also able to play as a centre. H ...

Fraser McReight Fraser McReight (born 19 February 1999) is an Australian rugby union player of Irish descent who plays for the Queensland Reds in Super Rugby and Australian rugby union team, the Wallabies. His playing position is flanker. International caree ...

, Tate McDermott and

Irae Simone Irae Simone (born 10 July 1995) is a New Zealand-born, Australian rugby union player who plays for the in the Super Rugby competition. His position of choice is centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics * Center (geometry), the m ...

(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 Slipper (born 6 June 1989) is an Australian rugby union player who plays at prop. Slipper formerly captained the Queensland Reds, now playing for ACT Brumbies. Slipper made his debut during the 2010 Super 14 season. In June 2010 Slipper ca ...

(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 A prop, formally known as (theatrical) property, is an object used on stage or screen by actor ...

, 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 (rugby union), hooker for New Zealand franchise Hurricanes (rugby union), Hurricanes and the New Zealand national rugby union team, Ne ...

, Cullen Grace,

Akira Ioane Akira Ioane (born 16 June 1995) is a New Zealand rugby union player. Ioane plays blindside flanker and number 8 for the Auckland rugby union team in the Mitre 10 Cup, for the Blues in the Super Rugby competition and was selected for the All Blac ...

and

Will Jordan Will Jordan (born Wilbur Rauch, July 27, 1927 – September 6, 2018) was an American character actor and stand-up comedian best known for his resemblance to, and impressions of, television host and newspaper columnist Ed Sullivan. Early life B ...

(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 Tupou Paea'i Okalani Vaa'i (born 27 January 2000) is a New Zealand professional rugby union footballer who plays as a lock for the Taranaki Bulls in the Mitre 10 Cup and for the Chiefs in Super Rugby. Career Early career Vaa'i was born in Ne ...

. * 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 Santiago Chocobares (born 31 March 1999) is an Argentine professional rugby union player who plays as a centre for Top 14 club Toulouse and the Argentina national team. Club career On 21 November 2019, he was named in the Jaguares squad for ...

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 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 Rugby Championship consisting of Argentina, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. The 2015 Championship was a shorter competition than normal, with ...

match at

Stadium Australia Stadium Australia, currently known as Accor Stadium for sponsorship purposes, is a multi-purpose stadium located in the Sydney Olympic Park, in Sydney, Australia. The stadium, which in Australia is sometimes referred to as Sydney Olympic Stad ...

. * New Zealand lost back-to-back matches for the first time since 2011. * 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 a former Argentine Rugby Union footballer, an inductee of both the International Rugby Hall of Fame and IRB Hall of Fame, and one of the best fly-halves the sport has seen. During the 1970s and 1980s, he pl ...

'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 stadium located in the Caballito district of Buenos Aires. It is the home venue of Club Ferro Carril Oeste. The stadium, opened in 1905 and located close ...

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 ...

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 Domingo Miotti (born 22 May 1996) is an Argentina international rugby union player. His regular playing position is fly-half. Rugby Union career Professional career Miotti played for the Jaguares. Miotti was then signed for Western Force. ...

(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 The Rugby Championship is an international rugby union competition contested annually by Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. These are the four highest ranked national teams in the Southern Hemisphere; the Six Nations is a ...

Background

Other cups

Overview

Table

Fixtures

Matchday 1

Matchday 2

Matchday 3

Matchday 4

Matchday 5

Matchday 6

Squads

Argentina

Australia

New Zealand

See also

References