The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for their international success, the All Blacks have often been regarded as one of the most successful sports teams in history.
The Rugby Championship, formerly known as the Tri Nations Series (1996–2011), is an international rugby union competition contested annually by Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. These are traditionally the four highest ranked national teams in the Southern Hemisphere; the Six Nations is a similar tournament in the Northern Hemisphere.
The South Africa national rugby union team commonly known as the Springboks, is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jerseys with white shorts. Their emblem is a native antelope, the Springbok, which is the national animal of South Africa. The team has been representing South African Rugby Union in international rugby union since 30 July 1891, when they played their first test match against a British Isles touring team. Currently, the Springboks are the number one ranked rugby team in the world and are the reigning World Champions, having won the World Cup on a record four occasions. Incredibly, the Springboks have won half of the Rugby World Cups they've attended. They are also the second nation to win the World Cup consecutively.
The Australia national rugby union team, nicknamed the Wallabies, is the representative national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of Australia. The team first played at Sydney in 1899, winning their first test match against the touring British Isles team.
The Samoa national rugby union team represents the Samoa Rugby Union in men's international rugby union. They are also known as "Manu Samoa", which is thought to derive from the name of a Samoan warrior. They perform a traditional Samoan challenge called the siva tau before each game. Samoa Rugby Union were formerly members of the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance (PIRA) along with Fiji and Tonga. They are ranked 11th in the world.
John William Smit, OIS, is a South African former professional rugby union player and former chief executive officer of the Sharks. He was the 50th captain of the Springbok rugby union team and led the team to win the 2007 Rugby World Cup. He played most of his senior career as a hooker, but also won 13 caps as a prop, where he had also played for South Africa's under-21 team. He retired from international rugby following the 2011 Rugby World Cup as the most-capped South African player ever, with 111 appearances.
The 2004 Tri Nations Series, an annual rugby union competition between the national teams of Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, was the ninth in the series. The competition is organised by SANZAR, a consortium of the three countries' rugby union federations. The series was contested in its original double round-robin format, with each team playing the others twice.
SANZAAR is the body which oversees Super Rugby and The Rugby Championship competitions in rugby union. SANZAAR meets annually and is composed of the CEOs from its member unions.
The 2003 Tri Nations Series was contested from 12 July to 16 August between the national rugby union teams of Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. New Zealand won the tournament for the fifth time.
The 2002 Tri Nations Series was contested from 13 July to 17 August between the Australia, New Zealand and South Africa national rugby union teams. The All Blacks won the tournament.
The 1996 Tri Nations Series was the inaugural Tri Nations Series, a rugby union competition contested by the men's national teams of Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. It was contested from 6 July to 10 August. New Zealand won all four of their matches to claim the title, as well as retaining the Bledisloe Cup won the previous year for their two wins over Australia.
The 1998 Tri Nations Series was contested from 11 July to 22 August between the Australia, New Zealand and South Africa national rugby union teams. The Springboks won the tournament.
The 1999 Tri Nations Series was the fourth Tri Nations Series, a rugby union tournament contested by the men's national teams of Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. It was contested from 10 July to 28 August 1999. New Zealand won the title, winning three of their four matches, including both against South Africa; however, they split the series against Australia, who retained the Bledisloe Cup, having won it outright the previous year.
Bismarck Wilhelm du Plessis is a South African former professional rugby union player, who played for the Bulls in the United Rugby Championship and for the Blue Bulls in the Currie Cup. He played for the Free State Cheetahs in 2003, before moving to the Sharks in 2005 where he spent the bulk of his career, and then to Montpellier in the French Top 14. He is widely acknowledged to be one of the best hookers of his time, both in club and country performances.
Bryce Lawrence is a former professional international rugby union referee from the Bay of Plenty, New Zealand. He is now the National Referee Manager for the New Zealand Rugby Union.
Craig Paul Joubert is a South African professional rugby union referee and a Referee Talent Development Coach at World Rugby.
The 2011 Tri Nations Series was the sixteenth annual Tri Nations rugby union series between the national rugby union teams of New Zealand, Australia and South Africa, respectively nicknamed the All Blacks, Wallabies and Springboks. It was also the last series in which only these three teams participated. In 2012, Argentina's Pumas joined this competition, which was rebranded as The Rugby Championship. This made this series the last under the Tri Nations name until 2020, when South Africa withdrew due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 2012 Rugby Championship was the inaugural annual rugby union series between the national rugby union teams of New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, and Argentina. For sponsorship reasons, the competition was known as The Castle Rugby Championship in South Africa, The Investec Rugby Championship in New Zealand, The Castrol Edge Rugby Championship in Australia and The Personal Rugby Championship in Argentina.
The 2013 Rugby Championship, known as The Castle Rugby Championship in South Africa, The Investec Rugby Championship in New Zealand, The Castrol Edge Rugby Championship in Australia and The Personal Rugby Championship in Argentina for sponsorship reasons, was the second edition of the expanded annual southern hemisphere championship consisting of Argentina, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. New Zealand as the 2012 holders, was trying to keep their 100% winning record in the championship after winning six from six in 2012.
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.
Australia (2nd title)
