IT’S now back to the Rugby Championships for the big four in the southern hemisphere, with champions New Zealand opening their title defence against Australia in Sydney on Saturday.
For the All Blacks, the competition will also be about erasing the disappointment of the drawn series against the British and Irish Lions while the Wallabies want to get their game back on track after an unflattering June Tests, which saw two less than outstanding wins against Fiji and Italy and a defeat to Scotland.
The Wallabies play this game as the decision on the Australia’s Super Rugby franchises remains in the balance and while the game in the country as a whole is in quite a mess but they have one advantage, especially over the All Blacks and the Springboks, because they have been able to start training a few weeks earlier when only one of their Super Rugby franchises made it to the playoffs and did not get past the quarter-final.
The All Blacks have dropped high try-scoring winger Julian Savea but will still have the young Rieko Ioane available. Also in the squad is powerful inside centre Ngane Laumape, Super Rugby’s top try scorer who only made his national team debut in the third and final Test against the Lions on July 18.
Available too for selection is Sonny Bill Williams, whose red card against the Lions in the second Test, was to cost his team dearly.
However hooker Dane Coles has been omitted as a precaution because of his earlier concussion issues but is expected back for the second game against the Wallabies in Dunedin next week.
Across the Tasman, hooker Stephen Moore has decided to retire from international rugby by the end of the season and in so doing also decided that he should hand over the skipper’s armband now to flanker Michael Hooper.
The Springboks open their campaign later Saturday against the Pumas in Port Elizabeth and will be boosted by the outstanding form of the Lions in Super Rugby. The franchise provides seven players to the Springboks squad but will be without captain Warren Whiteley who is out injured.
They are upbeat after a 3-0 home whitewash of the French in June but how far this will translate into success in the annual southern competition is uncertain.
The Pumas have created upsets here and there since their first participation in 2012, winning three and drawing one from a total of 27 games but lack of consistency is the issue.
Coach Daniel Hourcade has been in charge since 2013 and despite a poor record, had his contract extended by two years until 2015 and again for two years after that.
He however went on record in late 2015 after the Pumas finished fourth at the World Cup to say that Argentina needed a new face, a new coach, if the team were to do better at the next WC in 2019 in Japan.
The best option would be for the national union to scout overseas because there simply is no one with the credentials for the job at home.
Since the first Tri-Nations in 1996 and the expanded Rugby Championship in 2012, the statistics in most areas have been in favour of the All Blacks and while another title this year would be yet another celebration for their fans, the dominance would hurt rugby in the long run and it is rugby in the south that will be affected.
In the 16 Tri-Nations editions, the All Blacks won 10 and the Wallabies and Springboks only three each.
Come the Rugby Championship and it was more of the same – four titles to the All Blacks and one to the Wallabies.
In three of the four years, the All Blacks won all six games, just as the Wallabies won all three of theirs in 2015.
The highest crowd attendance in each of the five years since 2012 also involved games with the All Blacks. At the other end, the lowest attendances were all games involving the Pumas.
Attendances will be one area SANZAR will be watching closely.
In the first four years, the average crowd was between about 40,500 and 45,600 except for 2014 which saw a dip to 35,882.
It went up again to about 40,500 in 2015 but only to drop again last year to 35,940. An increase this year would be a pleasant surprise.