2019 Rugby Championship
The 2019 Rugby Championship was the eighth edition of the annual southern hemisphere Rugby Championship, featuring Argentina, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. The competition is operated by SANZAAR, a joint venture of the four countries' national unions.
Date | 20 July 2019 – 10 August 2019 |
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Countries | |
Final positions | |
Champions | |
Bledisloe Cup | |
Freedom Cup | |
Mandela Challenge Plate | |
Puma Trophy | |
Tournament statistics | |
Matches played | 6 |
Tries scored | 30 (5 per match) |
Attendance | 232,769 (38,795 per match) |
Top scorer(s) | (42) |
Most tries | (3) |
← 2018 2020 → |
The tournament schedule was similar to that of the 2015 edition, being shortened due to the World Cup.
New Zealand was the three-time back-to-back defending champions entering this years Championship. However, South Africa claimed their fourth title, their first since the inception of the Rugby Championship and their first Southern Hemisphere title since 2009.[1] They became the third team to claim the expanded Southern Hemisphere championship, following New Zealand and Australia.[2]
Background
The tournament is operated by SANZAAR and known for sponsorship reasons as The Castle Rugby Championship in South Africa, The Investec Rugby Championship in New Zealand, The Mitsubishi Estate Rugby Championship in Australia, and The Personal Rugby Championship in Argentina.
Format
Because of the 2019 World Cup, the tournament schedule was reduced, as it was in 2015, to each team playing each other once. Australia and Argentina each played two home matches out of the three matches to be played in total. New Zealand and South Africa had one home fixture.[3][4] As usual, a win earned a team four league points, a draw two league points, and a loss by eight or more points zero league points. A bonus point was earned in one of two ways: by scoring at least three tries more than the opponent in a match, or by losing within seven points. The competition winner was the side with the most points at the end of the tournament.[5]
Other Cups
Because the Bledisloe Cup is decided in two home-and-away legs, after the end of the shortened Rugby Championship, New Zealand and Australia played for the Bledisloe Cup decider at Eden Park, Auckland, with Australia leading the series 1-0. New Zealand retained the Cup for the 17th consecutive year with a comprehensive 36-0 win, concluding in a 1-1 series result.[6]
Table
Place | Nation | Games | Points | Try Bonus |
Losing Bonus |
Table points | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against | Diff | |||||
1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 97 | 46 | +51 | 2 | 0 | 12 | |
2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 80 | 71 | +9 | 0 | 0 | 8 | |
3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 62 | 79 | −17 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |
4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 39 | 82 | −43 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Results
Round 1
South Africa |
35–17 | |
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Try: H. Jantjies (2) 10' c, 61' c De Jager 23' c Nkosi 55' c Reinach 80' c Con: E. Jantjies (5/5) 11', 24', 56', 63', 83' |
Report | Try: Haylett-Petty 28' c Foley 70' c Con: Foley (2/2) 30', 71' Pen: Foley (1/1) 16' |
Man of the Match:
Touch judges:
|
Notes:
- Rynhardt Elstadt, Lizo Gqoboka and Herschel Jantjies (all South Africa) and Harry Johnson-Holmes and Isi Naisarani (both Australia) made their international debuts.
- South Africa reclaim the Mandela Challenge Plate.
Argentina |
16–20 | |
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Try: Boffelli 56' c Con: Sánchez (1/1) 47' Pen: Sánchez (2/3) 1', 20' Boffelli (1/1) 6' |
Report | Try: Laumape 17' c Retallick 38' c Con: B. Barrett (2/2) 18', 39' Pen: B. Barrett (2/2) 22', 36' |
|
|
Man of the Match:
Touch judges:
|
Notes:
- Mayco Vivas (Argentina) and Braydon Ennor, Luke Jacobson, Atunaisa Moli and Sevu Reece (all New Zealand) made their international debuts.
Round 2
New Zealand |
16–16 | |
---|---|---|
Try: Goodhue 36' c Con: B. Barrett (1/1) 38' Pen: B. Barrett (1/3) 48' Mo'unga (2/2) 66', 74' |
Report | Try: Jantjies 79' c Con: Pollard (1/1) 80' Pen: Pollard (3/4) 2', 9', 60' |
|
|
Man of the Match:
Touch judges:
|
Notes:
- New Zealand retain the Freedom Cup.
- This was the first draw between these two sides since 1994.
- New Zealand passed 16,000 points in international rugby during this game.[7]
Australia |
16–10 | |
---|---|---|
Try: Hodge 31' c Con: Lealiifano (1/1) 32' Pen: Lealiifano (3/3) 10', 42', 50' |
Report | Try: Isa 73' c Con: Díaz Bonilla (1/1) 74' Pen: Sánchez (1/1) 23' |
|
|
Man of the Match:
Touch judges:
|
Notes:
- Santiago Socino (Argentina) made his international debut.
- Australia retain the Puma Trophy.
Round 3
Australia |
47–26 | |
---|---|---|
Try: Hodge (2) 9' c, 68 ' c Salakaia-Loto 45' m White 48' m Koroibete 61' c Beale 78' c Con: Lealiifano (2/4) 10', 62' To'omua (2/2) 70', 79' Pen: Lealiifano (3/3) 6', 27', 39' |
Report | Try: Lienert-Brown 12' c Ioane 16' m B. Barrett 54' c Laumape 70' c Con: Mo'unga (3/4) 13', 55', 71' |
|
|
Man of the Match:
Touch judges:
|
Notes:
- This was the first Bledisloe Cup match played in Western Australia.[8]
- Australia's 47 points was their record score against New Zealand, surpassing the 35 points scored in 2000.
- The All Blacks' 21-point defeat equalled their record loss, set in 1999 against Australia.
- New Zealand finished third in the table for the first time since the 2004 Tri Nations, and the first time since The Rugby Championship's inception.[9]
- Scott Barrett became the fourth New Zealand player to be sent off in an international match, and the first since Sonny Bill Williams against the British and Irish Lions in 2017. Barrett was also the first player to be dismissed in a Bledisloe Cup match since Drew Mitchell in 2010.
- The crowd of 61,241 was the largest to date to attend a sporting event at Optus Stadium.
Argentina |
13–46 | |
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Try: Cordero 1' c Con: Sánchez (1/1) 2' Pen: Sánchez (2/2) 16', 27' |
Report | Try: Mbonambi 12' m Pollard (2) 39' c, 52' m Mapimpi 63' c Kolbe 66 'c Con: Pollard (3/5) 40', 65', 67' Pen: Pollard (5/5) 8', 18', 25', 30', 41' |
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Man of the Match:
Touch judges:
|
Notes:
- This was South Africa's biggest winning margin over Argentina in Argentina.
- Handré Pollard's tally of 31 points set a new record for a single player in a Rugby Championship match. It equalled Morné Steyn's Tri Nations record, set against New Zealand in 2009.
Statistics
Points scorers
|
Try scorers
|
Squads
Summary
Nation | Match venues | Head coach | Captain | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Name | City | Capacity | |||
Estadio Vélez Sarsfield | Buenos Aires | 49,540 | Pablo Matera | ||
Estadio Padre Ernesto Martearena | Salta | 20,408 | |||
Suncorp Stadium | Brisbane | 52,500 | Michael Hooper | ||
Optus Stadium | Perth | 65,000 | |||
Westpac Stadium | Wellington | 34,500 | Kieran Read | ||
Ellis Park | Johannesburg | 62,567 | Siya Kolisi |
Note: Ages, caps and clubs/franchises are of 20 July 2019 – the starting date of the tournament
Argentina
On 46-man extended squad for the 2019 Rugby Championship and in preparation for the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.
|
Australia
On 4 July, Michael Cheika named a 34-man squad for the 2019 Rugby Championship.[10]
James O'Connor officially joined the squad on 17 July after the completion of signing a contract with Rugby Australia and the Queensland Reds.
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New Zealand
On 2 July 2019, Hansen named a 39-man squad ahead of the 2019 Rugby Championship.[11]
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South Africa
The following players were named in the South African squad for the 2019 Rugby Championship:[12]
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See also
- History of rugby union matches between Argentina and Australia
- History of rugby union matches between Argentina and New Zealand
- History of rugby union matches between Argentina and South Africa
- History of rugby union matches between Australia and South Africa
- History of rugby union matches between Australia and New Zealand
- History of rugby union matches between New Zealand and South Africa
References
- "Pollard stars as South Africa win Rugby Championship". ESPN. 10 August 2019. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
- "Argentina vs South Africa result: Handre Pollard scores 31 points as Springboks win Rugby Championship". The Independent. 10 August 2019. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
- Breakfast, Siviwe (10 April 2019). "Springboks to take on Wallabies in Rugby Championship opener". The South African. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
- "SANZAAR reveals full Rugby Championship draw". rugby.com.au. 10 April 2019. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
- "SANZAR - About The Rugby Championship". SANZAAR. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
- "Bledisloe Stays in New Zealand After All Blacks Thrash Wallabies". www.newshub.co.nz. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
- Renton, Colin. "That was the month that was: July 2019". theoffsideline.com. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
- "Australia thrash All Blacks 47-26 in Rugby Championship in Perth". BBC Sport. 10 August 2019. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
- "Wallabies waltz to record win over All Blacks in Bledisloe Cup opener". Guardian. 10 August 2019. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
- Wallabies Squad for The Rugby Championship
- "First All Blacks squad of 2019 named". All Blacks. Retrieved 3 July 2019.
- "Van Staden invited to Springbok training group in Pretoria" (Press release). South African Rugby Union. 1 July 2019. Retrieved 6 July 2019.