The Rugby Championship explained

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When the Tri-Nations kicked off in its inaugural season back in 1996, it was the start of annual excitement with the 3 giants from the Southern Hemisphere playing each other in a real competition. Australia and New Zealand have been playing against each other since the 1903 and in the 1930s they started contesting the Bledisloe Cup. South Africa first played the other 2 teams in 1921 but only since 1996 they have been travelling to the Tasman region on a regular basis.

The Rugby Championship sees Argentina enter the fold. The South American rugby giants have been making massive strides in recent years, exemplified by their stunning performance in the 2007 Rugby World Cup. No doubt the passion and skill of the Argentines will help to freshen up the Southern Hemisphere's annual show-piece event.

The teams will play each other twice, once at home and once away.

The winner is determined by a points system:

• 4 points for a win
• 2 points for a draw
• 0 points for a loss

"Bonus points" may also be earned in any given match and count toward deciding the series winner. A total of two bonus points can be possibly scored:

• The Attacking bonus point by scoring four or more tries in the match, regardless of the final result.
• The Defending bonus point by losing by seven points (a converted try) or less.

If teams end level on points the first tiebreaker is point differential, followed by number of tries during the series.


History:
New Zealand has won 10 championships while South Africa and Australia won the competition 3 times. The all-time top try- and points scorer per country:



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[TD][/TD]
[TD]

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[TD]

[/TD]
[TD]

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[/TR]
[TR]
[TD] Points [/TD]
[TD] Percy Montgomery (210)[/TD]
[TD] Dan Carter (461)[/TD]
[TD] Matt Burke (271)[/TD]
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[TR]
[TD] Tries [/TD]
[TD] Jaque Fourie (9)[/TD]
[TD] Christian Cullen (16)[/TD]
[TD] Stirling Mortlock/Lote Tuqiri (9)[/TD]
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