Southern hemisphere competition
Rugby union tournament
The 2022 Rugby Championship was the tenth edition of the annual southern hemisphere competition, involving Argentina, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The tournament returned to being staged across all competing nations after the disruption from COVID-19 in 2020 and 2021.
The competition is operated by SANZAAR, a joint venture of the four countries' national unions, and known for sponsorship reasons as The Castle Rugby Championship in South Africa, The Fortinet Rugby Championship in New Zealand, The eToro Rugby Championship in Australia, and The Zurich Rugby Championship in Argentina.[1]
The tournament was restructured for the first time since Argentina joined the competition, with each team playing their games both home and away. Each country hosted three games, but not evenly across the competing nations.[2] Argentina hosted Australia twice and South Africa once; Australia hosted South Africa twice and New Zealand once; New Zealand hosted Argentina twice and Australia once; and South Africa hosted New Zealand twice and Argentina once.
Table
Fixtures
Round 1
Notes:
- Malcolm Marx (South Africa) earned his 50th test cap.
- South Africa win back-to-back matches over New Zealand for the first time since 2009.
- This was South Africa's first home victory over New Zealand since 4 October 2014.
- With this loss, New Zealand lose more than two consecutive games for the first time since 1998.
- As a result of this loss, New Zealand drop to fifth in the World Rugby Rankings, their lowest ranking ever.
- New Zealand lose their opening match of the Rugby Championship/Tri Nations for the first time since 2005.
- It was South Africa's biggest win over New Zealand since 30 June 1928, when South Africa won 17–0 in Kingsmead, Durban.
Notes:
Round 2
Notes:
Notes:
Round 3
Notes:
Notes:
- Marcos Kremer (Argentina) earned his 50th cap.
- This was Argentina's first away win against New Zealand, as well as the first time Argentina has won two games in a row in the Rugby Championship.
- Michael Cheika became the second coach to beat New Zealand with two teams (Australia and Argentina). Eddie Jones did so with Australia and England.
- This was the first time that New Zealand lost 3 consecutive home games, and 3 home games in a calendar year.
Round 4
Notes:
- This was New Zealand's biggest win over Argentina since 28 June 1997, also in Hamilton, where they won 62–10.
Notes:
- Taniela Tupou (Australia) was not used as a sub after suffering an injury in a warm-up during the game.
- This was the first test match at the newly opened Sydney Football Stadium.
- This was the first test match that South Africa had won in Australia since 2013.
- Canan Moodie (South Africa) made his international debut and scored a try.
Round 5
Notes:
Notes:
- It was the first international rugby match at the Estadio Libertadores de América. The game was originally scheduled for the Estadio José Amalfitani, Argentina's usual Buenos Aires ground, but a failed pitch inspection forced a move to la Doble Visera, the home of soccer giants Club Atlético Independiente.
- Siya Kolisi (South Africa) earnt his 70th cap.
- Agustín Creevy (Argentina) earnt his 95th cap, becoming the most capped Argentina player.
Round 6
Notes:
Statistics
Squads
Summary
Note: Ages, caps and clubs/franchises are of 6 August 2022 – the starting date of the tournament
Argentina
On 21 July, Argentina announced a 34-man squad for the Rugby Championship.
On 14 August, Eduardo Bello, Bautista Delguy, Guido Petti and Santiago Socino joined the squad ahead of their tour to New Zealand in rounds 3 & 4.
On 20 August, Mateo Carreras was a late addition to the travelling squad to New Zealand.
On 7 September, Michael Cheika named a revised squad for the final 2 matches against South Africa.
Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.
Australia
On 21 July, Dave Rennie confirmed a 36-player squad for the opening 2 rounds of the Rugby Championship.[10]
Scott Sio has been ruled out due to a shoulder injury, Tom Robertson was called into the squad as his replacement.
Dave Porecki was ruled out of the Argentine tour due to injury and Billy Pollard was called up to replace him on tour.
On 18 August, Bernard Foley and Langi Gleeson was added to the squad for Australia's round three and four matches against South Africa.
On 8 September, Kurtley Beale and Cadeyrn Neville were called up for the Bledisloe Cup series in rounds five and six.
New Zealand
On 26 July, Fletcher Newell was called into the squad as a replacement for Ofa Tu'ungafasi who suffered a neck injury after the Steinlager Series.
On 5 September, Braydon Ennor and Luke Jacobson were added to the squad for New Zealand's round 5 clash against Australia.
South Africa
On 23 July, head coach Jacques Nienaber named a 41-man squad for the 2022 Rugby Championship.[11]
On 8 August, Canan Moodie was called up to the squad following injury to Kurt-Lee Arendse in the opening round of the Championship.
Head coach: 
Jacques Nienaber
Notes
- ^ a b The Argentina vs. South Africa match was originally scheduled to be played at the José Amalfitani Stadium in the Buenos Aires neighbourhood of Liniers; however, the venue was changed to the Estadio Libertadores de América in the nearby city of Avellaneda on 14 September as the Argentine Rugby Union determined that the original venue did not meet the "necessary conditions for holding an international rugby match" following an inspection on 12 September.[3]
- ^ a b Michael Hooper was selected and named captain of the Wallabies in the initial squad for the first test against Argentina in round one,[4] however less than forty-eight hours before kick-off, Hooper withdrew from the squad, citing personal reasons.[5][6] James Slipper was named captain for the remainder of Hooper's sabbatical.[5][7]
- ^ a b In the round five match between Australia and New Zealand, Cane failed a Head Injury Assessment (HIA) in the first-half and the captaincy was replaced by Sam Whitelock.[8][9]
References
- ^ UAR y Zurich extienden su acuerdo hasta 2023 - Unión Argentina de Rugby, 13 August 2021
- ^ "Boks' home Test schedule for 2022 confirmed". SA Rugby. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
- ^ "TRC RD#5: Venue Change For Pumas Versus Springboks". super.rugby. SANZAAR. 14 September 2022. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
- ^ Doran, Christy (5 August 2022). "Wallabies make seven changes for Cheika Test as Rennie ends Petaia experiment before it started". Fox Sports Australia.
- ^ a b "Wallabies captain Michael Hooper withdraws from tour, citing 'mindset'". The Guardian Australia. 6 August 2022.
- ^ Payten, Iain (6 August 2022). "Hooper leaves Wallabies tour for break after admitting 'mindset' struggle". The Sydney Morning Herald.
- ^ "Australia beats Argentina 41–26 in Mendoza, but lose playmaker Quade Cooper to an ankle injury, as South Africa thumps New Zealand 26–10". ABC News. 7 August 2022.
- ^ Hinton, Marc (16 September 2022). "All Blacks v Wallabies: Quinn Tupaea out for at least three months after shot from Darcy Swain". Stuff. Melbourne, Australia. Retrieved 17 September 2022.
- ^ Knowler, Richard (17 September 2022). "Bledisloe Cup: All Blacks' epic win in Melbourne not without flaws". Stuff. Retrieved 17 September 2022.
- ^ Williamson, Nathan (21 July 2022). "Wallabies confirm squad for Argentina tour". rugby.com.au. Rugby Australia.
- ^ Vermeulen, Steyn back in the mix for Rugby Champs
Jacques Nienaber