The Rugby Championship

The Rugby Championship is an international rugby union competition contested annually by Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. These are the four highest ranked national teams in the Southern Hemisphere; the Six Nations is a similar tournament in the Northern Hemisphere.

Prior to the 2012 tournament, when Argentina joined, it was known as the Tri Nations. The Tri Nations name was temporarily revived for the 2020 tournament due to the withdrawal of South Africa owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The competition is administered by SANZAAR, a consortium consisting of four national governing bodies: the South African Rugby Union, New Zealand Rugby Union, Rugby Australia and the Argentine Rugby Union. The inaugural Tri Nations tournament was in 1996, and was won by New Zealand. South Africa won their first title in 1998, and Australia their first in 2000. Following the last Tri Nations tournament in 2011, New Zealand had won ten championships, with South Africa and Australia on three titles each. The first Rugby Championship was won by New Zealand, who won all six of their matches.

New Zealand, South Africa and Australia have frequently been ranked among the top rugby nations. New Zealand and South Africa have each won the Rugby World Cup three times, and Australia twice, accounting for eight of the nine Cups.