What to expect in the Tri Nations
With the first match of the Tri-Nations Cup between New Zealand and South Africa fast approaching all the focus is on the teams and how they might perform over the grueling nine-game competition. The Australian Wallabies, New Zealand All Blacks and South African Springboks will all look to take home the Trophy after the final match on September 11th.
History
The Tri-Nations cup was started in 1995 when South Africa emerged from apartheid and joined New Zealand and Australia to form SANZAR, a collection of a the countries' rugby unions. The competition was meant to provide the southern hemisphere with a tournament such as the Five Nations Cup, now known as the Six Nations Cup.
The competition originally featured two matches between each team, but was changed to three matches in 2005. The tournament also acts as a way to decide the three major trophies given out for side-against-side play. The winner of the Australia – New Zealand games wins the Bledsoe Cup, the winner of the matches between New Zealand and South Africa is awarded the Freedom Cup, and the winner of the matches played between Australia and South Africa takes home the Mandela Challenge Plate.
Historically, the three squads have dominated the international rankings and this year is no different as the three teams make up the world's top three. For these reasons the Tri-Nations cup is said to be the best rugby tournament in the world.
Expansion
There has been a great deal of talk about expanding the Tri-Nations to Four-Nations by including Argentina in the tournament. Argentina is the current world number eight and the only team besides the Tri-Nations countries and Fiji currently in the top 10. With the lack of competition from other South American countries, Argentina finds itself looking for an international tournament. They seem best suited for Tri-Nations play as they are situated in the southern hemisphere, and are therefore too far away to participate in the European Six Nations cup.
Nonetheless, the inclusion of Argentina has hit a few snags. The country until recently did not permit rugby players to be paid, and therefore most of their players play in Europe, making scheduling very difficult. In addition the share of the television contracts has forced negotiations to slow. Even with these complications, it looks as though the Tri-Nations will expand to include Argentina by 2012.
Past Tournaments
In the past the All Blacks have dominated the competition, winning 9 of the 14 tournaments. In recent years it has been much of the same. The All Blacks won the tournament from 2005 until 2008 before they were foiled last year by the Springboks. Generally the tournament has been decided by a fairly large margin with one team dominating the competition.
The All Blacks has gone undefeated three times in 1996, 1997, and 2003. However since the tournament was expanded to three games against each side no one has been able to go undefeated. The All Blacks came closest however in 2006 when they went five and one.
After the All Blacks, the Springboks are the next most successful side having won the cup three times, while Australia has won it only twice. This year's Tournament once again sees the three teams as the top-ranked sides in the world. New Zealand is ranked number one overall, the Springboks are ranked second and the Wallabies sit third.
The Tri-Nations cup presents the world with the chance to watch arguably the best international rugby of the year. With the three sides once again sitting at the top of the world rankings, the 2010 edition should prove to be just as exciting as years past.
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