How important is the Rugby Championship in a World Cup year?

Regardless of what you achieve in a World Cup year, stepping out and competing for the Webb Ellis Trophy is the pinnacle of the season.

The Six Nations was a superb spectacle at the start of 2015, but how vital was it when comparing it to the World Cup?

Of course it was a chance for England to lay down a firm marker ahead of the autumn and it allowed Stuart Lancaster one final look at his team before naming his training squad, but other than that, it will count for nothing come September.

The same applies to this year’s Rugby Championship which begins tomorrow.

The shortened format of the 2015 competition further emphasises that point. For the teams involved, it is nothing more than going through the motions of training runs and adding the finishing touches to their squads before the World Cup.

In addition to that, it is highly likely that the squads will be changed and tinkered with during the World Cup anyway.

In terms of this year, the draw is uneven with each team playing each other once, but with their only been four teams in the competition, it means two teams are hosting two games – South Africa and Australia are the teams with that advantage.

Now for a quick question: Who won the Rugby Championship in 2011? It doesn’t roll off the tongue, but everyone knows that New Zealand won the World Cup that year. It highlights again that in a World Cup year, the Rugby Championship takes a back seat.

Despite saying that the Rugby Championship may not be as important in a World Cup year, one quite remarkable stat is that the winner of the tournament has never gone on to win the World Cup in the same year.  Maybe it is a positive not to win this competition!

Rugby Championship Winners:

New Zealand: 1999, 2003, 2007

Australia: 2011

World Cup Winners:

Australia: 1999

England: 2003

South Africa: 2007

New Zealand: 2011

Should we care about the Rugby Championship in Rugby World Cup year?