The Rugby Championship 2015 Preview

We won’t find out until October 31^st who is the best international team on the planet, but the Rugby Championship, which begins this weekend, will give us a slight indication at how well the Southern Hemisphere teams are shaping up.

New Zealand, South Africa, Australia and Argentina go head-to-head for the Championship, but will only face each other once rather than twice in order for this competition to fit in with the frantic World Cup schedule.

The condensed competition has been put in place so the teams involved don’t have too many rigorous clashes in order to avoid injuries and allow for some key players to rest up before the World Cup.

It also means that we should expect to see some testing of new combinations and fresh faces included in teams to see if they sink or swim.

In all honesty, it is hard to know what to make of the Rugby Championship 2015, given that the focus for all teams is firmly on the autumn.

New Zealand

The All Blacks get the competition underway on Friday morning against Argentina in Christchurch and Coach Steve Hansen will be looking for a much sharper performance than the one his side produced in the 25-16 win over Samoa last week. On that occasion, they needed the reliable boot of Dan Carter to dig them out of trouble.

Hansen has continued to show his faith in the old guard with the likes of Carter and Captain Richie McCaw being selected.

The All Blacks Coach is also bringing through some of the best young talent including Waisake Naholo who is set to be handed his debut on Friday.

Naholo will start outside Sonny Bill Williams and Ma’a Nonu, but it will be interesting to see how he gets on without his Highlanders team-mates Ben Smith and Aaron Smith

Some of the other leading stars of New Zealand rugby are also missing from the squad such as Conrad Smith, Julian Savea, Sam Whitelock and Dane Coles.  

All of these players are being rested after a long Super Rugby campaign meaning the likes of Israel Dagg, Keven Mealamu and Tony Woodcock all get their chance to find their form.

The All Blacks may have won this competition for the last three years, but interestingly, no team has done The Rugby Championship and Rugby World Cup double in the same year.  

The last time New Zealand didn’t win the Rugby Championship (2011), they went on to lift the Webb Ellis trophy that same year.

While it is expected that the likes of Argentina probably can afford to experiment in the Rugby Championship because nothing is expecting of them, it is more difficult for the All Blacks who have the expectation of fans that they will not only win the Rugby Championship, but they should win the Rugby World Cup.  It creates an enormous balancing act for the selectors.

 Argentina

In terms of the All Blacks’ opening opponents, Argentina will pose their usual physical threat as Daniel Hourcade’s side search for their second ever win in this competition after they were victories over Australia last year.

The Pumas beat the Wallabies in Mendoza and that is the second game of this year’s competition. It gives Argentina their best chance of another win as it is their only match on home soil.

Australia

Despite Australia, New Zealand and South Africa winning six of the last seven World Cups, the Wallabies have now dropped to 6^th in the world rankings.

Two early positives for new coach Michael Cheika is that his side don’t have to begin the competition with back-to-back tests against New Zealand and also they have the advantage of playing two home games.

Saturday's encounter with South Africa will give the Wallabies hope that they can begin with a win which is something they have not done since they won the last ever Tri-Nations series in 2011. I think it is fair to say that the winner of this game in Brisbane will challenge New Zealand for the Championship.

Cheika does have the experience of Matt Giteau back in the side, but he may look to the half back partnership of Quade Cooper and Will Genia to guide his team to glory.

South Africa

As for South Africa, Coach Heyneke Meyer will count himself desperately unlucky as yet again the Springboks have a whole host of injuries.

Number eight Duane Vermeulen, lock Pieter-Steph du Toit, centre Frans Steyn and scrum-half Fourie du Preez are just some of the players on the treatment table.

Vermeulen showed how much he was missed for the Stormers in the Super Rugby play-offs this year and South Africa will be hoping his neck surgery will allow him to play a part at the World Cup.

With all these injuries, Meyer, like the other coaches, will certainly be giving squad players a run-out with the experienced Schalk Burger set to step in for the absent Vermeulen. Handre Pollard has also been given the nod to face Australia.

It is unlikely that this tournament will tell us much about what we can expect when the World Cup arrives, but I am sure that the Northern Hemisphere will take note of what goes on over the next four weeks.

Who will win The Rugby Championship? Can the All Blacks do The Rugby Championship and Rugby World Cup double?