New Zealand

New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and Argentina began their preparations for the Rugby World Cup in serious fashion this weekend as a condensed Rugby Championship got underway.

New Zealand scored five tries as they got their Rugby Championship title defence up and running with a 39-18 victory over Argentina in Christchurch.

Ahead of the opening weekend of the Rugby Championship, Talking Rugby Union previews Round One’s encounters.

We won’t find out until October 31st 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.

There seems to be a wave of discontent coming from Southern rugby fans after the news that there will not be an All Blacks vs British and Irish Lions test in the South Island in 2017.

The British and Irish Lions announced the details of their 2017 tour of New Zealand on Friday with Auckland hosting two of the three Tests against the All Blacks.

The world watched last week as the All Blacks made the 2,000 mile journey to Apia, Samoa, where they took part in a historic test against a nation which has had such a prolific bearing on the fortunes of New Zealand rugby.

The British and Irish Lions will play New Zealand twice at Eden Park in Auckland during a 10-match 2017 tour.

New Zealand resisted a second-half fightback from Samoa to win 25-16 in this historic match in Apia.

Samoa hosts the All Blacks for the first time at Apia Park, in only the sixth ever match between these two nations.

New Zealand Coach Steve Hansen is set to hand George Moala his first cap when the All Blacks take on Samoa on Wednesday.

Highlanders co-captain Nasi Manu was full of pride after his side defied the odds to claim their first-ever Super Rugby title on Saturday.

The Highlanders defied the odds as they held off a second-half fightback to clinch their first-ever Super Rugby title with a 21-14 victory over the Hurricanes at the Westpac Stadium.

Since its inception in 2008, the World Rugby U20 Championship, or Junior World Championship as it used to be known, has seen the trio of New Zealand, England and South Africa make up the top three teams at the tournament in four of its eight editions.

Both the Hurricanes and the Highlanders have named unchanged starting XV’s for the Super Rugby Final in Wellington on Saturday.

It is a rarity to see a number of uncapped players in a New Zealand side, but Coach Steve Hansen has had to make a hold host of changes for their test against Samoa next week.

The Hurricanes dominated from start to finish as they recorded a 29-9 victory over the Brumbies at Westpac Stadium to reach the Super 15 final.

The Highlanders defeated the Waratahs 35-17 in Sydney to set up an all-New Zealand Super Rugby final against the Hurricanes.

With the World Cup now just 12 weeks away, the conversations about who will lift the trophy have already begun and it is clear that New Zealand are favourites to retain the Webb Ellis Cup.

Former New Zealand captain Tana Umaga has been named as the new coach of struggling Super Rugby side the Blues.