The mid-August weekend will be the hottest of the summer for the rugby world, and the reason is obvious to all. The third edition of the Rugby Championship starts on Saturday 16 August, the competition which for years has seen the three queens of world rugby compete against each other (South Africa, Australia and New Zealand) and which since 2012 has also welcomed the Argentine pumas in the ranking of the most difficult and prestigious in the world. Yes, there is also the six nations, but as evidenced by the campaigns in the southern hemisphere of the European powers last June, the level of the Championship is another matter altogether.
Australia is far from the poor performance of last year, when they only managed two victories against Argentina. However, since the last match played against the Pumas, coach McKenzie seems to have wanted to give a signal with those 54 points scored after a tournament of defeats and few points scored. The confirmation came in June of the following year, when in the series against France, the kangaroos totaled 3 wins out of 3, among other things registering high points in assets and very low in liabilities. To give confidence in the possibilities of this team, the vision of the prowess of the phenomenon Israel Folau is enough, unassailable and impeccable when placed in the conditions of being with the ball in hand in the right spaces. The unknowns are instead given by the long line at the infirmary where prop Moore and flanker Pocock will miss the whole tournament, while pillars like Genia, Cooper and Polota-Nau will return in different periods of the competition.
Never in its history has South Africa been so comprehensive. By now far from the stereotype of a steamroller team all muscle and weight, Heineke Meyer's national team counts on agile and fast as well as technically superb talents such as the very young Serfontaine - already player of the year among the boys from all over the world -, the very ductile Willie Le Roux , but also veterans Jean De Villiers, Du Plessis and Jacques Fourie. Youth and experience has always been the magic blend for success, and South Africa has mixed the ingredients well, adding laboratory physical skills and enviable technical-tactical skills. To shake the locker room of the gazelles, however, there are the illustrious injuries that risk leaving out just Fourie, and the captain De Villiers.
The All Blacks are "unquestionably" favourites, confident of a champion legacy and of an uninterrupted winning streak that counts nine out of nine wins between last year's Championship and June's test matches against England. All true, but the victories against England suffered a lot, and the New Zealand teams – where the All Blacks come from – did badly and badly in the Super14 (the club championship between Australia, New Zealand and South Africa). Precisely the direct confrontation in the Super 14 final between the two strongest New Zealand and Australian clubs – Crusaders and Warhatas – which saw the seconds beat their opponents in a test of tactics and character. Then there is the heavy injury of Carter, who however is well replaced by the young Cruden and Barrett, and the far more serious absence of Tony Woodcock, the fulcrum of the black scrum for which it is hard to find a worthy replacement.
Then there are the latest arrivals, the Pumas of Argentina. Since entering the competition – thanks to the technical supervision of New Zealand and world rugby guru Graham Henry – those who were once compared to Italy in terms of technical and physical abilities are now light years away from the Italian game, and have adapted well at the levels set in the Championship. Witnessing this are the numerous positive results that Hernandez's national team achieved in the previous two years. Sure they haven't won yet, but they were able to hold the All Blacks to a draw, and the other contenders to narrow wins as well. Furthermore, the Argentine game is competitively bad, and the individual defense of the pumas often imposes long waiting times in the infirmary on the opponents.
Venturing predictions, it remains impossible to deny that the All Blacks are still the favourites, albeit with the reservations advanced above, strengthened by the victories in all previous editions. Yet the technical gap between the New Zealanders and the challengers - gazelles, pumas and kangaroos - seems to have narrowed, and not just a little. South Africa above all, but also Australia, are the direct contenders in the enterprise to unseat the kings of rugby from the throne of the southern hemisphere, while Argentina are absolutely ready to claim their first victory in a match of the tournament.
These are the matches of the first day: Australia vs New Zealand at the ANZ Stadium in Sydney, and South Africa vs Argentina at the Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria.
