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There are to be no changes to the Rugby Championship match order until at least 2022, Americas Rugby News has learned.
Since first being played in 2012 the match order of the Rugby Championship has been repetitive. Argentina have always faced South Africa away in round one then hosted the return match the following weekend. Similarly Australia has played New Zealand at home with the reverse fixture taking place seven days later.
Round three and four fixtures have seen New Zealand at home to Argentina and South Africa in that order. Australia has hosted the same sides these rounds with South Africa visiting in round 3 and Argentina in round 4.
The final two rounds have had Argentina and South Africa at home. Los Pumas have always played New Zealand in round five while South Africa have hosted Australia. In round 6 they have then hosted the remaining opponent.
The one exception was 2015. Due to the Rugby World Cup a reduced format all teams played three matches. Argentina had New Zealand and South Africa away in rounds 1 and 3, with a home match vs Australia in between.
Criticism emerged towards the repetitive structure during this year’s edition. With New Zealand being far-and-away the best side it was already champion after four rounds. The All Blacks had two more matches to play and both were away fixtures.
Americas Rugby News has learned that the 2017 Rugby Championship will not see any changes. The same match order will again be used. An investigation from this website has also confirmed the reason for this – a bilateral agreement between Australia and New Zealand which was signed before Argentina joined the tournament.
In 2011 a 10-year agreement was reached between the Australian Rugby Union (ARU), Tourism New South Wales and the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU). Between them they agreed that the Bledisloe Cup would be contested over three matches every year with the first of which always being in Sydney on the same weekend every August.
From 2008-2010 the Bledisloe Cup had been contested over four matches. More importantly what it meant was that Rugby Championship dates would have to work around these finalized dates. It prevented any possibility of a rotational calendar similar to that used in the Six Nations.
The 10-year agreement will continue through until 2021. The year 2022 is therefore the first opportunity that players and fans alike will be able to experience anything other than the same fixtures being played in the same order.
