It’s time for the Southern Hemisphere’s finest nations to come together once more, as the 2024 Rugby Championship kicks off this weekend.
Saturday’s opening match sees South Africa’s World Cup-winning Springboks go up against Australia’s Wallabies at the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.
Hot on their heels are the New Zealand All Blacks, who launch their title defence with an opener at the Sky Stadium in Wellington against Argentina’s Los Pumas.
*All kick off times Central African Time (GMT +2)
Australia vs South Africa – Kick Off 6.30
Australia and South Africa bring the curtain up on the 2024 Rugby Championship on Saturday, as they face off in the opening round in Queensland.
Rassie Erasmus takes his reigning, back-to-back Rugby World Cup winning Springboks to Brisbane for a hotly anticipated contest at the Suncorp Stadium against the improving hosts.
They come into the contest off the back of a drawn, two-match home series against fellow global leaders Ireland, before a much-changed line up saw off the challenge of tier two Portugal in Bloemfontein.
The Wallabies bottomed out at the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France, with a grisly campaign leading to the sacking of controversial coach Eddie Jones.
Kiwi Joe Schmidt stepped into the breach and will look to lay down a marker with the Aussies against the Boks, New Zealand and Argentina over the coming weeks.
Erasmus has thrown down the gauntlet with the selection of youngster Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu for a full Test debut at fly-half.
Elrigh Louw also makes a maiden start at eighth man in what is an otherwise settled side stacked with global champions.
Carlo Tizzano is on debut for the home side in the pack, with Schmidt making a major call to leave out Marika Koroibete despite bringing him back from a spell in Japan with an eye on an international return.
Australia Starting XV: 15 Tom Wright, 14 Andrew Kellaway, 13 Len Ikitau, 12 Hunter Paisami, 11 Filipo Daugunu, 10 Noah Lolesio, 9 Jake Gordon, 8 Harry Wilson, 7 Carlo Tizzano, 6 Rob Valetini, 5 Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, 4 Nick Frost, 3 Allan Alaalatoa (captain), 2 Matt Faessler, 1 Isaac Kailea.
Replacements: 16 Josh Nasser, 17 James Slipper, 18 Zane Nonggorr, 19 Jeremy Williams, 20 Luke Reimer, 21 Tate McDermott, 22 Tom Lynagh, 23 Dylan Pietsch.
South Africa Starting XV: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Elrigh Louw, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 RG Snyman, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nche.
Replacements: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Ben-Jason Dixon, 20 Marco van Staden, 21 Kwagga Smith, 22 Grant Williams, 23 Handré Pollard.
New Zealand vs Argentina – Kick Off 9.05
The reigning Rugby Championship winners New Zealand kick off their 2024 campaign on Saturday, as they welcome Argentina to Wellington.
A truncated 2023 edition to avoid a World Cup clash saw the All Blacks win three from three to top the standings.
And they’re back in tournament action for the first time since the agony of their 12-11 loss to South Africa’s Springboks in the final in Paris ten months ago.
There’s been a change at the top for their opponents since their own adventure to the World Cup semi-finals, where they were hammered 44-6 by the Kiwis at the Stade de France.
Felipe Contepomi has replaced Australian Michael Cheika in the hotseat for the South Americans.
He keeps faith with a whole host of familiar faces coming into the Southern Hemisphere competition, opting for Pablo Matera as his captain in the Land of the Long White Cloud.
There’s even the eternal presence of hooker and former skipper Agustin Creevy among the replacements.
All Blacks coach Scott Robertson restores experienced scrum-half TJ Perenara to the starting line up following his spell on the sidelines through injury.
Ardie Savea captains the team in the absence of Scott Barrett, who is nursing a finger problem.
New Zealand Starting XV: 15 Beauden Barrett, 14 Sevu Reece, 13 Anton Lienert-Brown, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Mark Tele’a, 10 Damian McKenzie, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Ardie Savea (captain), 7 Dalton Papali’i, 6 Ethan Blackadder, 5 Sam Darry, 4 Tupou Vaa’i, 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Ethan De Groot.
Replacements: 16 Asafo Aumua, 17 Ofa Tu’ungafasi, 18 Fletcher Newell, 19 Josh Lord, 20 Wallace Sititi, 21 Cortez Ratima, 22 Rieko Ioane, 23 Will Jordan.
Argentina Starting XV: 15 Juan Cruz Mallia, 14 Matias Moroni, 13 Luio Cinti, 12 Santiago Chocobares, 11 Mateo Carreras, 10 Santiago Carreras, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Pablo Matera (captain), 5 Pedro Rubiolo, 4 Franco Molina, 3 Eduardo Bello, 2 Ignacio Ruiz, 1 Thomas Gallo.
Replacements: 16 Agustin Creevy, 17 Mayco Vivas, 18 Joel Sclavi, 19 Efrain Elias, 20 Tomas Lavanini, 21 Joaquin Oviedo, 22 Lautaro Bazan Velez, 23 Tomas Albornoz.
| Team | Predicted Score | % Chance |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | 12 | 18% |
| South Africa | 31 | 78% |
| New Zealand | 37 | 92% |
| Argentina | 13 | 6% |