Everything you need to know about the 2024 Rugby Championship including fixtures, betting odds squads, preview and who Darry Worthington thinks will win outright.
The Rugby Championship gets underway in just under a week and we’re in for an intriguing tournament with a number of sides under new management and a host of big names having hung up their boots which has opened the door for a load of young guns to come through.
Darry Worthington runs the rule over the tournament and also gives his verdict on who he thinks will claim the trophy come the close of Round 6 in late September.
Outright Betting
It makes sense that the Springboks are favourites to lift the title outright. The draw has been kindest to them, with the reigning world champions playing the All Blacks twice at home. You
South Africa 13/20
New Zealand 27/20
Argentina 20/1
Australia 28/1
Fixtures
We return to regular scheduling for the Rugby Championship in 2024 after the 2023 tournament was truncated because of the World Cup. The sides will all play one another twice. They’ll play one of the opposition sides twice at home, another twice away and the last home and away. Let’s take a look at the round-by-round fixtures below:
Round 1 – Saturday 10 August
- Australia v South Africa – Suncorp Stadium
- New Zealand v Argentina – Wellington Regional Stadium
Round 2 – Saturday 17 August
- New Zealand v Argentina | Eden Park
- Australia v South Africa | Optus Stadium
Round 3 – Saturday 31 August
- South Africa v New Zealand | Ellis Park Stadium
- Argentina v Australia | Estadio Jorge Luis Hirschi
Round 4 – Saturday 7 September
- South Africa v New Zealand | Cape Town Stadium
- Argentina v Australia | Estadio Brigadier Gral E. López
Round 5 – Saturday 21 September
- Australia v New Zealand | Accor Stadium
- Argentina v South Africa | Estadio Único Madre de Ciudades
Round 6 – Saturday 28 September
New Zealand v Australia | Sky Stadium
South Africa v Argentina | Mbombela Stadium
Squads
Argentina
Many of Argentina’s big guns return to the side after being rested for the French Tests. They are Lucio Cinti, Agustín Creevy, Juan Martín González, Tomás Lavanini, Juan Cruz Mallía and Joel Sclavi while Efraín Elías gets a debut call-up after impressing in the U20 World Cup.
Forwards: Eduardo Bello, Agustin Creevy, Efrain Elias, Thomas Gallo, Juan Martin Gonzalez, Marcos Kremer, Tomas Lavanini, Pablo Matera, Franco Molina, Julian Montoya, Joaquin Oviedo, Juan Bautista Pedemonte, Pedro Rubiolo, Ignacio Ruiz, Joel Sclavi, Lucio Sordoni, Mayco Vivas.
Backs: Thomas Albornoz, Lautaro Bazan Velez, Gonzalo Bertranou, Martin Bogado, Mateo Carreras, Santiago Carreras, Santiago Chocobares, Lucio Cinti, Santiago Cordero, Bautista Delguy, Gonzalo Garcia, Juan Cruz Mallia, Matias Moroni, Matias Orlando.
Australia
The big news coming out of the Aussie camp is the recall of the Marika Koroibete. The flyer last played for the national side back in 2023 World Cup and is the only overseas-based player in the squad. There are plenty of first-time call-ups in the side including Seru Uru, Luke Reimer, Carlo Tizzano and Olympian Corey Toole.
Forwards: Allan Alaalatoa, Angus Bell, Angus Blyth, Matt Faessler, Nick Frost, Tom Hooper, Isaac Kailea, Josh Nasser, Zane Nonggorr, Billy Pollard, Luke Reimer, Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, James Slipper, Carlo Tizzano, Taniela Tupou, Seru Uru, Rob Valetini, Jeremy Williams, Harry Wilson
Backs: Filipo Daugunu, Ben Donaldson, Josh Flook, Jake Gordon, Len Ikitau, Max Jorgensen, Andrew Kellaway, Marika Koroibete, Noah Lolesio, Tom Lynagh, Tate McDermott, Hunter Paisami, Dylan Pietsch, Hamish Stewart, Corey Toole, Nic White, Tom Wright
New Zealand
Scott Robertson takes control of the All Blacks for the first time in the Rugby Championship. The former Crusaders mentor has opted for a blend of youth and experience with Sam Cane back to skipper the side. Also returning to the side are WIll Jordan and David Havili who missed the July Tests while uncapped Hurricanes youngster Ruben Love also cracks the nod after impressing in Super Rugby.
Forwards: Asafo Aumua, Codie Taylor, George Bell, Ethan De Groot, Tyrel Lomax, Fletcher Newell, Pasilio Tosi, Ofa Tu’ungafasi, Tamaiti Williams, Scott Barrett (c), Tupou Vaa’i, Patrick Tuipulotu, Sam Darry, Ethan Blackadder, Sam Cane, Samipeni Finau, Luke Jacobson, Dalton Papali’i, Ardie Savea (vc), Wallace Sititi.
Backs: Noah Hotham, TJ Perenara, Cortez Ratima, Beauden Barrett, Damian McKenzie, Jordie Barrett (vc), David Havili, Rieko Ioane, Anton Lienert-Brown, Billy Proctor, Caleb Clarke, Will Jordan, Ruben Love, Stephen Perofeta, Sevu Reece, Mark Tele’a.
South Africa
Rassie Erasmus has picked 22 World Cup winners in his 33-man squad for the Rugby Championship. However, plenty of guys missed out because of injury with Jean Kleyn, Franco Mostert and Lood de Jager all missing from the second row in what is a bit of an injury crisis in the engine room.
Forwards: Ben-Jason Dixon, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Thomas du Toit, Eben Etzebeth, Johan Grobbelaar, Vincent Koch, Siya Kolisi (c), Elrigh Louw, Frans Malherbe, Malcolm Marx, Bongi Mbonambi, Salmaan Moerat, Ox Nche, Ruan Nortje, Kwagga Smith, RG Snyman, Gerhard Steenekamp, Marco van Staden, Jan-Hendrik Wessels.
Backs: Lukhanyo Am, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Damian de Allende, Aphelele Fassi, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Cheslin Kolbe, Jesse Kriel, Willie le Roux, Makazole Mapimpi, Manie Libbok, Handre Pollard, Cobus Reinach, Morne van den Berg, Grant Williams.
Lay of the Land
There’s been loads of change since New Zealand won the 2023 edition of the competition. The reigning champions are under new management with Crusaders legend Scott Robertson now at the helm. Their Trans-Tasman rivals, Australia have also got a new mentor with Eddie Jones’ horror reign ending and former Ireland coach Joe Schmidt left to pick up the pieces. It’s also all change at the top for Argentina with Felipe Contepomi taking over from Michael Cheika, while Rassie Erasmus is back in the South African hot seat moving from director of rugby back to the Bok head coach role.
There’s also plenty of change when it comes to playing personnel with Duane Vermeulen, Aaron Smith, Dane Coles, Juan Imhoff, Nicolas Sanchez, Quade Cooper and Michael Hooper all retiring from international rugby along with several other southern hemisphere stars.
With the vast amount of change, it’s going to be slightly harder to predict how all four sides will perform in this year’s Championship but we do have a couple of indicators from the recent mid-year internationals. New Zealand still have some combination issues with their search for the perfect double-pivot duo ongoing with Damien McKenzie paired alongside both Stephen Perofeta and Beauden Barrett in the 10/15 roles. While there were some promising moments for both combinations during the 2-0 series win over England, the dual play-making position is still an area of concern for the Kiwis. Of more worry to Scott Robertson and his brains trust will be their centre pairing and loose trio. Rieko Ioane was poor during the two-match series against England, while the Kiwi back row lacked balance.
Australia also managed a two-nil series win over Wales and there were a lot of positives for Schmidt to take from the series and the one-off match against Georgia. While their loose trio were excellent and their set piece functioned well, the Wallabies will need to work on their defensive efforts as they conceded soft tries in all three Tests.
While a late drop goal ensured South Africa would share the spoils with Ireland in their two-match series, Rassie Erasmus will be pleased with what he got out of South Africans four games in June and July with a promising clutch of young players putting their hands up with the most impressive being forward Ben Jason-Dixon and utility back Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu. The former was an absolute handful in the loose and made some massive carries while the latter has taken to international rugby like a fish to water, slotting long-range penalties and sparking some lovely attacks.
Argentina also drew their series 1-1, which was disappointing considering they were playing against a third-string French outfit. And while they were blooding a few players themselves, one would have fancied them to get a 2-0 win over the French. There were some positives for Argentina to take away though, especially from the second Test where their backline was far more flowing during a 33-25 win. They then concluded their June internationals with a 5-79 win over fellow South American outfit, Uruguay.
Looking ahead to the tournament now, the draw seems to have been kindest to the Springboks who have two home games against New Zealand and one against Argentina. It certainly puts the ‘Boks at an advantage as they don’t have to play a Test in New Zealand with their three away matches being a double-header in Australia and a trip to Argentina.
Verdict: South Africa 13/20
They’ve got the best draw and the most settled squad. I reckon Rassie’s men take the title this year.
