Hollywoodbets Brand Ambassador and former Springbok centre Odwa Ndungane predicts this year’s Rugby Championship to be a thrilling spectacle as all teams have undergone exciting changes.
The Rugby Championship gets underway this weekend with all the opening fixtures taking place Down Under on Saturday.
Australia will host the back-to-back world champions Boks at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium at 6:30 am, while the 2023 Rugby World Cup runners-up, the All Blacks welcome Argentina at Wellington Regional Stadium in New Zealand at 9:05 am.
The Rugby Championship defending champions New Zealand, Australia and the Pumas all enter the tournament with new coaches.
Scot Robertson leads the All Blacks as the Wallabies have Joe Schmidt while Felipe Contepomi oversees the Pumas.
“It should be an exciting time for the Southern hemisphere (people) that enjoy the game and would be watching and seeing how their team would be doing,” Ndungane said.
“I think for Australia and New Zealand it will be exciting times for them with both teams having new captains and new coaches. And having played so well in the games in the build-up to the Rugby Championship, winning three of those games.”
Without a doubt, the main aim for all the other three sides is to challenge the All-Blacks’ dominance in the competition.
“They are looking promising, and it should exciting time,” Ndungane said.
“I also believe that the Springboks are excited, unfortunately, they lost one game (in the build-up), but they won two games, same as Argentina winning two out of three games.
“But we know how dominant New Zealand has been in this competition, having won the competition 20 times with Australia and South Africa having won four times.
“The last time the Springboks won the competition was in 2019 and I’m sure they will want to change that record and try to play well to win it.
“We know coach Rassie (Erasmus) will be allowing a couple of players to play to try and grow the depth of the team.
“It’s an exciting time, with a lot of changes in all these teams and this competition is one of the toughest in the world. Everyone is looking forward to it,” the former Hollywoodbets Sharks star said.
“I’m hoping the Springboks will do us proud and get a victory Down Under. They haven’t won in Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium in 11 years. There’s a lot to play for.”
It's almost that time again…
— Springboks (@Springboks) August 7, 2024
The #Springboks are set for a massive challenge in Brisbane👊#ForeverGreenForeverGold pic.twitter.com/TTt0TBTpGW
