2009 Tri Nations Series
 | |
| Date | 18 July 2009– 19 September 2009 |
|---|---|
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  South Africa (3rd title) |
| Bledisloe Cup |  New Zealand |
| Freedom Cup | South Africa |
| Mandela Challenge Plate | South Africa |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 9 |
| Tries scored | 27 (3 per match) |
| Attendance | 399,093 (44,344 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Morné Steyn (95) |
| Most tries |  Matt Giteau (3) |
← 2008 2010 → | |
The 2009 Tri Nations Series was the fourteenth annual Tri Nations rugby union series between the national rugby union teams of New Zealand, Australia and South Africa, respectively nicknamed the All Blacks, Wallabies, and Springboks. The Springboks secured the season crown in their final match on 12 September, defeating the defending series champion All Blacks 32–29 in Hamilton.
Background[]
New Zealand, South Africa and Australia were ranked first, second, and third in the world respectively by the International Rugby Board (IRB) immediately before the start of the Tri Nations on 30 June 2009.[1] For South Africa, the tournament comes on the back of the British & Irish Lions tour.
Tri-Nations 2009[]
On 18 July, the All Blacks drew first blood in the series, coming from behind to defeat the Wallabies 22–16 at Eden Park.[2] The All Blacks then departed for a two-test series against the Springboks in South Africa (Bloemfontein and Durban). The Boks won the first test 28–19, a result that not only gave them the series lead but also put them ahead of the All Blacks for first place in the IRB World Rankings.[3] The following week, they defeated the All Blacks again, with Morné Steyn scoring all of their points in a 31–19 win.[4] Steyn's performance broke the previous mark of New Zealand's Andrew Mehrtens for individual points in a Tri Nations match. The Boks completed their home leg with a 29–17 win over the Wallabies in Cape Town, with Steyn scoring 24 of their points.[5]
The series then travelled to Australia for the Wallabies' three home matches. It opened with the second Bledisloe Cup match with the All Blacks, won by the All Blacks 19–18.[6] The Springboks then picked up a 32–25 bonus-point win over the Wallabies in Perth.[7] The Wallabies then defeated the Springboks 21–6, at Brisbane.[8] The Springboks had to wait another week to try grasp the Tri-Nations title, but had to face the All Blacks at home in Hamilton. The Boks claimed the Tri Nations crown for the first time since 2004 with a 32–29 win.[9] In the final match of the series on 19 September, the All Blacks thumped the Wallabies 33–6 in Wellington.[10]
The final match of the Bledisloe Cup series between Australia and New Zealand took place after the Tri-Nations, on 11 October (the first 3 matches of the series were part of the Tri-Nations).
Standings[]
| Place | Nation | Games | Points | Bonus points |
Table points | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against | Difference | ||||
| 1 | South Africa
|
6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 158 | 130 | +28 | 1 | 21 |
| 2 | New Zealand
|
6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 141 | 131 | +10 | 1 | 13 |
| 3 | Australia
|
6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 103 | 141 | −38 | 3 | 7 |
Fixtures[]
New Zealand vs. Australia[]
| New Zealand
|
22–16 | Australia
|
|---|---|---|
| Try: McCaw 25' c Con: Donald (1/1) 26' Pen: Donald (5/7) 14', 41', 44', 60', 73' |
Report[11] | Try: Barnes 3' c Con: Giteau (1/1) 4' Pen: Giteau (3/5) 9', 19', 45' |
53
44
39|
Touch judges:
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- George Smith's start at flanker for Australia made him the 10th player in history with at least 100 Test caps.
South Africa vs. New Zealand[]
| South Africa
|
28–19 | New Zealand
|
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Pienaar 24' m Fourie 72' m Pen: F. Steyn (2/2) 6', 32' Pienaar (1/4) 16' M. Steyn (3/3) 42', 56', 77' |
Report[12] | Try: Smith 47' c Con: Donald (1/1) 49' Pen: Donald (4/5) 3', 51', 63', 73' |
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Touch judges:
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- Springboks captain John Smit equals former Wallaby George Gregan and former England star Will Carling for the most Tests as captain, with 59.
South Africa vs. New Zealand II[]
| South Africa
|
31–19 | New Zealand
|
|---|---|---|
| Try: M. Steyn 38' c Con: M. Steyn (1/1) 39' 'Pen: M. Steyn (8/9) 5', 15', 18', 32', 40+2', 56', 64', 74' |
Report[4] | Try: Ross 12' c Con: Donald (1/1) 13' Pen: Donald (3/3) 7', 29', 51' McAlister (1/1) 61' |
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28|
Touch judges:
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- John Smit's 60th start as Springboks captain gave him sole possession of the all-time lead in that category.
- Morné Steyn's 31 points set a new individual record for points in a Tri Nations match, breaking Andrew Mehrtens' previous mark of 29 for the All Blacks against Australia at Eden Park in 1999 as well as the most points scored by an individual in a game against the All Blacks. It is also an all-time Test record for most points by a player who was responsible for all of his team's scoring.
South Africa vs. Australia[]
| South Africa
|
29–17 | Australia
|
|---|---|---|
| Try: Matfield 27' m Pen: M. Steyn (7/7) 8', 11', 13', 21', 36', 54', 78' Drop: M. Steyn (1/1) 24' |
Report[13] | Tries: Ashley-Cooper 2' c Giteau 66' c Con: Giteau (2/2) 3', 67' Drop: Barnes (1/1) 14' |
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Touch judges:
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Australia vs. New Zealand[]
| Australia
|
18–19 | New Zealand
|
|---|---|---|
| Pen: Giteau (6/6) 6', 10', 34', 40'+2', 47', 67' | Report[15] | Try: Nonu 64' c Con: Carter (1/1) 65' Pen: Carter (4/5) 3', 44', 58', 78' |
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Touch judges:
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Australia vs. South Africa[]
| Australia
|
25–32 | South Africa
|
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Giteau (2) 43' c, 75' m Turner 80' c Con: Giteau (2/3) 44', 80' Pen: Giteau (2/4) 27', 39' |
Report[17] | Tries: du Preez 5' c Fourie 9' m Habana (2) 32' c, 53' c Con: M. Steyn (3/4) Pen: M. Steyn (2/3) 16', 67' |
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Touch judges:
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Australia vs. South Africa[]
| Australia
|
21–6 | South Africa
|
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Ashley-Cooper 62' c O'Connor 76' m Con: Giteau (1/2) 63' Pen: Giteau (2/3) 5', 26' Drop: Giteau (1/1) 34' |
Report[19] | Pen: M. Steyn (1/1) 36' Drop: M. Steyn (1/1) 28' |
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Touch judges:
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New Zealand vs. South Africa[]
| New Zealand
|
29–32 | South Africa
|
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Sivivatu 55' c McCaw 78' c Con: Carter (2/2) Pen: Carter (5/5) 1', 14', 22', 34', 64' |
Report[20] | Tries: du Preez 19' c de Villiers 51' c Con: M. Steyn (2/2) Pen: F. Steyn (3/3) 6', 9', 26' M. Steyn (2/2) 33', 71' Drop: M. Steyn (1/1) 17' |
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Touch judges:
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- John Smit became the second Springbok (after Percy Montgomery) and the 26th player overall to earn 90 Test caps.
- Morné Steyn became the highest individual point scorer in a Tri-Nations season with 95 points this season alone.
- Frans Steyn's three penalties were all kicked from his own half of the field. He is believed to be the first player ever to have converted three penalties from his own half in a Test match.[22]
- Dan Carter reached two major milestones in the first half:
- His first penalty made him the leading point scorer in Tri Nations history, surpassing former All Black Andrew Mehrtens. Carter entered the match with 326 Tri Nations points to Mehrtens' 328, and ended the evening with 345.
- His third penalty of the match made him the seventh player in history to reach 900 career Test points. He entered the match on 893 Test points, tied for seventh all-time with Montgomery, and ended the match in sixth place with 912 points, also surpassing former Wallaby Michael Lynagh.
New Zealand vs. Australia[]
| New Zealand
|
33–6 | Australia
|
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Jane 31' c Nonu 75' c Rokocoko 80' c Con: Carter (3/3) Pen: Carter (4/5) 14', 16', 21', 46' |
Report[23] | Pen: Giteau (1/2) 7' Drop: Barnes (1/1) 28' |
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Touch judges:
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- Dan Carter surpasses Ronan O'Gara as the 5th highest point scorer with 930 points
- Rocky Elsom became the 76th Australian Rugby Test Captain when he came back from the blood bin. George Smith had been replaced by Wycliff Palu.
| Tri Nations 2009 Winners |
|---|
|
| South Africa Third Title |
See also[]
- History of rugby union matches between Australia and South Africa
- History of rugby union matches between Australia and New Zealand
- History of rugby union matches between New Zealand and South Africa
References[]
- ^ "International Rugby Board – World Rankings". Archived from the original on 17 August 2009. Retrieved 11 August 2009.
- ^ Jones, Stephen (18 July 2009). "Wallabies blow first half lead to All Blacks". The Times. London. Retrieved 18 July 2009.
- ^ "South Africa take advantage of All Black errors". Irish Times. 27 July 2009. Archived from the original on 17 August 2009. Retrieved 11 August 2009.
- ^ a b "South Africa 31-19 New Zealand". BBC News. 1 August 2009. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
- ^ "South Africa 29–17 Australia". RTÉ Sport. 8 August 2009. Archived from the original on 17 August 2009. Retrieved 11 August 2009.
- ^ "Australia 18–19 New Zealand". RTÉ Sport. 22 August 2009. Archived from the original on 26 August 2009. Retrieved 25 August 2009.
- ^ "South Africa on verge of winning Tri-Nations". The Times. London. 29 August 2009. Retrieved 30 August 2009.
- ^ Bills, Peter (6 September 2009). "Deans' men beat the Boks to keep Tri-Nations alive". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 12 September 2009. Retrieved 9 September 2009.
- ^ "New Zealand 29–32 South Africa". RTÉ Sport. 12 September 2009. Archived from the original on 16 September 2009. Retrieved 12 September 2009.
- ^ "New Zealand 33–6 Australia". BBC Sport. 19 September 2009. Archived from the original on 19 September 2009. Retrieved 19 September 2009.
- ^ "New Zealand 22-16 Australia". BBC News. 18 July 2009. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
- ^ "South Africa 28-19 New Zealand". BBC News. 25 July 2009. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
- ^ "South Africa 29-17 Australia". BBC News. 8 August 2009. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
- ^ Jenkins, Graham (8 August 2009). "Springboks march on in Cape Town". Scrum.com. Retrieved 9 August 2008.
- ^ "Australia 18-19 New Zealand". BBC News. 22 August 2009. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
- ^ Baines, Huw (22 August 2009). "All Blacks retain Bledisloe Cup in thriller". Scrum.com. Retrieved 22 August 2009.
- ^ "Australia 25-32 South Africa". BBC News. 29 August 2009. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
- ^ Baines, Huw (29 August 2009). "Springboks unstoppable in Perth". Scrum.com. Retrieved 29 August 2009.
- ^ "Australia 21-6 South Africa". BBC News. 5 September 2009. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
- ^ "New Zealand 29-32 South Africa". BBC News. 12 September 2009. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
- ^ Jenkins, Graham (12 September 2009). "Springboks claim Tri-Nations crown". Scrum.com. Retrieved 12 September 2009.
- ^ Griffiths, John (14 September 2009). "Penalty tries, Jonny Wilkinson and the Baa Baas & Frans Steyn's penalties". Scrum.com. Ask John. Archived from the original on 19 October 2009. Retrieved 2 October 2009.
- ^ "New Zealand 33-6 Australia". BBC News. 19 September 2009. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
- ^ Jenkins, Graham (19 September 2009). "All Blacks hammer Wallabies". Scrum.com. Retrieved 19 September 2009.
External links[]
- All Blacks Tri Nations website
- "SA Rugby Competition – 2009 Vodacom Tri-Nations". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
- Wallabies Tri Nations website
Categories:
- The Rugby Championship
- 2009 in South African rugby union
- 2009 in New Zealand rugby union
- 2009 in Australian rugby union
- 2009 rugby union tournaments for national teams