Tri Nations Series champions

Left: The Tri Nations logo from 1996–2011 with the South African logo on the left, New Zealand logo on the right, and the Australian logo on the bottom.
Right: The one-off 2020 Tri Nations banner, with the Argentine logo on the left, Australian logo in the middle, and the New Zealand logo on the right.

Tri Nations Series champion is the title given to the rugby union nation (either Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, or, since 2012, Argentina) that finishes at the top of competition table of the annual Tri Nations Series. The Bledisloe Cup, an Australian-New Zealand trophy is also awarded within the series.

Each nation plays each other thrice on a home and away basis, though the number of games against each side was expanded from two to three in 2006.^[1] A nation receives four points for a win, two for a draw and none for a loss. A nation can obtain a bonus point by either scoring four tries in a match or by losing by seven points or less to the opposition. If nations finish level on points (points for winning, drawing and bonus match points), the first tiebreaker is point differential (the actual in game scoreline, a cumulative scoreline difference). The scoreline difference is worked out by subtracting the number of points a nation has had scored against them from the total points they have scored in the series. Should teams still be level, this is followed by number of tries scored by a nation during the series.

The Tri Nations was created between the SANZAR partners (along with the provincial Super 12 competition, now, Super Rugby). The tournament involves three southern hemisphere nations; Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The series was created to form a similar competition to the Six Nations Championship (then, the Five Nations).^[2] The first tournament was held in 1996, which New Zealand won. It has subsequently been held annually. The competition has largely been dominated by New Zealand, who have won 10 championships, whereas Australia and South Africa have each won the series three times. New Zealand has won consecutive championships on three occasions (1996–97, 2002–03, and 2005–08) and Australia on one occasion (2000–01).^[3]

Results[]

Tournaments (1996–2011; 2020)[]

Year	Duration	Table position	Nation	Games				Points			Bonus points	Table points
Year	Duration	Table position	Nation	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	Difference	Bonus points	Table points
1996	6 July – 10 August	1	New Zealand	4	4	0	0	119	60	+59	1	17
		2	South Africa	4	1	0	3	70	84	−14	2	6
		3	Australia	4	1	0	3	71	116	−45	2	6

1997	19 July – 27 August	1	New Zealand	4	4	0	0	159	109	+50	2	17
		2	South Africa	4	1	0	3	148	144	+4	3	7
		3	Australia	4	1	0	3	96	150	−54	2	6

1998	11 July – 22 August	1	South Africa	4	4	0	0	80	54	+26	1	17
		2	Australia	4	2	0	2	79	82	−3	2	10
		3	New Zealand	4	0	0	4	65	88	−23	2	2

1999	10 July – 28 August	1	New Zealand	4	3	0	1	103	61	+42	0	12
		2	Australia	4	2	0	2	84	57	+27	2	10
		3	South Africa	4	1	0	3	34	103	−69	0	4

2000	15 July – 26 August	1	Australia	4	3	0	1	104	86	+18	2	14
		2	New Zealand	4	2	0	2	127	117	+10	2	10
		3	South Africa	4	1	0	3	82	110	−28	2	6

2001	21 July – 1 September	1	Australia	4	2	1	1	81	75	+6	1	11
		2	New Zealand	4	2	0	2	79	70	+9	1	9
		3	South Africa	4	1	1	2	52	67	−15	0	6

2002	13 July – 17 August	1	New Zealand	4	3	0	1	97	65	+32	3	15
		2	Australia	4	2	0	2	91	86	+5	3	11
		3	South Africa	4	1	0	3	103	140	−37	3	7

2003	12 July – 16 August	1	New Zealand	4	4	0	0	142	65	+77	2	18
		2	Australia	4	1	0	3	89	106	−17	2	6
		3	South Africa	4	1	0	3	62	122	−60	0	4

2004	17 July – 21 August	1	South Africa	4	2	0	2	110	98	+12	3	11
		2	Australia	4	2	0	2	79	83	−4	2	10
		3	New Zealand	4	2	0	2	83	91	−8	1	9

2005	30 July – 3 September	1	New Zealand	4	3	0	1	111	86	+25	3	15
		2	South Africa	4	3	0	1	93	82	−11	1	13
		3	Australia	4	0	0	4	72	108	−36	3	3

2006	8 July – 9 September	1	New Zealand	6	5	0	1	179	112	+67	3	23
		2	Australia	6	2	0	4	133	121	+12	3	11
		3	South Africa	6	2	0	4	106	185	−79	1	9

2007	16 June – 21 July	1	New Zealand	4	3	0	1	100	59	+41	1	13
		2	Australia	4	2	0	2	76	80	-4	1	9
		3	South Africa	4	1	0	3	66	103	-37	1	5

2008	5 July – 13 September	1	New Zealand	6	4	0	2	152	106	+46	3	19
		2	Australia	6	3	0	3	119	163	-44	2	14
		3	South Africa	6	2	0	4	115	117	-2	2	10

2009	18 July – 19 September	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	-44	3	7

2010	10 July – 11 September	1	New Zealand	6	6	0	0	184	111	+73	3	27
		2	Australia	6	2	0	4	162	188	-26	3	11
		3	South Africa	6	1	0	5	147	194	-47	3	7

2011	23 July – 27 August	1	Australia	4	3	0	1	92	79	+13	1	13
		2	New Zealand	4	2	0	2	95	64	+31	2	10
		3	South Africa	4	1	0	3	54	98	-44	1	5

2020	31 October – 5 December	1	New Zealand	4	2	0	2	118	54	+64	3	11
		2	Argentina	4	1	2	1	56	84	–28	0	8
		3	Australia	4	1	2	1	60	96	–36	0	8

Aggregate table[]

Tri Nations (1996–2011; 2020)
Nation	Games				Points			Bonus points	Table points	Titles won
Nation	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Bonus points	Table points	Titles won
New Zealand	76	52	0	24	2054	1449	+605	35	243	11
Australia	76	30	3	43	1591	1817	−226	34	160	3
South Africa	72	28	1	43	1480	1831	−351	24	138	3
Argentina	4	1	2	1	56	84	–28	0	8	0
Source: lassen.co.nz – Tri-Nations, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa Bonus points given by $T - 4W - 2D$ , for $T$ table points, $W$ games won and $D$ games drawn.

Rugby Championship (2012–present)
Nation	Games				Points			Bonus points	Table points	Titles won
Nation	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Bonus points	Table points	Titles won
New Zealand	42	36	2	4	1423	751	+672	26	174	6
South Africa	42	19	4	19	1048	974	+74	19	103	1
Australia	42	19	3	20	952	1088	−136	9	91	1
Argentina	42	5	1	36	766	1376	−610	11	33	0
Updated: 5 December 2020 Source: lassen.co.nz – TRC, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa Bonus points given by $T - 4W - 2D$ , for $T$ table points, $W$ games won and $D$ games drawn.

All-time Tri Nations and Rugby Championship Table (1996–present)
Nation	Games				Points			Bonus points	Table points	Titles won
Nation	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Bonus points	Table points	Titles won
New Zealand	118	88	2	28	3477	2200	+1277	61	417	17
Australia	118	49	6	63	2543	2905	−362	43	249	4
South Africa	114	47	5	62	2528	2805	−277	43	229	4
Argentina	46	6	3	37	822	1460	−638	11	41	0
Updated: 5 December 2020 Bonus points given by $T - 4W - 2D$ , for $T$ table points, $W$ games won and $D$ games drawn.

Notes[]

^ "2006 Tri-Nations draw". keo.co.za. Archived from the original on 25 April 2006. Retrieved 16 May 2006.
^ "About the Tri Nations". rugby.com.au. Archived from the original on 18 May 2006. Retrieved 16 May 2006.
^ "Tri Nations Past Winners". ESPN. Retrieved 1 September 2011.

References[]

"ALL-TIME TRI-NATIONS TABLE". iafrica.com. Retrieved 16 May 2006.
"Tri-Nations history". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 16 May 2006.
"Fixtures & Results". scrum.com. Retrieved 16 May 2006.

External links[]

[expansion-1] "2006 Tri-Nations draw". keo.co.za. Archived from the original on 25 April 2006. Retrieved 16 May 2006.

[fivenations-2] "About the Tri Nations". rugby.com.au. Archived from the original on 18 May 2006. Retrieved 16 May 2006.

[3] "Tri Nations Past Winners". ESPN. Retrieved 1 September 2011.

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SANZAAR Tri Nations Series champions