- Australia v South Africa in Perth
- New Zealand v Argentina in Auckland
Very wet in Auckland for the game, will be interesting to see how the teams shake out with a greasy ball and a bit heavier underfoot.
8am kick off in the UK this week, aiming to catch them both!
Gutted I missed the NZL vs ARG fixture last week. I set an alarm and get up early today to watch and it’s an absolute pasting lol. I should have known when the venue was Eden Park.
I did catch it last week, but swimming lessons mean only text updates for me this morning. And I don’t look to be missing much. Of course the All Blacks would rebound from last week, and Eden park being toppled is so unlikely. Curious as to why they get two home fixtures though
It’s because of how much more travel there is in the Rugby Championship - the air miles are massive so its friendlier on the players & the budget to cut down on the flights by travelling once and playing 2 games. So each team plays one series at home, one series away, and one series home & away. Hence ABs have two away games against the Saffas again this year.
Just to put that previous comment into perspective, I think the longest flight in 6 Nations is probably Glasgow-Rome yeah? That clocks in just over 3 hours.
The shortest flight for the Rugby Championship is Auckland-Sydney which is over 3 1/2 hours, Auckland to Buenos Aires is around 14 odd hours, and the quickest flight Auckland - South Africa is near 20 hours.
I guess you can see why getting the Jaguares back into SR is seen as feasible given how many years we had SA in the comp & had that nightmare travel schedule.
Argentina are neck and neck with Scotland in the rankings. I think that the H2H is affected by their travel times to the NH. They definitely perform better at WC and in big games.
Maybe the most interesting thing about the comparison is that both have a self-destruct button.
Edit: they are above Scotland in the updated rankings after last week
Are we going to get the Argentina rugby team doing racist chants after this like their football team?
“…It’s Ardie Savea, Mother is polynesian and father is polynesian, But on the passport - Kiwi”
Seems unlikely. Leave that to Eddie Jones
Their president coming out to defend the football players afterwards was nuts…
Scrappy game with RSA vs AUS due to weather but it’s a lot more entertaining when the game is close like this