2023 Rugby Championship
The 2023 Rugby Championship was the eleventh edition of the annual southern hemisphere competition, involving Argentina, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
The competition was operated by SANZAAR, a joint venture of the four countries' national unions, and known for sponsorship reasons as The Castle Rugby Championship in South Africa, The Lipovitan-D Rugby Championship in New Zealand, The eToro Rugby Championship in Australia, and The Zurich Rugby Championship in Argentina.
As in previous Rugby World Cup years, the tournament was reduced, with each nation only playing each other once as part of the Championship.
New Zealand retained the title, the 20th time they won the title.
Table
Fixtures
Round 1
Notes:- Ox Nché had been named to start but later withdrew due to injury and was replaced by Steven Kitshoff.
- Jean Kleyn, Richie Arnold, Carter Gordon, Tom Hooper and Zane Nonggorr made their international debuts.
- South African reclaim the Mandela Challenge Plate.
Notes:
- Bautista Delguy had been named to start but withdrew ahead of the game due to injury and was replaced by Sebastián Cancelliere.
- Gonzalo Bertranou earned his 50th test cap.
- Emoni Narawa made his international debut.
Round 2
- Tamaiti Williams made his international debut.
- Jordie Barrett earned his 50th test cap.
- New Zealand retained the Freedom Cup.
Notes:
- Josh Kemeny and Rodrigo Isgro made their international debut.
- This was Argentina's first win over Australia in Australia since winning 23–19 in 2018.
- Argentina claimed the Puma Trophy for the first time.
- Argentina won back-to-back matches against Australia for the first time.
Round 3
- Cam Roigard made his international debut.
- With this loss, Australia finish bottom for the first time since 2020.
- Australia finish winless for the first time in the Rugby Championship and the first time since 2005 before the competition expanded in 2012.
- New Zealand retained the Bledisloe Cup.
- The 83,944 crowd was an attendance high for Australia for 20 years.
Statistics
Points scorers
Try scorers
Squads
Argentina
On 23 June, Michael Cheika named a 48-man squad ahead of the 2023 Rugby Championship and in preparation for the 2023 Rugby World Cup.Australia
On 25 June, Eddie Jones named a 34-man squad for the opening two matches of the 2023 Rugby Championship.Angus Bell, Langi Gleeson, Andrew Kellaway, Samu Kerevi, Jordan Petaia and Matt Philip were also included as an rehab group that will train with the squad.
On 10 July, Pone Fa'amausili and Blake Schoupp joined up with the squad ahead of the Argentina test whilst Taniela Tupou was temporarily released to Australia A.
On 20 July, Eddie Jones named an up-dated 34-player squad for the Bledisloe Cup series which saw Matt Gibbon, Reece Hodge, Josh Kemeny, Zane Nonggorr, Pete Samu and Tom Wright dropped from the squad. Len Ikitau was also not included following injury sustained against Argentina.