Rugby Championship: Five bold predictions as Springboks set to whitewash All Blacks
Siya Kolisi could guide his nation to a third International title
The 2024 Rugby Championship is fast approaching, and this year’s tournament is very well poised.
All four teams come into the southern hemisphere spectacle in decent form, and will be keen to build on their successes from the mid-year internationals.
Reigning champions New Zealand and Australia are both unbeaten under their new head coaches, Scott Robertson and Joe Schmidt, and have improved week on week heading into round one. Argentina, likewise, are slowly building under a new coach and have won two of their three Tests since Felipe Contepomi’s introduction.
Current back-to-back world champions South Africa have also won three of their four Tests this year, and have embraced a new style of play which focuses more on fast, expansive attack.
This sets things up very nicely ahead of the action next weekend, but could it throw some surprises at us? Well, here are some bold predictions for the Rugby Championship.
Footnote: I did say bold, right?
Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu to become key Springbok
Springboks ace Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu is the talk of the town, but this upcoming Rugby Championship could be his true breakthrough moment. The young back has been incredibly impressive in his four cameo appearances off the bench for the Springboks, but if afforded a chance in the starting team could cement himself as the number one.
Whilst he is mainly a fly-half, and has excelled there in the green and gold, him getting 78 minutes at full-back against Ireland is a huge tick in his box; both in terms of actually starting in either position but also with the new style of South African attack. Similar to George Furbank with England, a ball-playing 15 could bring the likes of Cheslin Kolbe, Kurt-Lee Arendse or Makazole Mapimpi into more prominent figures.
Could we see Sacha nail down the jersey in either position this Rugby Championship?
Mateo Carreras to finish as top try-scorer
This is a fairly bold prediction, considering Argentina’s recent history in the Rugby Championship, but Mateo Carreras is an incredibly exciting player who could easily finish as top try-scorer.
The Bayonne back is such an elusive runner with the ball, but he also has great feet right at the line which allows him to ghost around defenders. He combines this brilliantly with his electric pace too, which makes him a deadly finisher.
So far this season, the winger has racked up six tries in his 10 Pumas appearances too, which shows he can be a lethal attacker for his country.
Australia bottom?
This isn’t too bold considering it happened last year, but it’s not an impossibility that Australia could finish bottom with no wins this Championship.
The Wallabies should, and probably are, putting all their eggs into two wins over Argentina; but going over to South America is a tough ask anyway let alone during a transition phase.
Australia have also got some major injury concerns, namely in the pack where Langi Gleeson, Fraser McReight and Rob Leota are ruled out. This could be their downfall in Argentina.
Don’t get us wrong, this is a BOLD prediction given the progress made under Schmidt, but with a tough block away in Argentina and the rampant form of South Africa and New Zealand it’s not impossible…
Springboks set to whitewash All Blacks
Beating South Africa in South Africa is an incredibly hard thing to achieve – and New Zealand could easily come unstuck against their arch-rivals.
The Springboks just edge out New Zealand in their recent meetings, winning three of the past five encounters including the all-important World Cup final in Paris.
They will also have a massive point to prove this tournament. South Africa haven’t won the Rugby Championship since 2019 and have finished as runners-up to the All Blacks for the past two seasons. This will make them incredibly pumped up to defend their fortress against the All Blacks, who will likely face a harsher atmosphere than awaited Ireland.
Robertson’s side are also in a period of transition too. Whilst they showed grit and determination in their series whitewash against England, they really struggled for fluidity and relied heavily on individual moments from the likes of Beauden Barrett, Mark Tele’a and Sevu Reece. This is something you cannot have against South Africa.
These two games will define the outcome of the Rugby Championship, and if South Africa clean sweep New Zealand they should win the title.
Argentina to finish second
Again, this isn’t actually that impossible to believe.
With all the other predictions factored in here, there is a genuine chance Argentina could finish second if they capitalise on other results. Despite losing their past three meetings against the All Blacks, Los Pumas did actually secure a win on their last visit to New Zealand. Could it happen again?
They will try and target the Australia games at home, which could provide them with two decent wins to kick on from building into the South Africa block.
The Springboks will also be putting their eggs into the previous New Zealand Tests too, so will have to dig deep into the well against Argentina, and they could easily secure some form of bonus point out of them.
This is one of the more unlikely ones, but given everything else we’ve called for this could be a possibility (probably not though).
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