IRB Rugby World Cup
Ask Steven: Will tournament history haunt the Wallabies?
John Griffiths
August 26, 2015
Team members of Australia celebrate after a match between Australia and Argentina as part of The Rugby Championship 2015
Team members of Australia celebrate after a match between Australia and Argentina as part of The Rugby Championship 2015© Amilcar Orfali/LatinContenti/Getty Images


How have Tri-Nations/Rugby Championship winners performed in past RWC tournaments? Tom King, New Zealand


Winning this year's Rugby Championship does not augur well for Australia.

Past winners have come to regard the honour as something of a curse in Rugby World Cup seasons because no nation to date has won both the RWC and Tri-Nations title in the same year.

The southern hemisphere's leading international tournament began as the Tri-Nations in 1996 and was re-named the Rugby Championship in 2012 when Argentina were invited to make it a four-horse race.

The previous Tri-Nations champions in RWC seasons were New Zealand (1999, 2003 and 2007) and Australia (in 2011).

The All Blacks were knocked out by France (43-31) in the 1999 semi-final at Twickenham and by hosts, Australia (22-10), at the same stage of the 2003 tournament.Four years later they were pipped 20-18 by France in Cardiff in the quarter-finals.

Australia, the 2011 Tri-Nations winners, lost 20-6 to New Zealand (the eventual world champions) in the semi-finals of the last tournament.

© John Griffiths

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