The mid-year international tests are complete, and the calendar has turned to August.

In the world of rugby union, that only means one thing — it’s time for the year’s iteration of The Rugby Championship.

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The opening weekend of SANZAAR’s annual competition between the four most powerful non-European sides (South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Argentina) on the planet is upon us, with the All Blacks seeking to capture their fifth consecutive Rugby Championship title and snatch a piece of hardware away from their rival Springboks after the latter tipped them to a win in the Rugby World Cup last fall at Stade de France.

New Zealand gets to host Argentina for Round 1, and while the All Blacks have been historically dominant over the South Americans, two landmark wins by Los Pumas in the series since 2020 have helped them prove that they can hang with the big boys, too. 

Both squads are bringing first-year head coaches to the party, as well, with both men looking to put stamps on their tenures right away with strong Rugby Championship performances. Squad lists are out, and the waiting is almost over. And, if another historic upset by Los Pumas is on the horizon, we may see a paradigm shift in international rugby’s hierarchy happening in real-time. 

Here’s a look at all you need to know about the All Blacks and Los Pumas squads rearing to go for the first round of The Rugby Championship this weekend:

New Zealand

Two years ago, when Argentina stunned New Zealand in The Rugby Championship for the Pumas’ first away win against the All Blacks, it was arguably the lowest point in the professional era for New Zealand’s most historically successful sporting team.

Two years later, it’s obvious a lot has changed within the All Blacks organization.

Gone is Ian Foster — the coach during that infamous night in Christchurch, who, in fairness, achieved some high highs, as well — and it is Scott Robertson, the mastermind behind the former Crusaders dynasty in Super Rugby who took over following the All Blacks’ runner-up finish at the last Rugby World Cup. 

Early returns indicate that hiring “Razor” was the correct choice.

Robertson opened his account as All Blacks boss last month with back-to-back test wins against England in Dunedin and Auckland, followed by a 47-5 annihilation of Oceania neighbor Fiji in the in San Diego. But his important first game as part of a competition while at the helm of one of the most iconic sporting teams on Earth will come against the pesky Pumas this weekend at Wellington’s Sky Stadium.

The squad the All Blacks will bring to their Rugby Championship opener is unsurprisingly loaded, but with a few twists tucked in, as well.

Try-scoring machine Will Jordan, who missed all of the Super Rugby season while recovering from shoulder surgery, has been named on the bench in his first test appearance since the Rugby World Cup, where he finished as the competition’s top scorer. It also should be an emotional night for Wellington-area native and starting scrum-half TJ Perenara, who is set to depart New Zealand at the end of the year, as he signed a three-year deal to play at club level in Japan.

Stephen Perofeta, Scott Barrett, Luke Jacobson and Patrick Tuipulotu — all of whom made the All Blacks squad for the England tests — are sitting out the Argentina test due to various injuries, and electric center Rieko Ioane has been benched for Anton Lienert-Brown. 

World Rugby Player of the Year Ardie Savea will wear the captain’s armband in a veteran-heavy starting XV, with a major exception in second-rower Sam Darry, who gets the start in place of the injured locks (a position New Zealand already was looking to fill ASAP after the international retirements of Brodie Retallick and Sam Whitelock) after making his senior international debut against Fiji. 

Otherwise, the starting bunch is mainly a who’s who of elite-level All Blacks: the active Barrett brothers, Jordie and Beauden, start together again, as does the familiar front-row partnership of Ethan De Groot, Codie Taylor and Tyrel Lomax. Damian McKenzie, fresh off his 50th cap against Fiji, also starts at the No. 10.

Argentina

Will first-year Argentina coach (and former Los Pumas playing legend) Felipe Contepomi keep the good vibes that were established under predecessor Michael Cheika going?

With his first major competition as his home nation’s head coach on the horizon, there’s only one way to find out.

Argentine rugby is in a good place at the moment, having picked up huge wins over New Zealand, Australia and England in 2022, before going on to finish fourth at the next year’s Rugby World Cup, making for the country’s third trip to the semifinals. 

Things have been going similarly swimmingly early on in Contepomi’s tenure, too, with Los Pumas splitting a two-test home series with France — beating Les Bleus on July 13 in Buenos Aires for the first time since 2016 — before following it up by way of a 79-5 blasting of South American rival Uruguay a week later.

The squad the World Rugby Hall of Famer Contepomi is bringing to face the All Blacks has done plenty of winning together recently, and it’ll be primed and ready to try and pull off another shocker on New Zealand soil.

Centurion Pablo Matera captains the side as normal armband-wearer Julian Montoya was not selected, having injured his ribs in Argentina’s second test against France last month. Montoya’s replacement in the middle of the front line, Ignacio Ruiz, will make his 11th appearance for Los Pumas alongside props Thomas Gallo and Eduardo Bello as Montoya eyes a potential comeback in the second fixture against the All Blacks next weekend at Eden Park.

Contepomi additionally had opted to rest No. 8 Juan Martin Gonzalez, center Lucio Cinti and fullback Juan Cruz Mallia for the France tests and Uruguay, and all three are now back in the starting XV to face the All Blacks. Mallia and openside flanker Marcos Kremer both were named vice captains, with each being one of the 12 members of Argentina’s starting lineup with at least 20 caps to their names. 

The ageless Agustin Creevy, Los Pumas’ all-time caps leader with 108 appearances for his national team, is the most notable name off of the bench as he continues to produce for Argentina at age 39. He, Joel Sclavi and Tomas Lavanini all return as being potential substitutes after not appearing in Los Pumas’ July window.

Meanwhile, on the other end of the spectrum caps-wise is lock Efrain Elias, named to the bench as Los Pumas’ only uncapped player in the squad after impressive performances for Argentina’s youth team helped earn him both selection by Contepomi and a reported move to French powerhouse Toulouse at club level. 

Squads

New Zealand

1 Ethan de Groot, 2 Codie Taylor (VC), 3 Tyrel Lomax, 4 Tupou Vaa’i, 5 Sam Darry, 6 Ethan Blackadder, 7 Dalton Papali’i, 8 Ardie Savea (C), 9 TJ Perenara, 10 Damian McKenzie, 11 Mark Tele’a, 12 Jordie Barrett (VC), 13 Anton Leinert-Brown, 14 Sevu Reece, 15 Beauden Barrett

Bench: 16 Asafo Aumua, 17 Ofa Tu’ungafasi, 18 Fletcher Newell, 19 Josh Lord, 20 Wallace Sititi, 21 Cortez Ratima, 22 Rieko Ioane, 23 Will Jordan

Argentina

1 Thomas Gallo, 2 Ignacio Ruiz, 3 Eduardo Bello, 4 Franco Molina, 5 Pedro Rubiolo, 6 Pablo Matera (C), 7 Marcos Kremer (VC), 8 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 10 Santiago Carreras, 11 Mateo Carreras, 12 Santiago Chocobares, 13 Lucio Cinti, 14 Matias Moroni, 15 Juan Cruz Mallia (VC)

Bench: 16 Agustin Creevy, 17 Mayco Vivas, 18 Joel Sclavi, 19 Efrain Elias, 20 Tomas Lavanini, 21 Joaquin Oviedo, 22 Lautaro Bazan Velez, 23 Tomas Albornoz

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