What Happened in Week One of the 2024 Rugby Championship?

Springboks demolish the Wallabies at Suncorp Stadium

In a perfect display of hard-hitting, physical play, South Africa put Australia to the sword down in Brisbane, running out 33-7 winners. As the scoreline indicates, it was a very tough day at the office for the home team, who were forced into numerous unforced errors and struggled to go man-for-man with the world champions. 

All South African eyes were cast over their new-fly half Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, who has been the talk of the town after a couple of sensational cameos against Ireland last month. With the weight of expectation on the Western Province man, he did not buckle and demonstrated creativity and a certain amount of swagger in his first start in the number 10 jersey. 

After a wayward first kick, the 22-year-old found his rhythm and brought the Springbok attack to life with his expansive play and excellent distribution, notching up 15 passes and crucially also grabbing an assist. Over the 80 minutes, Feinberg-Mngomezulu also recorded 34 metres from just seven carries at an average of 4.9 metres per carry.

Further upfield, the battle of the big men could hardly have been more lopsided with Allan Alaalatoa experiencing a day to forget, as he proved no match for the powerful Ox Nche during scrum time. The Wallabies skipper conceded three scrum penalties in Brisbane and his pack as a unit battled to cope with the sheer intensity of the world champions’ onslaught. 

A couple of positives that the Aussies could take from the match were the performances of Carlo Tizzano and Hunter Paisami. Tizzano had a slow start but grew into the match and ended with a very respectable 19 tackles against a formidable green and gold pack. Paisami also put up solid carry metres and tackle numbers, and was the sole try-scorer for the Wallabies, helping the side put some respectability to the final scoreline.

South Africa were reduced to 13 men when Malcolm Marx and Marco van Staden were sent to the sin-bin in quick succession and ended up finishing the match with only 12 men on the field following Jesse Kriel’s yellow card in the 79th minute. In the end, though, the Springboks claimed five tries with Kurt-Lee Arendse leading the way with a double, while captain Siya Kolisi, Pieter-Steph du Toit, who was drafted in at the last moment for an injured RG Snyman, and Kwagga Smith, also crossed the whitewash. Feinberg-Mngomezulu slotted over four conversions to complete the demolition. 

The result was a momentous one for the South Africans, as it was only their second-ever victory in Brisbane and their first since 2013. Don’t forget, you can also check all our Rugby predictions right here on SportyTrader!

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Los Pumas stun All Blacks in Wellington classic

If the Springboks’ effort against Australia earlier in the day was considered impressive, then Argentina’s performance against New Zealand was nothing short of brilliant. The South Americans claimed a famous 38-30 victory at the Wellington Regional Stadium, extending the hosts’ dismal record at the ground, where they have now won just one of their seven Tests and are winless in their last five. 

Saturday’s Test in Wellington will live long in the memory for many reasons but a particular abnormality in the match was that we had to wait until the 61st minute for the first scrum, which was possibly a major part of the All Blacks’ downfall. The result marked Scott Robertson’s first defeat as the head coach of the defending Rugby Championship champions, and while we are not suggesting he is the wrong man for the job just yet, there are clearly a few things he needs to work on having made the step up from provincial rugby to the international Test scene.

Notably, the final 20 minutes of the match showed the hosts lacking ideas, while Argentina looked like a side transformed since their dismal showing in Mendoza just over a month ago, where they were beaten 28-13 by a France side that featured eight debutants. It was an epic shift for Los Pumas with many pundits referring to their performance as ‘their finest in history’. Of course, the challenge now is to back it up when they head to Eden Park in week two.

Felipe Contepomi’s side were led by skipper Pablo Matera, who was arguably the pick of the players in Round One of the 2024 Rugby Championship, as he put in a massive effort in every aspect. In his 103rd Test for Los Pumas, Matera showed he is still a force to be reckoned with, racking up an impressive 37 metres off his 20 carries, or 1.85 metres per carry, and managed to drag his side over the gain-line consistently. On defence, the flanker made 11 of his 13 attempted tackles, notching up an 84% success rate. While this may not seem incredible at first glance, one should consider that this was against an All Blacks pack that are world-class even on their off days.

For New Zealand, Anton Lienert-Brown was arguably their standout performer, though there is a case to be made that the wingers would have had much more of an impact in the match had Damian McKenzie put on a better showing with his distribution from fly-half. As a result, Mark Tele’a was almost non-existent across the 80 minutes. On that basis, it would not come as a huge shock to see Beauden Barrett reinstated for the match at Eden Park, where he pulled the strings to lead the All Blacks to victory over England last month.

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World Rugby Rankings after Round One of the 2024 Rugby Championship

All-in-all, the All Blacks are now in real danger of falling outside the top three teams in the World Rugby rankings. New Zealand made up ground to Ireland and South Africa with their three-in-three last month but that progress has taken a hit after Saturday’s loss, which saw them shed a whole two ranking points, dropping from 90.37 to 88.37, now leaving them almost five points behind the current world champions, the Springboks. Another loss this weekend could see the All blacks slip behind France, while the victory for Argentina saw them leapfrog Scotland into sixth place ahead of their trip to Eden Park. 

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