What is the most prestigious tournament in Rugby?

Tri Nations/the Rugby Championship

Formerly known as the Tri Nations, the rugby championship is a competition contested annually by Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and newcomers Argentina. Prior to Argentina joining, the tournament was known as the Tri Nations. The first Tri Nations were held in 1996, where a formidable New Zealand side that featured legends of the game such as Sean Fitzpatrick and Jonah Lomu ran out victorious.  South Africa’s first Tri Nation’s title came in 1998, with Australia’s first Tri Nations win coming in 2000. Up until the last Tri Nation’s tournament in 2011, the all blacks had won the championship ten times, With Australia and South Africa winning three titles each.  2012 was the first year for the new rugby championship completion; New Zealand continued their dominance by winning all six of their games. Argentina showed that they weren’t just there to make up the numbers, holding the springboks to a 16-16 draw.

What makes this tournament special?

The skill levels on display and the speed of games played in this tournament make it one of the best tournaments to watch for neutrals. Who wouldn’t want to watch the 3 best teams in the world battle it out? And with the addition of the ever improving Argentina, this tournament is only going to get better.

Six Nations

This tournament is the successor of the 5 nations which was played up until 1999. The winners of this championship are often referred to in the media as the Northern Hemisphere Champions. What makes this tournament so great is the intense rivalry between every nation, there is no such thing as an easy game in the Six Nations. Wales and England are joint record holders for the most home nations, five nations; six nation’s tournament wins with an impressive 26 titles each. The first six nations were contested in 2000 which saw the addition of Italy, since then only Scotland and Italy have failed to win the prestigious title.  When a team wins the six nations and all of their games, this is known as the grand slam.  During the six nations, England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland compete for the Triple Crown; this can only be awarded when one nation wins all of their matches against the other three.  Other trophies that are contested during the six nations are the Calcutta Cup (Between England and Scotland) the Centenary Quaich (Contested between Scotland and Ireland) and the Millennium Trophy (Contested between England and Ireland)

What makes this tournament special?

This is one of the most watched tournaments in world rugby, and with so many rivalries it’s easy to see why. This tournament features some of the greatest rivalries in sport, England v Wales, England V France, Scotland V France.  If you are able to get Six Nations Tickets, it’s an atmosphere and standard of rugby that you will never forget.

The Heineken Cup

The Heineken Cup is one of the most prestigious trophies in rugby and has been sponsored by Heineken since the tournament first began in 1995. The tournament was created by the then Five Nations committee who wanted to develop a new professional cross border competition. The tournament consists of 24 teams that are split into six pools of four, playing each team in their pool home and away. This Heineken Cup features many giants of the European club game. Toulouse have won the tournament a record four times, Leinster three times while London Wasps, Leicester and Munster have won it twice each. The Heineken cup is open to clubs from the Aviva Premiership, the Top 14 and the Rabo Direct Pro 12. Clubs that don’t qualify for this competition are entered into the European Challenge Cup, a tournament contested by the lower tier clubs. The first Heineken Cup was won by French team Toulouse when they ran out victorious against Cardiff 21-18 at the Cardiff Arms Park.

What makes this tournament special?

This is on every European players list of tournaments to win, many Southern Hemisphere players choose to play for European clubs just to play in the Heineken Cup. The intensity of the games played in the Heineken Cup is equal to that of international test matches.

Conclusion

There is no doubt that all 3 of these tournaments are fantastic for the sport. But there is no beating the Six Nations; it’s a tournament with a wealth of history behind it, dating right the way back to before World War 1. Every game in the Six Nations is a huge rivalry, with intense games such as Wales v England, England V France, Ireland V Scotland.

This is a guest post by David Frederick, David is a rugby enthusiast at Venatour.