In June there was a break from the
2016 Super rugby tournament while the four Southern Hemisphere national teams played
test matches against touring Northern Hemisphere nations. New Zealand won all three tests against
Wales, Australia were whitewashed by
England in their three tests (the first time they had lost a series against England in Australia), Argentina's series against
France ended in one win each and
Ireland won their first match in South Africa before losing the next two and the series. These results and their 11-match winning streak leading into the tournament made New Zealand firm favourites to secure their fourth Rugby Championship title since it expanded to include Argentina five years ago. South Africa narrowly beat Argentina 30–23 at
Mbombela Stadium, scoring a try in the final minutes to take the lead. South Africa took an early lead after
Ruan Combrinck scored a try in the corner, but Argentina struck back though a try of their own to
Matías Orlando to take a 13–10 lead into the half-time break. Late in the second half Argentina looked to have won the game when
Santiago Cordero collected a
Nicolás Sánchez chip to give Argentina a 10-point lead with 11 minutes remaining. However, South Africa leveled after a
Johan Goosen try and an
Elton Jantjies penalty, before
Warren Whiteley sealed the win with two minutes remaining. The second round featured the same teams playing their return matches. New Zealand kept Australia try-less, winning 29–9 and retaining the
Bledisloe Cup for the 13th straight year. Despite
Israel Dagg scoring two tries, Australia put in a better defensive effort and New Zealand only led 15–9 at the half time break. Julian Savea and
Sam Cane scored a try each in the second half while keeping Australia scoreless. Argentina reversed the result against South Africa in
Salta, kicking a last minute penalty to secure a 26–24 victory. Argentina outplayed South Africa in the first half, scoring one try to fullback
Joaquin Tuculet, to lead 13–3. South Africa struck back in the second half with veteran winger
Bryan Habana scoring a record 65th test try.
Juan Leguizamon scored a second try for Argentina and they led by seven with 13 minutes remaining. South Africa took the lead for the first time in the match with six minutes left when
Pieter-Steph du Toit scored a try and then
Morne Steyn landed a penalty. Argentina were able to defended strongly to prevent South Africa scoring any more points, before
Gonzalez Iglesias landed a match winning penalty in the 77th minute. After a week's break Argentina traveled to New Zealand and following a competitive first half dropped away to lose 57–22. Argentina took the lead after only two minutes as Cordero scored under the posts from the opening passage of play. However, New Zealand struck straight back with a Julian Savea try.
Ben Smith and Barrett also scored for New Zealand while Sanchez's four penalties kept Argentina close, with New Zealand leading 24–19 at half time. The second half was all New Zealand as they scored five tries to Ben Smith,
Charlie Faumuina,
Luke Romano and Crotty twice against a solitary penalty from Sanchez. Australia hosted South Africa, ending a six match losing streak after clinching a 23–17 victory in the wet at Brisbane. Only one point separated the two teams at the half time break. Whiteley and Goosen had scored tries early for South Africa to give them the lead, while an
Adam Coleman try and two Foley penalties brought Australia to within one point. Early in the second half South African lock
Eben Etzebeth was sin binned for a dangerous challenge and Foley kicked the resulting penalty to give Australia a slight lead. Foley then scored the decisive try 20 minutes later to give them their first win of the tournament. In the fourth round New Zealand continued their winning form, downing South Africa 41–13 in Christchurch, while Argentina fell to a 36–20 defeat in Australia. New Zealand hooker Coles set up tries for Dagg, Julian Savea and
Sam Whitelock with some crisp passing. Ben Smith,
Ardie Savea and
TJ Perenara also scored tries, while South Africa's only try came early when Habana crossed in the first 10 minutes. Australia jumped to a 21-point lead against Argentina after
Samu Kerevi,
Dane Haylett-Petty and
Will Genia all scored converted tries in the first 12 minutes. Argentina responded with two penalties and at half-time the score was 21–6. Cordera scored early in the second half to bring the deficit to eight, before
Sean McMahon beat four defenders to set up Genia's second try.
Quade Cooper then set up a decisive try for
Michael Hooper to give Australia a 20-point lead, with Argentina only managing a late consolation try to
Facundo Isa. Four wins from four games and four bonus points for scoring at least three tries more than their opposition in each game meant that the Rugby Championship title returned to New Zealand with two rounds still to play. The 24 tries scored by New Zealand at this point in the tournament is more than the other three nations combined and they are within three wins of the record for the longest winning streak in tests.
Stuart Barnes has labelled the current New Zealand team the most dominant in rugby history, something which former New Zealand captain
Sean Fitzpatrick does not think is "good for the game as a whole". == Standings ==