The 2010 Tri Nations Series was the 15th annual Tri Nations series between the national rugby union teams of New Zealand, Australia and South Africa.
New Zealand clinched the series crown with one match remaining, scoring two tries in the last 3 minutes to defeat South Africa 29–22 on 21 August in the first-ever Test at FNB Stadium in Johannesburg. The 2010 Tri-Nations season has seen new records set by the All Blacks; they are the first team to finish undefeated since the expansion of the tournament to 9 rounds, and have seen the highest number of tries and overall points in the history of the tournament.
The series concluded 11 September 2010 with New Zealand's win over Australia 23–22. The 2011 series commenced on 23 July 2011 in Australia.
Background.
New Zealand, South Africa and Australia were ranked first, second, and third in the IRB World Rankings, but this changed due to Australia's 21–20 loss to England on 16 June 2010. This game moved Australia down to fourth in the IRB World Rankings but they returned to third in rankings a week later, after France's heavy defeat to Argentina and Australia's win against Ireland in the last week of the 2010 mid-year rugby test series.
The final match of the Bledisloe Cup series between Australia and New Zealand took place after the Tri-Nations, on 30 October (the first 3 matches of the series were part of the Tri-Nations).
Fixtures.
New Zealand vs South Africa, Auckland.
Touch judges:
Alain Rolland (Ireland)
Stuart Dickinson (Australia)
Television match official:
Ben Skeen (New Zealand)
New Zealand vs South Africa, Wellington.
Touch judges:
Alan Lewis (Ireland)
Stuart Dickinson (Australia)
Television match official:
Glenn Newman (New Zealand)
Player statistics.
Leading try scorers.
"Source: scrum.com"
Leading point scorers.
"Source: scrum.com"
References.
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