The Rugby Championship is at its midway point, and technically any team can still win the trophy but it's looking like a three horse race.
New Zealand has its nose in front, and South Africa and Australia are jostling for second place looking to make a move in the coming weeks.
Argentina are far from being easy beats as they proved in their first two games against South Africa, however they're still trailing the pack with three losses from three games sitting on two competition points.
The Wallabies upset the Springboks over the weekend in a come from behind win to take the spoils in Perth.
The Springboks were in control and were looking to grind out another win, as Morne Steyn kicked six penalties in the game to push them out to 24-14 until the 64th minute, when it all changed.
The game was Bryan Habana's 100th test match, but it was not to be a fairy-tale match for the centurion after he high tackled Adam-Ashley Cooper which in turn led to an Aussie comeback.
The Wallabies had a secret weapon sitting on the bench in the form of Kurtley Beale who came on and sparked some attacking runs including an inside ball to Israel Folau which led to the final try in the 77th minute finished off by Rob Horne.
Bernard Foley converted the try under pressure which sealed the game for the Wallabies at 24-23, giving them some vital competition points after a draw and a loss to the All Blacks.
The other game over the weekend saw the All Blacks run away with a solid win in Napier over Argentina in soggy conditions, as the ball skidded over the surface after many kicks were made in play.
Argentina played a tight game in the first half pushing the All Blacks with a good chip and chase game, and were two points behind until a Beauden Barrett break just before half time led to a Liam Messam try and essentially the game.
After halftime the All Blacks scored a couple more tries, one through Savea who notched up 26 tries in his 25 test career, and the classy Aaron Smith scored off the back of the All Blacks powerful scrum.
The Kiwi's won 28-9 picking up the maximum five points to prove that they are the team to beat in the Rugby Championship.
What's to come?
In the second half of the Championship, the Wallabies play at home in the Gold Coast against Argentina before heading away to South Africa and then Argentina to finish.
South Africa have a tough road trip to Wellington this week to face the inform All Blacks after their narrow loss to Australia, but they'll be looking to finish the season strong with two home games, that will no doubt be crucial at the business end of the season.
Argentina play Australia away, then will be looking to finish on a high note at home hosting the All Blacks and Australia.
Argentina have come close against South Africa this year, as they look for their first win of the Rugby Championship, however the All Blacks or Australia won't want to be the first team to lose to the new comers of the competition.
New Zealand get one more home game against the Springboks in Wellington, which could well be another wet affair in spring conditions, before they're off to South Africa and Argentina to finish their campaign on the road.
The World Cup
In the lead up to the 2015 world cup in England, all four teams will be thinking about building the right team and setting up a good foundation to win the ultimate prize in England.
Since the inception of the tri nation's competition in 1996 (now the Rugby Championship with Argentina involved) New Zealand has won every tri nations competition in a world cup year except for 2011: however Australia won the tri nations in 2011 and New Zealand went on to win the world cup for the first time since 1987.
Historically the strongest southern hemisphere team according to current form going into a world cup has never won the Webb Ellis trophy.
The other statistic worth noting is that no team has ever defended the web Ellis trophy, and I'm sure the All Blacks would love to disprove both those statistics come next year.
Brad Mills enjoys the outdoors and almost any sport... For a day job he's a journalist who works at the Rhema Media in Auckland New Zealand.
Brad Mill's previous articles may be viewed at www.pressserviceinternational.org/brad-mills.html
