The originally-named Rugby Championship begins this weekendand rugby writerSteve Hepburn looks at four players who have something to prove in the next couple of months.
(Argentina)
A gifted player who has had more visits to the doctor's waiting room than the Knievel family. Will play his first test in three years after overcoming a bung knee.
Now 30, much was talked of the first five-eighth's exciting talents at the 2007 World Cup but it never materialised in spells in France and South Africa. Needs to put on a good show to prove he still has the ability and guile which got so many overheated five years ago.
Will probably still have a fantastic boot but his running game may well have been permanently damaged by the horrible injury run.
But if he fires, that will give the Pumas plenty of confidence, which cannot be a bad thing when they are making their debut in the tournament.
(Wallabies)
The Waratahs centre has been in and around the international game for the last few years but never seems to put together a run of tests.
Can run hard and also a solid defender but there just appears to be something missing from his game. He's not the greatest in setting up those outside him and needs to start becoming more of a main player than a sideline man.
The Wallabies backline is crying out for a star after the likes of James O'Connor, Quade Cooper and Drew Mitchell cried off with injury and did not step up to the plate.
If Horne can improve, and be the man of the moment, the Wallabies may be more potent then their line-up suggests.
(Springboks)
Finally, it is the chance for the muscular du Plessis to come out of the shadow of John Smit. If he can carry his form for the Sharks into the green jersey, the South Africans will have a real weapon in their artillery.
The issue for du Plessis may be that all those years sitting on the bench may actually mean his best years are behind him. But he is a rugged scrummager and his lineout throwing is good enough at this level.
Surely, with all those years of inactivity, he will be like a tightly coiled spring about to release. If he can appear all over the park as he normally does and back down to no-one, again as per usual, then it will be a real advantage to the Springboks.
(All Blacks)
Messam was unlucky to miss out on the All Black World Cup squad last year. An excellent season for the title-winning Chiefs has now seen him usurp the likes of Victor Vito and Adam Thomson in the role of blindside flanker.
But at 28, time is not on his side. It is now or never for Messam.
He can look a million dollars with some of the stuff he does on the field and would not look out of place in an All Black backline, such is his ball-handling ability. But a lot of those showy runs can also come to nothing, and he can slide off the odd tackle or two.
The Waikato man has big, big shoes to fill in the shape of Jerome Kaino and will have to maximise all of his ability to do that.
