The 2009 Tri Nations Series was the fourteenth annual Tri Nations rugby union series between the national rugby union teams of New Zealand, Australia and South Africa, respectively nicknamed the All Blacks, Wallabies, and Springboks. The Springboks secured the season crown in their final match on 12 September, defeating the defending series champion All Blacks 32–29 in Hamilton.

Quick Facts Date, Final positions ...

2009 Tri Nations Series

Date	18 July 2009 – 19 September 2009
Final positions
Champions	South Africa (3rd title)
Bledisloe Cup	New Zealand
Freedom Cup	South Africa
Mandela Challenge Plate	South Africa
Tournament statistics
Matches played	9
Tries scored	27 (3 per match)
Attendance	399,093 (44,344 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Morné Steyn (95)
Most tries	Matt Giteau (3)
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New Zealand, South Africa and Australia were ranked first, second, and third in the world respectively by the International Rugby Board (IRB) immediately before the start of the Tri Nations on 30 June 2009.^[1] For South Africa, the tournament comes on the back of the British & Irish Lions tour.

On 18 July, the All Blacks drew first blood in the series, coming from behind to defeat the Wallabies 22–16 at Eden Park.^[2] The All Blacks then departed for a two-test series against the Springboks in South Africa. The Boks won the first test 28–19, a result that not only gave them the series lead but also put them ahead of the All Blacks for first place in the IRB World Rankings.^[3] The following week, they defeated the All Blacks again, with Morné Steyn scoring all of their points in a 31–19 win.^[4] Steyn's performance broke the previous mark of New Zealand's Andrew Mehrtens for individual points in a Tri Nations match. The Boks completed their home leg with a 29–17 win over the Wallabies in Cape Town, with Steyn scoring 24 of their points.^[5]

The series then travelled to Australia for the Wallabies' three home matches. It opened with the second Bledisloe Cup match with the All Blacks, won by the All Blacks 19–18.^[6] The Springboks then picked up a 32–25 bonus-point win over the Wallabies in Perth.^[7] The Wallabies then defeated the Springboks 21–6, at Brisbane.^[8] The Springboks had to wait another week to try grasp the Tri-Nations title, but had to face the All Blacks at home in Hamilton. The Boks claimed the Tri Nations crown for the first time since 2004 with a 32–29 win.^[9] In the final match of the series on 19 September, the All Blacks thumped the Wallabies 33–6 in Wellington.^[10]

The final match of the Bledisloe Cup series between Australia and New Zealand took place after the Tri-Nations, on 11 October (the first 3 matches of the series were part of the Tri-Nations).