End of year rugby tests
Encyclopedia
The End of year rugby tests, known as Autumn internationals in the Northern Hemisphere or Guinness Autumn Series in the Republic of Ireland, are a series of rugby union
matches contested approximately each November. Teams from the Six Nations Championship
play against the Tri Nations powers plus Argentina; second-tier teams, such as those from North American and Pacific countries, also participate. Each side typically plays three or four Test matches
, and may choose to play games against provincial or "A" teams. Also, one of the Tri Nations teams generally plays the invitational Barbarians
club in the traditional "Final Challenge", usually at Twickenham
in London, although Australia's Final Challenge in 2008 was at Wembley Stadium
. Television rights for the Autumn Internationals are shared by Sky Sports
, ESPN
, RTE
and BBC Sport
.
The autumn international test series played against England at Twickenham stadium are known as the Investec Internationals, formerly the Investec Challenge. The Investec Internationals are played between England, Australia, South Africa, Samoa, and New Zealand. Investec has sponsored the event for the past ten years.
. This is achieved by beating the four home unions
of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Australia achieved its only grand slam in 1984, New Zealand in 1978, 2005, 2008 and 2010, and South Africa in 1912, 1932, 1952 and 1961.
The test series involves the likes of Australia
, New Zealand
, South Africa
and Samoa
playing against the England men's senior squad.
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
matches contested approximately each November. Teams from the Six Nations Championship
Six Nations Championship
The Six Nations Championship is an annual international rugby union competition involving six European sides: England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales....
play against the Tri Nations powers plus Argentina; second-tier teams, such as those from North American and Pacific countries, also participate. Each side typically plays three or four Test matches
Test match (rugby union)
Test match in rugby union is a match recognised as being a full international match by at least one of the participating teams' governing bodies. It is an unofficial but widely used term in the sport....
, and may choose to play games against provincial or "A" teams. Also, one of the Tri Nations teams generally plays the invitational Barbarians
Barbarian F.C.
The Barbarian Football Club, usually referred to as the Barbarians and nicknamed the "Baa-Baas", is an invitational rugby union team based in Britain...
club in the traditional "Final Challenge", usually at Twickenham
Twickenham Stadium
Twickenham Stadium is a stadium located in Twickenham, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. It is the largest rugby union stadium in the United Kingdom and has recently been enlarged to seat 82,000...
in London, although Australia's Final Challenge in 2008 was at Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium
The original Wembley Stadium, officially known as the Empire Stadium, was a football stadium in Wembley, a suburb of north-west London, standing on the site now occupied by the new Wembley Stadium that opened in 2007...
. Television rights for the Autumn Internationals are shared by Sky Sports
Sky Sports
Sky Sports is the brand name for a group of sports-oriented television channels operated by the UK and Ireland's main satellite pay-TV company, British Sky Broadcasting. Sky Sports is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland...
, ESPN
ESPN (UK)
ESPN is a sports television channel in the United Kingdom and Ireland owned by American sports broadcaster ESPN Inc. The channel launched on 3 August 2009...
, RTE
RTE
RTÉ is the abbreviation for Raidió Teilifís Éireann, the public broadcasting service of the Republic of Ireland.RTE may also refer to:* Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, 25th Prime Minister of Turkey...
and BBC Sport
BBC Sport
BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC. It became a fully dedicated division of the BBC in 2000. It incorporates programmes such as Match of the Day, Grandstand , Test Match Special, Ski Sunday, Rugby Special and coverage of Formula One motor racing, MotoGP and the Wimbledon Tennis...
.
The autumn international test series played against England at Twickenham stadium are known as the Investec Internationals, formerly the Investec Challenge. The Investec Internationals are played between England, Australia, South Africa, Samoa, and New Zealand. Investec has sponsored the event for the past ten years.
Home Teams
- BarbariansBarbarian F.C.The Barbarian Football Club, usually referred to as the Barbarians and nicknamed the "Baa-Baas", is an invitational rugby union team based in Britain...
- CanadaCanada national rugby union teamThe Canada national rugby union team represents Canada in international rugby union. They are governed by Rugby Canada, and play in red and black. Canada is classified by the International Rugby Board as a tier two rugby nation. There are ten tier one nations, and seven tier two nations, the...
- EnglandEngland national rugby union teamThe England national rugby union team represents England in rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, and Wales. They have won this championship on 26 occasions, 12 times winning the Grand Slam, making them the most successful team in...
- FranceFrance national rugby union teamThe France national rugby union team represents France in rugby union. They compete annually against England, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales in the Six Nations Championship. They have won the championship outright sixteen times, shared it a further eight times, and have completed nine grand slams...
- IrelandIreland national rugby union teamThe Ireland national rugby union team represents the island of Ireland in rugby union. The team competes annually in the Six Nations Championship and every four years in the Rugby World Cup, where they reached the quarter-final stage in all but two competitions The Ireland national rugby union...
- ItalyItaly national rugby union teamThe Italy national rugby union team represent the nation of Italy in the sport of rugby union. The team is also known as the Azzurri . Italy have been playing international rugby since the late 1920s, and since 2000 compete annually in the Six Nations Championship with England, France, Ireland,...
- JapanJapan national rugby union teamThe Japan national rugby union team represent Japan in international rugby union competitions. Japan is traditionally the strongest rugby union power in Asia but has both enjoyed and endured mixed results against non-Asian teams over the years...
- ScotlandScotland national rugby union teamThe Scotland national rugby union team represent Scotland in international rugby union. Rugby union in Scotland is administered by the Scottish Rugby Union. The Scotland rugby union team is currently ranked eighth in the IRB World Rankings as of 19 September 2011...
- SpainSpain national rugby union teamThe Spain national rugby union team are a national sporting side of Spain, representing them at rugby union. Spain have been playing rugby since the late 1920s, playing their first international against Italy in 1929. They have qualified for one Rugby World Cup, in 1999 where they were pooled with...
- WalesWales national rugby union teamThe Wales national rugby union team represent Wales in international rugby union tournaments. They compete annually in the Six Nations Championship with England, France, Ireland, Italy and Scotland. Wales have won the Six Nations and its predecessors 24 times outright, second only to England with...
Away Teams
- ArgentinaArgentina national rugby union teamThe Argentina national rugby team, nicknamed Los Pumas, represents Argentina in international rugby union matches. The team, which plays in sky blue and white jerseys, is organised by the Argentine Rugby Union .Argentina played its first international rugby match in 1910 against a touring British...
- AustraliaAustralia national rugby union teamThe Australian national rugby union team is the representative side of Australia in rugby union. The national team is nicknamed the Wallabies and competes annually with New Zealand and South Africa in the Tri-Nations Series, in which they also contest the Bledisloe Cup with New Zealand and the...
- CanadaCanada national rugby union teamThe Canada national rugby union team represents Canada in international rugby union. They are governed by Rugby Canada, and play in red and black. Canada is classified by the International Rugby Board as a tier two rugby nation. There are ten tier one nations, and seven tier two nations, the...
- FijiFiji national rugby union teamThe Fiji national rugby union team is a member of the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance formerly along with Samoa and Tonga. In 2009, Samoa announced their departure from the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance, leaving just Fiji and Tonga. Fiji are ranked sixteenth in the world by the IRB as of 26...
- New Zealand
- Pacific IslandersPacific Islanders rugby union teamThe Pacific Islanders rugby union team is an international rugby union team, started in 2004, that represents Fiji, Samoa and Tonga. While Niue and the Cook Islands are not members of the Pacific Tri-Nations competition, they did supply players to the squad for the Pacific Islanders' tour in 2004...
- RomaniaRomania national rugby union teamThe Romania national rugby union team , nicknamed The Oaks , is the representative side of Romania in rugby union. Long considered one of the stronger European teams outside the Six Nations, they have participated in all six Rugby World Cups, and currently compete in the first division of the...
- SamoaSamoa national rugby union teamThe Manu Samoa is the men's representative side of the Samoa Rugby Union in both the 15's and the 7's for international competitions. The Samoa Rugby Union is owned by the affiliated rugby unions of Samoa. In Samoa, Manu Samoa is in honour of a famous Samoan warrior. From 1924 to 1997 Samoa was...
- South AfricaSouth Africa national rugby union teamThe South African national rugby union team are 2009 British and Irish Lions Series winners. They are currently ranked as the fourth best team in the IRB World Rankings and were named 2008 World Team of the Year at the prestigious Laureus World Sports Awards.Although South Africa was instrumental...
- TongaTonga national rugby union teamThe Tonga national rugby union team is nicknamed Ikale Tahi . Like their Polynesian neighbours, the Tongans start their matches with a war dance – the Kailao . They are members of the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance along with Fiji and Samoa...
- USA
The Grand Slam
A touring nation may also have the opportunity to complete a Grand SlamGrand Slam (Rugby Union)
In rugby union, a Grand Slam occurs when one team in the Six Nations Championship manages to beat all the others during one year's competition...
. This is achieved by beating the four home unions
Home Nations
Home Nations is a collective term with one of two meanings depending on the context. Politically, it means the nations of the constituent countries of the United Kingdom...
of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Australia achieved its only grand slam in 1984, New Zealand in 1978, 2005, 2008 and 2010, and South Africa in 1912, 1932, 1952 and 1961.
The Investec Internationals
The Investec Internationals (formerly Investec Challenge) are the Autumn International tests series played against the England Rugby team at Twickenham Stadium, England. The series has been sponsored by Investec Bank for the past 10 years.The test series involves the likes of Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
and Samoa
Samoa
Samoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in...
playing against the England men's senior squad.
See also
- 2006 end of year rugby tests
- 2007 end of year rugby tests2007 end of year rugby testsThe 2007 end of year rugby tests, also known as the 2007 Autumn internationals were a series of rugby union matches played in November and December 2007 in Europe...
- 2008 end of year rugby tests2008 end of year rugby testsThe 2008 end of year rugby tests, also known as the Autumn internationals saw Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Argentina, the Pacific Islanders and Canada tour the northern hemisphere. The tour ended with the traditional 'final challenge' Barbarians match, against Australia, which was the...
- 2009 end of year rugby tests2009 end of year rugby testsThe 2009 end of year rugby tests, also known as the Autumn internationals in the Northern Hemisphere, saw Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Argentina, tour the northern hemisphere....
- 2010 end of year rugby tests2010 end of year rugby testsThe 2010 end of year rugby tests, also known as the Autumn internationals in the northern hemisphere, will see Argentina, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa and tour the northern hemisphere. Test matches will also be arranged involving the various Pacific island teams and other non-Tier 1...
- 2011 end of year rugby tests2011 end of year rugby testsThe 2011 end of year rugby tests, also known as the Autumn internationals in the northern hemisphere, will only see Australia play Wales at Millenium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales on December 3, 2011...