2014 end-of-year rugby union internationals explained
The 2014 end-of-year rugby tests, also known as the 2014 autumn internationals in the Northern Hemisphere, were international rugby union matches predominantly played between visiting Southern Hemisphere countries and European nations.
Brazil, Canada, Germany, Georgia, Hong Kong, Japan, Namibia, Paraguay, Portugal, Romania, Russia, the United States and Uruguay A all played at least one test match during the three-week international window.
Within the window, the three Pacific Island teams faced Tier 1 opposition, when Wales and France hosted Fiji, and England and Italy hosted Samoa. At the time, Italy entered the Samoa test on the back of nine consecutive losses and a 15–0 loss to Samoa in Apia in June 2014. Scotland became the first Tier 1 nation to play a Test match on a fully artificial pitch when they hosted Tonga at Rugby Park, Kilmarnock, winning 37–12.
Georgia had a rare opportunity to play a Tier 1 nation in Ireland, who played The Lelos for the first time since their Pool D fixture in the 2007 Rugby World Cup. Ireland became the first Tier 1 nation to play Georgia since Argentina in June 2013, and the first Six Nations team to host a European Nations Cup team since Scotland's 48–6 win over Romania during the 2006 Autumn Internationals.
The United States played host to New Zealand for the first time since 1980, though that was not an official test match. Therefore, this was the first official test match between the two in America since 1913, when the All Blacks were 51–3 victors, and the last meeting between the two nations took place during the 1991 Rugby World Cup. The All Blacks won the game 74–6 in front of a sell-out crowd at Soldier Field.
History was made in Hong Kong, when a first-ever meeting between Hong Kong and Russia took place, and in Windhoek with a first-ever meeting between Germany and Namibia on Namibian soil.
Argentina visited Scotland, Italy and France, as they tried to build upon their first Rugby Championship win. Australia traveled to Wales, Ireland, England and France, who they had beaten 3–0 in their 2014 June Test series. New Zealand played Scotland, Wales and England, who had lost 3–0 to the All Blacks in their June Test series, while South Africa competed against Ireland, England, Wales and Italy.
Following a reduced 2014 IRB Pacific Nations Cup, the IRB organized matches between the Pacific island countries and North American teams at neutral venues in Europe; Tonga and Fiji played the United States, while Samoa played Canada. In addition to those, Romania hosted both Canada and the United States, while Romania and Georgia hosted Japan. Georgia also hosted Tonga for just their third meeting, the first since 1999.
Following the qualification of Namibia for the 2015 Rugby World Cup, an IRB–funded tour allowed Namibia to test themselves against higher ranked opposition; they played Canada in Colwyn Bay and Portugal in Lisbon. In preparation for a big year in Brazilian sport ahead of the introduction of Rugby sevens into the Olympic Games, Brazil hosted Uruguay and Paraguay to broaden their depth in the sport before their automatic participation in the 2016 competition.
Like in recent seasons, New Zealand and Australia played the third and final Bledisloe Cup Test match for the year, with New Zealand winning 29–28 with a last-minute try.
Matches
October
Notes:- Adam Ashley-Cooper became the sixth Australian player to earn 100 test caps, and the first to score a try in his 100th test.
- Adam Ashley-Cooper equaled David Campese's record of 8 tries scored against the All Blacks.
- Benn Robinson and Ben Alexander both equaled Al Baxter's 69 test caps and became the Wallabies' most-capped props.
- During the post-match press conference, Wallabies head coach Ewen McKenzie announced his resignation.[1]
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1 November
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Notes: - Australia won the Killik Cup, after the Barbarians won it in 2013 against Fiji and England failed to reclaim it in June 2014.
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Notes:- The attendance for this match more than tripled the previous record crowd for an international rugby match in the U.S. of 20,181, set in June 2013 when the USA hosted Ireland at BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston. Soldier Field, with a 61,500 capacity, was sold out a week before the match.[2]
- The score was a record for the All Blacks against the US, surpassing their 51–3 victory in 1913.[3]
- Augustine Pulu made his international debut for New Zealand.
- Tim Stanfill made his international debut for the United States.
7/8 November
Notes:- Jordan Wilson-Ross made his international debut for Canada.
- Franklin Bertolini made his international debut for Namibia.
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Notes:- John Aikmen, Reece Hamon, Jack Parfitt, Duncan Pollock and James Richards made their international debut for Hong Kong.
- Sergey Chernysev, Vasily Dorofeyev, Ilya Dyomushkin, Nikolay Serkov and Vitaly Zhivatov made their international debuts for Russia.
- Vasily Artemyev earned his 50th test cap for Russia.
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Notes:- Australia retain the James Bevan Trophy.
- Sean McMahon and Tetera Faulkner made their international debuts for Australia.
- Australia win their 10th consecutive match over Wales, surpassing their record of 9 consecutive wins over Wales.
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Notes:- Jared Payne made his international debut for Ireland.
- This was Ireland's first win over South Africa since 2009.
- Ireland became the first Six Nations team to beat South Africa since Scotland's 21–17 win in November 2010.
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14/15/16 November
Notes:- Lucas Ponce and Guido Petti (both Argentina) made their international debuts.
- This fixture was originally scheduled for 15 November 15:00 CET kick off. But the match was brought forward by the FIR because of the bad weather expected to hit the region.[4]
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Notes:- Russia wins the Ustinov Cup series 2–0.
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Notes:- Danny Care earned his 50th test cap for England.
- With this loss, England lose their fifth consecutive match, their worst run of defeats since their 7 consecutive losses in 2006 - although four of the five were against world champions New Zealand.
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Notes:- Sione Lea made his international debut for Tonga.
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21/22/23 November
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Notes:- Ireland reclaim the Lansdowne Cup for the first time since 2006.
- Henry Speight made his international debut for Australia.
- With this win, Ireland earn their first Autumn series clean-sweep, since their 2006 Autumn series campaign.
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Notes:- Tomás Lezana made his international debut for Argentina.
- Argentina beat France for the first time on French Soil, since their 34–10 win during the 2007 Rugby World Cup third-place match.
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Notes:- Giorgi Aptsiauri made his international debut for Georgia.
- This was Georgia's first win over Japan, bar in their second game.
29 November
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Notes:- Wales win the Prince William Cup for the first ever time since its creation in 2007.
- Wales beat South Africa for the first time since 1999, and for just the second time.
- Wales beat a Southern hemisphere great (Australia, New Zealand, South Africa) for the first time since 2008, ending a 22 match losing streak.
See also
Notes and References
- Web site: EWEN McKENZIE RESIGNS AS QANTAS WALLABIES COACH. 10 April 2023.
- Soldier Field officially sold out for USA Eagles-New Zealand All Blacks matchup . . 24 October 2014 . 1 November 2014.
- http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/union-match-report/all-blacks-destroy-usa-as-sonny-bill-williams-returns-20141101-11fm62.html All Blacks destroy USA as Sonny Bill Williams returns
- Web site: ITALIA v ARGENTINA ANTICIPATA A VENERDI' SERA ALLE ORE 17.15 AL FERRARIS: DIRETTA DMAX DALLE ORE 17. Andrea Cimbrico.
