The 2012 mid-year rugby union tests (also known as the Summer Internationals in the Northern Hemisphere) refers to the rugby union Internationals that were played through June, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere.
These matches marked the start of a global rugby calendar established by the International Rugby Board (IRB), which runs until 2019. The calendar includes a return of traditional tours by European teams, in which a team plays multiple Tests against a southern hemisphere side, often with mid-week matches against provincial or regional sides. This year, all three of the teams that competed in the Rugby Championship's predecessor tournament, the Tri Nations, hosted European nations in three-Test series. Australia hosted Wales, marking the first three-Test series in Australia by a top European side since the Lions' 2001 tour. New Zealand entertained Ireland in the first three-Test tour of that country since the Lions visited in 2005; it was also Ireland's first-ever three-Test series against the All Blacks. South Africa hosted England for three Tests, the first extended tour of that country by a single nation since New Zealand toured in 1996.
The new calendar also provided expanded Test opportunities for so-called "Tier 2" nations. As part of this IRB initiative, another tradition returned—tours of the Pacific Islands by major nations. Scotland became the first Tier 1 nation to play a Test in the Pacific Islands since 2006, visiting Fiji and Samoa. Also, Italy toured the Americas, claiming wins over Canada and the United States and a loss to Argentina.
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