2014 end of year rugby union internationals

The 2014 end-of-year rugby tests, also known as the 2014 autumn internationals in the Northern Hemisphere, were a series of international rugby union matches predominantly played between the visiting Southern Hemisphere countries: Argentina, Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, Samoa, South Africa, Tonga – and the European sides: England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales.

Contents

• Bledisloe Cup Part 3
• Week 1
• Week 4
• References

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 in Kilmarnock, winning 37–12.

For Georgia, a rare opportunity arose to play a Tier 1 nation, in the likes of Ireland, who played The Lelos for the first time since their Pool D fixture in the 2007 Rugby World Cup. Ireland therefore 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.

In addition to that rare fixture, the United States played host to the All Blacks for the first time on home soil since 1980, though this was not an official test match. Therefore, this was the first official test match to take place in America since 1913, with the All Blacks running out 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 and Windhoek, when a first-ever meeting between Hong Kong and Russia took place, acting as a two–test series, and a first-ever meeting between Germany and Namibia on Namibian soil.

Visits to Scotland, Italy and France by Argentina, as they tried to build upon their first Rugby Championship win, while the losers of that match Australia, traveled to Wales, Ireland, England and France, who they had beaten 3-0 during the 2014 June Test series'. New Zealand played Scotland, Wales and England, who also lost 3–0 to the All Blacks during the 2014 June Test series, while South Africa was one match of the Grand Slam tour, as they competed against Ireland, England, Wales and Italy.

Following a reduced 2014 IRB Pacific Nations Cup, the IRB organized intercontinental matches between the Pacific Islanders and North America at a natural venue 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 both Romania and Georgia hosted Japan. Georgia also hosted Tonga for just their third meeting, and the first since 1999.

Following the qualification of Namibia for Rugby World Cup 2015, an IRB–funded tour allowed Namibia to test themselves against higher ranked opposition; when 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.

Several invitational teams were also be in action during the window, when the Barbarians contested the Killik Cup with Australia, before they played the Leicester Tigers as part of the Tigers 125th anniversary season. The Māori All Blacks played a two–match series against Japan, before visiting Singapore to run workshop's with children and clubs in the country. They would have played the Asia Pacific Dragons, an invitational side made up from top Asian and Polynesian players, but the match was cancelled on 21 October due to concerns over the safety of the playing surface at the venue. English invitational side The RFU Championship XV will be reformed following their last match in 2012, as they play Canada in Worcester, and like recent seasons, the French Barbarians will be in action in a first ever meeting against Namibia on their IRB–funded tour.

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.

The 2014 November Tests were, for some countries, the last chance to experience autumn European conditions and high-intensity intercontinental matches before the 2015 Rugby World Cup, especially since five of the matches that took place will appear during the World Cup.