The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for their international success, the All Blacks have often been regarded as one of the most successful sports teams in history.
The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks, is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jerseys with white shorts, and their emblem is the Springbok, a native antelope and the national animal of South Africa. The team has represented South African Rugby Union in international rugby union since 30 July 1891, when they played their first test match against a British Isles touring team. Currently, the Springboks are the top-ranked rugby team in the world and reigning World Champions, having won the World Cup a record four times. South Africa have won half of the Rugby World Cups they have participated in and are also the second nation to win the World Cup consecutively.
The Great Britain national rugby league team represents Great Britain in rugby league. Administered by the Rugby Football League (RFL), the team is nicknamed The Lions.
The Australian national rugby league team, the Kangaroos, have represented Australia in senior men's rugby league football competitions since the establishment of the game in Australia in 1908. Administered by the Australian Rugby League Commission, the Kangaroos are ranked first in the IRL Men's World Rankings. The team is the most successful in Rugby League World Cup history, having won the competition 12 times, and contested 15 of the 16 finals, only failing to reach the final in the 1954 inaugural tournament. Only five nations have beaten Australia in test matches, and Australia has an overall win percentage of 69%.
The France national rugby league team represents France in international rugby league matches. They are referred to as les Chanticleers or less commonly as les Tricolores. The team is run under the auspices of the Fédération Française de Rugby à XIII.
Arthur Robert Smith was a Scotland international rugby union player. He played as a Wing.
Abraham Benjamin de Villiers is a South African former international cricketer, and a current commentator. AB de Villiers was named as the ICC ODI Player of the Year three times during his 15-year international career and was one of the five Wisden cricketers of the decade at the end of 2019. He is regarded as one of the greatest cricketers in the history of the sport and as one of the best batsmen of his era. De Villiers began his international career as a wicket-keeper-batsman, but he has played most often solely as a batsman. He batted at various positions in the batting order, but predominantly in the middle-order.
Arthur James Summons was an Australian representative rugby union and rugby league player, a dual-code rugby international fly-half or five-eighth. He captained the Australian national rugby league team in five undefeated test matches from 1962 until 1964 and later also coached the side.
Neil (Niles) de Kock is a retired rugby union footballer who last played at scrum half for Saracens. He has claimed ten caps for South Africa. Before moving to the Guinness Premiership in 2006 he had gained a reputation for hard work and personal integrity from his days in South African rugby, representing Western Province and the Super Rugby franchise the Stormers, having started his professional career at the Griffons.
Tendai Mtawarira is a Zimbabwean-South African retired professional rugby union player who last played for Old Glory DC in Major League Rugby and previously for the South Africa national team and the Sharks in Super Rugby. He was born in Zimbabwe and qualified for South Africa on residency grounds, before later acquiring South African citizenship. Mtawarira, a prop, is known by the nickname Beast.
Derek Turner, also known by the nickname of "Rocky", was an English World Cup winning professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, and coached in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. He played at representative level for Great Britain, England, Yorkshire and Great Britain & France, and at club level for Hull Kingston Rovers, Oldham and Wakefield Trinity (captain), with whom he won three Challenge Cup Finals, as a second-row, or more usually loose forward, and coached at club level for Castleford, Leeds and Wakefield Trinity.
Michiel de Kock Steenkamp, is a South African professional rugby union player whose regular position is a lock. He played for Western Province in the Currie Cup and the Stormers in Super Rugby between 2009 and 2014.
Quinton de Kock is a South African cricketer and former captain of the Proteas in all three formats. He currently plays for South Africa in T20 International, Titans at the domestic level, and Lucknow Super Giants in the Indian Premier League. He was named the Cricketer of the Year at Cricket South Africa's 2017 Annual Awards. Considered as one of the best wicket keeper batsmen of his generation. An opening batsman and wicket-keeper, de Kock made his domestic debut for the Highveld Lions during the 2012/2013 season. He quickly caught the national selectors' eye when he starred in a match-winning partnership with Neil McKenzie in the Champions League T20 against the Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League (IPL)..He also finished fourth on the first-class rankings, despite playing only six of the 10 matches that summer.
De Kock is a Dutch occupational surname meaning "the cook".
Jacobus Johannes de Kock is a South African rugby union player, currently playing with the Golden Lions. His regular position is full-back or fly-half.
The England cricket team toured South Africa from 15 December 2015 to 21 February 2016. The tour consisted of four Test matches, five One Day International and two Twenty20 International matches. England won the Test series 2–1. South Africa won the ODI series 3–2 and the T20I series 2–0.
The South Africa cricket team toured Sri Lanka in July and August 2018 to play two Tests, five One Day Internationals (ODIs) and a Twenty20 International (T20I) match. Originally, the tour was for three Test matches, but the third match was dropped and replaced by the ODI and T20I fixtures. The extra ODI fixtures were used as preparation for the 2019 Cricket World Cup.
The England cricket team toured South Africa from December 2019 to February 2020 to play four Tests, three One Day Internationals (ODIs) and three Twenty20 International (T20I) matches. The Test series formed part of the inaugural 2019–2021 ICC World Test Championship. Cricket South Africa confirmed the fixtures for the tour in May 2019.
