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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 Bledisloe Cup is an annual rugby union competition originally staged between the national teams of Australia's Wallabies and New Zealand's All Blacks that has been contested since the 1930s. The frequency that the competition is held has varied, as has the number of matches played in each tournament, but it currently consists of an annual three-match series, reduced to a two-match series in World Cup years, with two of the matches counting towards The Rugby Championship. New Zealand have had the most success, winning the trophy in 2023 for the 51st time and 21st in succession, while Australia have won the trophy 12 times.
The 1981 South African rugby tour polarised opinions and inspired widespread protests across New Zealand. The controversy also extended to the United States, where the South African rugby team continued their tour after departing New Zealand.
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. Their emblem is a native antelope, the Springbok, which is the national animal of South Africa. The team has been representing 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 number one ranked rugby team in the world and are the reigning World Champions, having won the World Cup on a record four occasions. They are also the second nation to win the World Cup consecutively.
The Australia national rugby union team, nicknamed the Wallabies, is the representative national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of Australia. The team first played at Sydney in 1899, winning their first test match against the touring British Isles team.
New Zealand Rugby (NZR) is the governing body of rugby union in New Zealand. It was founded in 1892 as the New Zealand Rugby Football Union (NZRFU), 12 years after the first provincial unions in New Zealand. In 1949 it became an affiliate to the International Rugby Football Board, now known as World Rugby, the governing body of rugby union for the world. It dropped the word "Football" from its name in 2006. The brand name New Zealand Rugby was adopted in 2013. Officially, it is an incorporated society with the name New Zealand Rugby Union Incorporated.
The Fiji national rugby union team represents Fiji in men's international rugby union. Fiji competed in the Pacific Tri-Nations and now competes in its successor tournament Pacific Nations Cup. Fiji also regularly plays test matches during the June and November test windows. They have beaten the major rugby playing sides of Wales, Scotland, Australia, France, Italy, Argentina and England. The only major sides Fiji are yet to beat are New Zealand, South Africa and Ireland.
The Tonga national rugby union team represents the Tonga Rugby Union in men's international rugby union. The team is nicknamed ʻIkale Tahi . Like their Polynesian neighbours, the Tongans start their matches with a traditional challenge – the Sipi Tau. They are members of the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance (PIRA) along with Fiji and Samoa. The Ikale Tahi achieved a historic 19–14 victory over France in the 2011 Rugby World Cup, but having lost to New Zealand and Canada, were unable to achieve what would have been their first-ever presence at the quarter-finals.
FMG Stadium Waikato is a major sporting and cultural events venue in Hamilton, New Zealand, with a total capacity of 25,800. Four areas contribute to this capacity: The Brian Perry Stand holding 12,000, the WEL Networks Stand holding 8,000, the Goal Line Terrace holding 800 and the Greenzone can hold up to 5,000 people. The capacity can be extended, however, by temporarily adding 5,000 seats to the Goal Line Terrace area. The stadium, owned by the Hamilton City Council, regularly hosts two rugby union teams:
The All Blacks XV is the second national rugby union team of New Zealand, after the All Blacks. New Zealand's second national team has had numerous names in its history: Junior All Blacks, New Zealand XV, New Zealand A, New Zealand B, All Blacks XV.
Rugby union has been played in New Zealand since 1870 and is the most popular sport in the country as well as being its national sport.
Athletic Park was a rugby union ground located in Newtown, a suburb of Wellington, New Zealand. It was owned and operated by the Wellington Rugby Football Union, and was used for Wellington first-class matches, as well as local club matches. It hosted the first New Zealand national rugby union team home test match in 1904, and continued to be used as a regular venue for All Blacks home matches until its closure and demolition in 1999. It was also the primary home ground of the Wellington Hurricanes between 1996 and 1999.
The Heartland XV is one of several New Zealand representative rugby union teams, although it is at a lower level than the All Blacks and the Māori All Blacks. The side is drawn exclusively from players for provincial unions that compete in the Heartland Championship, a nominally amateur domestic competition below the fully professional Mitre 10 Cup.
New Zealand first played against Ireland in 1905, during the 1905–1906 All Blacks tour of Europe and North America, beating Ireland 15–0 at Lansdowne Road, Dublin. The two teams have played 37 test matches, with New Zealand winning 31, Ireland winning 5, and 1 match drawn.
1949 saw the second full tour of South Africa by a representative New Zealand rugby union team. The All Blacks achieved a record of 13 wins, 7 losses and 4 draws, and they lost the test series 4–0.
New Zealand and Argentina have been playing each other in the sport of Rugby Union since 1976.
The Marlborough Nomads was a 19th-century English rugby union club that was notable for being one of the twenty-one founding members of the Rugby Football Union. They also supplied a number of players for the sport's early international fixtures.
The 1960 New Zealand rugby union tour of South Africa, was a series of rugby union matches played by the New Zealand national rugby union team in South Africa and Rhodesia.
The 2008 New Zealand rugby union tour was a series of matches played in Hong Kong, United Kingdom and Ireland in November 2008, by New Zealand national rugby union team.
In July 2022, Ireland played a three-Test series against New Zealand as part of the 2022 mid-year rugby union internationals. Ireland also played two matches against the Māori All Blacks. This was Ireland's first tour since their tour to Australia in 2018, their first tour to New Zealand since 2012, and their first encounter against New Zealand since November 2021.
References
- ↑ Knight, Lindsay. "Bill Currey". New Zealand Rugby Union. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
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