The Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament is administered by World Rugby, the sport's international governing body. The winners are awarded the Webb Ellis Cup, named after William Webb Ellis, who according to a popular legend, invented rugby by picking up the ball during a football game.
Sir Edmund Percival Hillary was a New Zealand mountaineer, explorer, and philanthropist. On 29 May 1953, Hillary and Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers confirmed to have reached the summit of Mount Everest. They were part of the ninth British expedition to Everest, led by John Hunt. From 1985 to 1988 he served as New Zealand's High Commissioner to India and Bangladesh and concurrently as Ambassador to Nepal.
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 unmatched international success, the All Blacks have often been regarded as the most successful sports team in human history.
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.
The England national rugby union team represents England in men's international rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. England have won the championship on 29 occasions, winning the Grand Slam 13 times and the Triple Crown 26 times, making them the most successful outright winners in the tournament's history. They are currently the only team from the Northern Hemisphere to win the Rugby World Cup, having won the tournament in 2003, and have been runners-up on three other occasions.
The Baskerville Shield is a trophy awarded to the winner of rugby league test series between England and New Zealand. It named in honour of Albert Henry Baskerville, who organised the first ever tour by New Zealand of Great Britain in 1907.
The Dave Gallaher Trophy is a rugby union trophy contested between France and New Zealand. It is named after Dave Gallaher, the 1905–06 All Black captain who was killed in Belgium during World War I.
The Webb Ellis Cup is the trophy awarded to the winner of the men's Rugby World Cup, the premier competition in men's international rugby union. The Cup is named after William Webb Ellis, who is often credited as being the inventor of rugby football. The trophy is silver gilt and has been presented to the winner of the Rugby World Cup since the first competition in 1987. It has been won three times by New Zealand and South Africa, twice by Australia, and once by England (2003).
The Ella-Mobbs Trophy is a rugby union trophy contested between Australia and England.
The Auckland Rugby Union is a New Zealand provincial rugby union. The union was established in 1883 and was originally responsible for the administration of the sport in most of the former Auckland Province, although its boundaries have since shrunk to include only a portion of the Auckland urban area. The union governs the Auckland representative team, which has won New Zealand's first-tier domestic provincial competition 17 times, more than any other team. Their most recent title was the 2018 Mitre 10 Cup Premiership. The union administers all club rugby within its boundaries, including the Gallaher Shield and other senior club rugby, as well as school rugby. Auckland also acts as a primary feeder to the Blues, who play in the Super Rugby competition.
Sir Stephen William Hansen and High Chief Of Vaiala, is a New Zealand rugby union coach and former player. He is also the father of Black Ferns assistant coach, Whitney Hansen.
The Women's Six Nations Championship, known as the TikTok Women's Six Nations for sponsorship purposes, is an international rugby union competition contested between six European women's national teams. It started in the 1995–96 season as the Home Nations, with four teams: England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
Trevor Allan OAM was an Australian dual-code rugby international who captained Australia in rugby union before switching to rugby league with English club Leigh.
The rivalry between the England and Australia national rugby union teams started on 9 January 1909 at Blackheath's Rectory Field in England, during the 1908–09 Australia rugby union tour of Britain, dubbed the 1st Wallabies. The Wallabies won the match 9–3. The two nations next met in 1928, at Twickenham, during the 1927–28 Waratahs tour of the British Isles, France and Canada and England won 18–11. After the 1939–40 Australia rugby union tour of Britain and Ireland was cancelled due to the outbreak of World War II, twenty years passed before England and Australia next met, again at Twickenham, with Australia winning the 1948 test 11–0. It would then be another decade until the two nations played another test against one another. In 1958, they met again at Twickenham, and England won 9–6.
The National Rugby Union teams of England and New Zealand have been playing each other in Test Match Rugby since 1905, with the first meeting between the two nations being on 2 December 1905, when the All Blacks were in England as part of their European and North America Tour. The All Blacks won 15-0 with their points coming from five tries, of which four were scored by winger Duncan McGregor. Their next meeting was on the All Blacks Invincibles tour of 1924-25. The match was most notable for the sending off of All Black lock Cyril Brownlie, who became the first player to ever be sent off in a test match. In 1936 England defeated the All Blacks for the first time when England winger Prince Alexander Obolensky scored two tries during a 13–0 victory at Twickenham Stadium. The All Blacks have never lost more than two consecutive matches to England, and have dominated the rivalry between the teams. Of the 43 matches between them, New Zealand have won 33 and England 8, with two draws.
Benjamin Gordon Malison Wood was a rugby union footballer who represented Ireland and the British and Irish Lions during the 1950s and early 1960s. He also played for both Garryowen and Munster. His son Keith Wood would later play for the same four teams.
The 2013 end of year rugby tests, also known as the 2013 Autumn internationals in the Northern Hemisphere, were a series of international rugby union matches predominantly played between European sides - England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales, and visiting Southern Hemisphere countries - Argentina, Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, Samoa, South Africa and Tonga.
In June 2014, England played a three test series against New Zealand as part of the 2014 mid-year rugby union tests. They played the All Blacks across the three weeks that the June International window is allocated to; 7 June–21 June, and contested the Hillary Shield, in which England has won once to New Zealand's four. The series was part of the second year of the global rugby calendar established by the International Rugby Board, which runs through to 2019. In addition to the test series, England also played Super Rugby side Crusaders, in a mid-week uncapped match ahead of the third test in Hamilton. They also played the Barbarians at Twickenham, for their annual meeting at the stadium before the tour.
The 2018 end of year rugby union tests, also referred to as the Autumn internationals in the Northern Hemisphere, were a number of rugby union test matches played during October and November, primarily involving countries from the Northern Hemisphere hosting those from the Southern Hemisphere. Also involved in matches are those from second-tier teams. These international games count towards World Rugby's ranking system, with a team typically playing from two to four matches during this period.
The Auld Alliance Trophy is a trophy in rugby union awarded to the winner of the annual Six Nations Championship match between France and Scotland.
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