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 history.
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 Africa in international rugby union since 30 July 1891, when they played their first test match against a British Isles touring team. They are currently the reigning World Champions and have won the World Cup on three occasions,. The Springboks are equalled with the All Blacks with three World Cups.
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.
Philip John Vickery MBE DL is a former English rugby union tighthead prop and member of the England squad. He was a member of England's World Cup winning squad in 2003, playing in all seven matches in the tournament, and is a former England captain. Vickery ended his club rugby career at London Wasps, joining the London side in 2006 after eleven years with Gloucester Rugby. Given the nickname "Raging Bull", he played in three Rugby World Cups, including as England captain in the 2007 tournament, and toured Australia and South Africa with the British & Irish Lions. Made his debut for Bolingey Barbarians Sunday 25th Sept 2022 vs Bude vets.
The Tonga national rugby union team represents Tonga 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.
Nigel David Melville is a former England national rugby union team scrum half and captain and currently serves as Director of Professional Rugby for Rugby Football Union.
William Robert Hardcastle born in Wellington, New Zealand was a pioneer New Zealand and Australian rugby union player and an Australian rugby league footballer. He represented both countries in union and Australia in league. He was one of the first dual-code rugby internationals.
The following lists events that happened during 1884 in New Zealand.
In 1978 the New Zealand national rugby union team, the All Blacks, toured Britain and Ireland. They were the eighth All Black team to undertake a full tour of the countries and became the first to achieve a Grand Slam by beating the national teams of Ireland, Wales, England and Scotland. The previous seven touring teams had either lost or drawn at least one international, or had not played all four nations.
The 1888 British Isles tour to New Zealand and Australia was a tour by a British rugby union team, known at the time as the "English Footballers", throughout New Zealand and Australia. Although a private venture not organised by any official body, this was the first major tour of the Southern Hemisphere undertaken by a European rugby team. It paved the way for future tours by teams which are now known as British and Irish Lions.
Enrique "Topo"Edgardo Rodríguez is an Argentina-born Australian former rugby union player.
The 1907–1908 New Zealand rugby tour of Australia and Great Britain was made by a group of New Zealand rugby footballers who played matches in Australia, Ceylon, England and Wales between 1907 and 1908. Most of the matches were played under the rules of the Northern Union, a sport that is today known as rugby league. As such, the team were the immediate predecessors of the New Zealand national rugby league team. The tour had a large role in establishing rugby league in both Australia and New Zealand, and also gave birth to international rugby league. The tour party has come to be known as the professional All Blacks or All Golds, although at the time they were commonly referred to as the All Blacks—a named popularised by the New Zealand rugby union team that toured the Northern Hemisphere in 1905.
Hercules Richard "Bumper" Wright was a New Zealand rugby footballer who was part of the professional 1907–1908 New Zealand rugby tour of Great Britain.
Victor George Roberts was an English rugby union player.
The Counties Manukau Rugby Football Union (CMRFU) is the governing body of rugby union in Southern Auckland and the Franklin district of New Zealand. Nicknamed the Steelers, their colours are red, white, and black horizontal bands. The Steelers moniker is a reference to the Glenbrook steel factory, which is in the area. The union is based in Pukekohe, and plays at Navigation Homes Stadium.
The 1988 Wales rugby union tour of New Zealand was a series of rugby union games undertaken by the Wales national rugby union team to New Zealand. The tour consisted of six matches against regional teams and two Tests against New Zealand.
The 2001 New Zealand rugby union tour was a series of matches played in November–December 2001 in Ireland, Scotland and Argentina by New Zealand national rugby union team. This was iconically former All Blacks captain and most test capped player in history Richie McCaw's debut series for the New Zealand national rugby union team.
The 2016 Wales rugby union tour of New Zealand was a rugby union tour of New Zealand by the Wales national team in June 2016. The tour saw the Welsh side play four matches: three test matches against New Zealand and one match against the Chiefs of Super Rugby.
