The 2010 mid-year rugby union tests (also known as the Summer Internationals in the

Northern Hemisphere The Northern Hemisphere is the half of Earth that is north of the Equator. For other planets in the Solar System, north is defined as being in the same celestial hemisphere relative to the invariable plane of the solar system as Earth's Nort ...

) refers to the

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

Internationals that were played from late May to late June, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere. For

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

, the tests constituted preparation for the 2010 Tri Nations. The first nation to announce its fixtures for this series was

, which unveiled its schedule on 21 September 2009. South Africa announced its fixtures on 8 October 2009, but delayed announcing the venues since it simultaneously hosted the

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

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regulations call for

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venues to be handed over to FIFA 15 days before the World Cup starts. FIFA also prohibits any other major sporting events from being held in host cities from 7 days before the opening of the World Cup and until 7 days after its end. An agreement was reached between the South African Rugby Union and the local World Cup organising committee to allow the match against France to be held at SARU's intended venue of

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, a non-World Cup venue in a World Cup city.

Overview

Series

Other tours

Matches

Week 1

* As is typical for Barbarians matches, this was an uncapped match for England.

Week 2

* As is typical for Barbarians matches, this was an uncapped match for Ireland. ---- ----

Week 3

---- * Dan Carter became the fourth player in history to score 1,000 test points, after

Jonny Wilkinson Jonathan Peter Wilkinson, Commander of the Order of the British Empire, CBE (born 25 May 1979) is an English former rugby union player. A Fly-half (rugby union), fly-half, he played for Newcastle Falcons and RC Toulonnais, Toulon and represente ...

Neil Jenkins Neil Jenkins, (born 8 July 1971) is a Welsh former rugby union player and current coach. He played fly-half, centre, or full back for Pontypridd, Cardiff, Celtic Warriors, Wales and the British & Irish Lions. Jenkins is Wales' highest ever ...

and Diego Domínguez. He ended the day in third on the all-time list, surpassing Domínguez. *

Sam Whitelock Samuel Lawrence Whitelock (born 12 October 1988) is a New Zealand rugby union player who plays as a lock for the Crusaders in Super Rugby and Canterbury in the Mitre 10 Cup. Whitelock has captained the Crusaders, and New Zealand in five interna ...

(New Zealand) made his international debut. ---- ---- ---- * Scotland become the first side to defeat Argentina in Tucumán.

Week 4

---- ---- * This was intended to be the last rugby test played at Carisbrook; however, the stadium would host the All Blacks' 2011 World Cup warm-up match against

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

. Carisbrook's replacement,

Forsyth Barr Stadium The Forsyth Barr Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Dunedin, New Zealand. At various stages of development it was also known as Dunedin Stadium or Awatea Street Stadium, or its non-commercial official name during the 2011 Rugby World Cup an ...

, ultimately opened in August 2011. ---- * This was England's first victory in the Southern Hemisphere since the

2003 Rugby World Cup The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup. Originally planned to be hosted by India, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the Indian Rugby Union and Rugby World Cup ...

. ---- ---- * Scotland earn their first series win ever against Argentina.

Week 5

---- * This was referee Jonathan Kaplan's 17th game involving New Zealand, a new refereeing record for games involving any one country. ---- ---- * Springbok captain John Smit became the first rugby player to win 50 tests as captain. * Bryan Habana scored his 38th test try, equalling the South African record of

Joost van der Westhuizen Joost Heystek van der Westhuizen (20 February 1971 – 6 February 2017) was a South African professional rugby union player who made 89 appearances in test matches for the national team, scoring 38 tries. He mostly played as a scrum-half and ...

. ---- * This game was referee Stuart Dickinson's 50th test match. * Argentina score their biggest win ever over France. The Pumas' previous record win over ''Les Bleus'' was their 34–10 win in the third-place game of the

2007 Rugby World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 2 ...

. * Argentina captain Felipe Contepomi became the 18th player in history to amass 500 career test points.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mid-Year

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

2010–11 in European rugby union 2009–10 in European rugby union 2010 in Oceanian rugby union 2010 in South American rugby union 2010 in South African rugby union 2010–11 in Scottish rugby union