The 2013 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 ...

) were international

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 ...

matches that were played in June 2013, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere. These matches were played in the second year of the global rugby calendar established by the

International Rugby Board World Rugby is the world governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international rug ...

(IRB), which will run until 2019. They included tests between Northern Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere nations, whilst some of the touring teams played mid-week matches against provincial or regional sides. The international window coincided with the

2013 British & Irish Lions tour to Australia The 2013 British & Irish Lions tour to Australia was a rugby union tour during June and July 2013. The British & Irish Lions played ten matches - a three-test series against Australia, and matches against the five Australian Super Rugby sides, a ...

, consisting of a three-test series between the Lions and

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 ...

, plus seven non-test matches.

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 ...

hosted a quadrangular tournament, with

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

and

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

toured

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 ...

, playing a three-test series and a mid-week match against the

Blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

played a two-test series against

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, after a warm-up match against

South American XV The South American XV (sometimes known as CONSUR XV and formerly as South American Jaguars) is a rugby union team made up from the national rugby sides in the Sudamérica Rugby (formerly CONSUR) rugby federation. The squad was first formed i ...

, made up of players from Argentina,

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

and

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

. Like in 2012, the new global calendar provided expanded Test opportunities for Tier 2 nations.

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

hosted a two-test tour by

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

, their first home matches against a Tier 1 side since their defeat against Italy in

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

visited North America, playing one test each against

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

played

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

for the first time on home soil, and for the first time outside the

Rugby World Cup 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 E ...

Overview

Note: * The South African Quadrangular Tournament was a tournament that consisted of hosts South Africa and three visiting nations; Italy, Scotland and Tier 2 nation Samoa. South Africa beat Samoa in the final.

Other tours

Matches

26 May–2 June

---- ----

8 June

Notes: * Dan Baker, Dafydd Howells, James King,

Rhys Patchell Rhys Patchell (born 17 May 1993) is a Wales international rugby union player. A fly-half, he plays for Scarlets having previously played for Cardiff Blues. Early life Educated at Ysgol Gymraeg Melin Gruffydd and at Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Glantaf. ...

, Emyr Phillips,

Andries Pretorius Andries Wilhelmus Jacobus Pretorius (27 November 179823 July 1853) was a leader of the Boers who was instrumental in the creation of the South African Republic, as well as the earlier but short-lived Natalia Republic, in present-day South Africa ...

and Owen Williams (all Wales) made their international debuts. ---- ---- ---- Notes: *This match set a record attendance for a United States home game.

11–15 June

---- Notes: * This match was to mark Fiji's centennial celebrations (the

Fiji Rugby Union Fiji Rugby Union (FRU) is the governing body for the sport of rugby union in Fiji. It is divided into over 30 provincial unions. The Fiji Rugby Union is a member of the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance (PIRA), along with Samoa and Tonga. There are a ...

was established in 1913). * This was a full capped test match for Fiji. ---- Notes: * This was Japan's first ever victory over Wales. ---- Notes: * This was the 500 test match for the All Blacks in 110 years * Captaining the All Blacks for the third time,

Kieran Read Kieran James Read (born 26 October 1985) is a New Zealand former rugby union player. He played as a number 8 and is a former captain of the New Zealand national team, the All Blacks. Read played for New Zealand from 2008 to 2019. He is one of ...

earned his 50th cap in this match. * This was the first time France has failed to score against the All Blacks. ---- Notes: * Winger Christian Wade was named in the starting XV, but was withdrawn following a

British & Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...

call-up * First test series win for England in Argentina since 1981 ---- Notes: *This match set a record attendance for a rugby match on Canadian soil.

22 June

---- ----

29 June

6 July

South African quadrangular tournament

On 6 December 2012, the SARU announced that South Africa would host Samoa, Italy and Scotland in a four-team tournament. The hosts and Samoa each played Italy and Scotland in a league format. On June 22, the top two teams, South Africa and Samoa, played to determine first and second place, and the bottom two, Scotland and Italy, played for third and fourth place.

Matches

Notes: * Prop Ryan Grant was originally selected at loosehead prop, but was replaced following a call-up for the

. * This was Samoa's first victory over Scotland. ---- ---- ---- Notes: *

Siya Kolisi Siyamthanda Kolisi (born 16 June 1991) is a South African professional rugby union player who currently captains the South Africa national team and also the Cell C Sharks. He plays club rugby for the in the Currie Cup. He generally plays as a ...

(South Africa) made his international debut. ---- Third-place play-off ---- Final

References

External links

2013 mid-year rugby union tests at ESPN

England's South America Tour

Official Lions website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mid-Year

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

2012–13 in European rugby union 2012–13 in Japanese rugby union 2013 in Oceanian rugby union 2013 in North American rugby union 2013 in South American rugby union 2013 in South African rugby union

Overview

Other tours

Matches

26 May–2 June

8 June

11–15 June

22 June

29 June

6 July

South African quadrangular tournament

Matches

See also

References

External links