The 2010 end of season rugby exams, also known as the Autumn internationals in the northern hemisphere, saw

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 ...

, Australia,

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 Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

in a competitive tour of the northern hemisphere. Test matches were also arranged with the various

Pacific island Collectively called the Pacific Islands, the islands in the Pacific Ocean are further categorized into three major island groups: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Depending on the context, the term ''Pacific Islands'' may refer to one of se ...

teams and other non-Tier 1 international sides. This period also marked the conclusion of the 2011 Rugby World Cup qualifying process, as well as the beginning of the

European Nations Cup European Nations Cup may refer to: *UEFA European Championship, formerly known as European Nations' Cup * Europcar Cup, a European Tour golf tournament * European Nations Cup (golf), a European Ladies Tour golf tournament * European Nations Cup (fi ...

. The series saw

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 ...

play their first Test matches at the

Aviva Stadium Aviva Stadium (also known as Lansdowne Road) is a sports stadium located in Dublin, Ireland, with a capacity for 51,700 spectators (all seated). It is built on the site of the former Lansdowne Road Stadium, which was demolished in 2007, and ...

, which replaces

Lansdowne Road Lansdowne Road Stadium ( ga, Bóthar Lansdún, ) was a stadium in Dublin owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) that was primarily used for rugby union and association football matches. The stadium was demolished in 2007 to make way for ...

as the side's long-term home and ends the temporary arrangement with the

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sports, amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include t ...

which allowed the team to play home matches at Croke Park. The series also marked the first time that two Southern Hemisphere nations simultaneously attempted

Grand Slam tours In rugby union, a Grand Slam (Irish: ''Caithréim Mhór''. Welsh: ''Y Gamp Lawn''. French: ''Grand Chelem'') occurs when one team in the Six Nations Championship (or its Five Nations predecessor) beats all the others during one year's competitio ...

of all four

Home Nations Home Nations is a collective term with one of two meanings depending on context. Politically it means the nations of the constituent countries of the United Kingdom (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales). In sport, if a sport is g ...

, with both New Zealand and South Africa playing all four countries. The Springboks went 3–1 against the Home Nations, losing to

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

, and also lost to the

Barbarians A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by some to be les ...

, but the All Blacks were successful for the fourth time and third since 2005. New Zealand entered the series on a winning streak of 15 Tests. The current record for "Tier 1" nations is 17, which they hold jointly with South Africa; the absolute record is 18, held by Lithuania. New Zealand's streak ended with a 26-24 loss to Australia in their opening game. In all, 24 of the top 25 sides in the

IRB World Rankings The World Rugby Rankings (formerly the IRB Rankings) is a ranking system for national teams in rugby union, managed by World Rugby, the sport's governing body. There are separate men's and women's rankings. The teams of World Rugby's member natio ...

(as of 30 September 2010) played in the end-of-year series.

Matches

---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- * Following the match, Keven Mealamu was cited for headbutting Lewis Moody, an offence that did not draw a card from match referee Romain Poite. Mealamu was originally banned for four weeks, but the ban was reduced on appeal to two weeks. ---- a. Stephen Moore suffered a back spasm minutes before kick-off and was replaced in the starting line-up by Saia Fainga'a, so Fainga'a started the match wearing number 16. Huia Edmonds took Fainga'a's place on the bench and wore number 26. ---- * Victor Matfield drew level with

Percy Montgomery Percival Colin Montgomery OIS (born 15 March 1974) is a South African former professional rugby union player. When he ended his international career in August 2008, he held the all-time records for both caps and points for South Africa's nati ...

and

John Smit John William Smit, OIS, (born 3 April 1978) is a former South African rugby union player and former chief executive officer of the Sharks. He was the 50th captain of the South Africa national team, and led the team to win the 2007 Rugby World C ...

as the most-capped Springboks, with 102. * Morné Steyn's streak of consecutive successful kicks at goal in Tests ended at 41, which is the longest such streak since records on kickers' success were first kept in the late 1980s. ---- ---- ---- ---- * Victor Matfield earned his 103rd cap, becoming the most-capped Springbok. ---- ---- ---- ---- * Two of the All Blacks squad—captain Richie McCaw and Mils Muliaina—drew level with

Sean Fitzpatrick Sean Brian Thomas Fitzpatrick (born 4 June 1963) is a former rugby union player who represented New Zealand, and is widely regarded as one of the finest players ever to come from that country. Early life and family Fitzpatrick was born in Auc ...

as New Zealand's most-capped players, with 92 each. ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- * New Zealand's Richie McCaw and Mils Muliaina earned their 93rd caps, surpassing

as the most-capped All Blacks. ---- ---- * The traditionally uncapped player of the Barbarians' side was Brive's Benoît Cabello. * This match was Jean-Baptiste Élissalde's jubilee, as he came out of retirement for the game after having been named Toulouse's backs coach prior to the start of the 2010–11 season. ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- * With a penalty in the 7th minute, Dan Carter surpassed England's

Jonny Wilkinson Jonathan Peter Wilkinson, CBE (born 25 May 1979) is an English former rugby union player. A fly-half, he played for Newcastle Falcons and Toulon and represented England and the British & Irish Lions. He is particularly known for scoring the w ...

, who sat out the November Tests due to injury, as the leading Test point scorer in history. ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- * There are two uncapped players in the Barbarians' side:

Waikato Chiefs The Chiefs (formerly known as the Waikato Chiefs and officially called the Gallagher Chiefs for sponsorship reasons) are a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Hamilton, Waikato. The team competes in the Super Rugby competition ...

' and New Zealand Māoris' Colin Bourke and Stormers' Anton van Zyl, and five uncapped players in South Africa's side:

Cheetahs The cheetah (''Acinonyx jubatus'') is a large cat native to Africa and central Iran. It is the fastest land animal, estimated to be capable of running at with the fastest reliably recorded speeds being , and as such has evolved specialized ...

' Coenie Oosthuizen,

Lions The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large cat of the genus '' Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphic; adult ...

' Elton Jantjies,

Sharks Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachimorp ...

' Charl McLeod and Andries Strauss and Bulls' Werner Kruger. * The match does not have Test status. ---- ---- ---- * Dana Teagarden was scheduled to become the first woman to serve as referee in a senior men's international 15-man match. She is already the first (and to date only) woman to have refereed in the IRB Sevens World Series. The match was cancelled due to snow.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:End-of-year 2010 2010–11 in European rugby union 2010 in Oceanian rugby union 2010 in North American rugby union 2010 in South American rugby union 2010 in African rugby union

Matches

See also

References