Test match (rugby union): Difference between revisions
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{{Short description|International match in rugby union}} |
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A '''test match''' in [[rugby union]] is an international match, usually played between two senior [[national team]]s, that is recognised as such by at least one of the teams' national governing bodies.<ref name="EspnStats">{{cite web | url = http://www.espnscrum.com/statsguru/rugby/page/79004.html | title = Statistics – What constitutes a Test match? | publisher = espnscrum.com | access-date = 30 June 2013 | last = Farmer | first = Stuart | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130627090625/http://www.espnscrum.com/statsguru/rugby/page/79004.html | archive-date = 27 June 2013 }}</ref><ref name="EspnGlossary">{{cite web | url = http://www.espnscrum.com/scrum/rugby/page/97263.html | title = Rugby Glossary | publisher = espnscrum.com | access-date = 30 June 2013 | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130704153032/http://www.espnscrum.com/scrum/rugby/page/97263.html | archive-date = 4 July 2013 }}</ref> |
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Some teams do not represent a single country but their international games are still considered test matches (for example the [[British and Irish Lions]]). Likewise some countries award caps for games between their full national teams and some invitation teams such as the [[Barbarian F.C.|Barbarians]]. |
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| ⚫ | The first recorded use of the word in relation to sport occurs in 1861<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/sports_talk/1723724.stm |title=Stump The Bearded Wonder No 17 |date= |
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| ⚫ | The first men's international game of rugby football – between [[Scottish Rugby Union|Scotland]] and [[England national rugby union team|England]] – was played at Raeburn Place, [[Edinburgh]], the home ground of [[Edinburgh Academicals]], on 27 March 1871. (This was six years before [[History of Test cricket from 1877 to 1883#The first Test|the first cricket test match]], one year before the [[1872 Scotland v England football match|first association football international]] and 24 years before the first [[Field hockey#History|field hockey international]].) |
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| ⚫ | The first recorded use of the word in relation to sport occurs in 1861<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/sports_talk/1723724.stm |title=Stump The Bearded Wonder No 17 |date=21 December 2001 |publisher=BBC Sport |access-date=30 November 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040318105617/http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/sports_talk/1723724.stm |archive-date=18 March 2004 }}</ref> when it was used, especially by journalists, to designate the most important (but at that stage non-international) games played as part of a [[English cricket team in Australia in 1861–62|cricket tour by an unofficial English team to Australia]] and it is thought to arise<ref name="espncricinfo.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/story/141605.html |title=Missed targets, cheap wickets, and the origin of 'Test' | Cricket Features | Global | ESPN Cricinfo |access-date=2011-04-19 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111223151310/http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/story/141605.html |archive-date=2011-12-23 }} |title=Rowland Bowen - Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development Throughout the World (1970)</ref> from the idea that the matches were a "test of strength and competency" between the sides involved. When official and fully representative Australian and English cricket and rugby teams began touring each other's countries a decade or so later the term gradually began to be applied by journalists exclusively to the international fixtures on each tour, though this was not widespread until well into the 1880s.<ref name="espncricinfo.com"/> |
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==Recognising official test status== |
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| ⚫ | Although both teams' governing bodies do not need to recognise the match as a |
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| ⚫ | Unlike in cricket, whose governing body, the [[International Cricket Council]], tightly controls the application of "test match" status, [[World Rugby]]'s regulations do not define a "test match". They define an "international match" as "a Match played between National Representative Teams selected by Unions".<ref>[https://www.worldrugby.org/handbook?lang=en World Rugby Handbook, 2018]</ref> In rugby union, test match status and [[cap (sport)|caps]] may be awarded by either team's governing body regardless of the decision of their opponents.{{cn|date=May 2018}} |
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| ⚫ | Although both teams' governing bodies do not need to recognise the match as a test match for caps to be awarded, it is rare that they should disagree. The only existing example remaining in men's rugby involving two top-tier nations concerns games played by the [[New South Wales Waratahs]] against the [[New Zealand national rugby union team|New Zealand All Blacks]] in the 1920s. As there was very little rugby union played in [[Australia]] outside of [[New South Wales]], the [[Australian Rugby Union]] retroactively awarded caps to the players from the 1920s Waratahs that played against the All Blacks, however the [[New Zealand Rugby Union]] has not done the same for All Blacks that played in those matches.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lassen.co.nz/pickandgo.php?teama=NSW&teamb=NZL|title=pick and go - Rugby Union Test & Super14 results and statistics|website=www.lassen.co.nz|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720095253/http://www.lassen.co.nz/pickandgo.php?teama=NSW&teamb=NZL|archive-date=2011-07-20}}</ref> |
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Differences in recognition now almost always involve matches between the senior national team of a nation outside the traditional top tier and an official developmental side of a top-tier nation.{{cn|date=May 2018}} Depending on the policy of the lower-tier union, these matches may or may not be fully capped for that national team. For example, before a change in policy by [[USA Rugby]] after the [[2008 Churchill Cup]],{{cn|date=May 2018}} it awarded full national caps when [[United States national rugby union team|its senior national team]] played developmental sides, such as [[England Saxons]], [[Ireland Wolfhounds]], [[Scotland A national rugby union team|Scotland A]], [[Argentina Jaguars national rugby union team|Argentina A]] and the [[Junior All Blacks]]. |
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Nor is the situation confined to history. Some countries - particularly England and France, but also occasionally other major nations - continue to this day to award caps based on the strength of the side they have selected, rather than make-up of the opposition or of the status of the tournament entered.<ref>http://www.ffr.fr For example, not all games in France's official international match lists are included in their test match cap listings</ref> As recently as December 2008, a game between England and an Irish President's XV was recorded as a "test match" by [[Rugby Football Union for Women|RFUW]] even though their hosts and opponents insist that this was not the case.<ref>IRFU confirmed that the game was not an international "the [Irish] team was an Irish President’s Selection and no caps were awarded" (Email from Barry Cunningham, IRFU, 2.3.2009)</ref> A similar difference of interpretation applies to a two match series between USA and Canada in 2007 when in games previously advertised as internationals the USA decided to field only development XVs. Canada count these games as test matches, the USA do not.<ref>http://www.usarugby.org/#cc%3D%5BApplication%5D%5C%5CStructure%5C%5CContent%5C%5CBrand%20Resource%20Center%5C%5CContent%5C%5CHome%5C%5C20907F3F-1296-67BD-B97F-842B448A46E7%5C%5C20907F3F-129A-A100-52BC-A23E8A9678E6%5C%5C20907F3F-129A-D6C5-BEF3-E4CB3EED983F%7B%7BTab%3AView%7D%7D</ref> Overall the status of perhaps 5% of women's test matches is unclear.<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women's_international_rugby_union</ref> |
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| ⚫ | However, in [[Women's international rugby union|women's rugby]] matters are less clear. The first women's "test" took place in 1982 between the Netherlands and France, but the sport was not widely accepted or recognised by many existing national Unions or the International Rugby Board for many years, nor had it attracted significant media interest. Some unions do not officially recognise any tests played before they became responsible for the women's game – for example the French Union (FFR) does not list any games before 1989,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ffr.fr/index.php/ffr/equipes_de_france/france_feminine/tous_les_matchs |title=Retrouvez le palmarès de l'équipe de France depuis l'intégration à la FFR en juillet 1989 |publisher=Fédération Française de Rugby |language=fr |access-date=30 November 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101005161808/http://www.ffr.fr/index.php/ffr/equipes_de_france/france_feminine/tous_les_matchs |archive-date=5 October 2010 }}</ref> and the IRB did not (until recently) recognise the first two women's World Cups.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rwcwomens.com/history/index.html |title=Womens RWC - Past RWC Women's Tournaments |access-date=2011-08-05 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110903054707/http://www.rwcwomens.com/history/index.html |archive-date=2011-09-03 }}</ref> |
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== See also == |
== See also == |
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*[[History of rugby union# |
* [[History of rugby union#First international game|History of rugby union: First international game]] |
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*[[List of rugby union terms]] |
* [[List of rugby union terms]] |
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*[[Women's international rugby union]] |
* [[Women's international rugby union]] |
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==Notes== |
==Notes== |
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Test Match (Rugby Union)}} |
{{DEFAULTSORT:Test Match (Rugby Union)}} |
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[[Category:Rugby union terminology]] |
[[Category:Rugby union terminology]] |
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[[Category:Test matches|rugby union]] |
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Latest revision as of 03:31, 12 May 2024
A test match in rugby union is an international match, usually played between two senior national teams, that is recognised as such by at least one of the teams' national governing bodies.[1][2]
Some teams do not represent a single country but their international games are still considered test matches (for example the British and Irish Lions). Likewise some countries award caps for games between their full national teams and some invitation teams such as the Barbarians.
History
[edit]The first men's international game of rugby football – between Scotland and England – was played at Raeburn Place, Edinburgh, the home ground of Edinburgh Academicals, on 27 March 1871. (This was six years before the first cricket test match, one year before the first association football international and 24 years before the first field hockey international.)
The first recorded use of the word in relation to sport occurs in 1861[3] when it was used, especially by journalists, to designate the most important (but at that stage non-international) games played as part of a cricket tour by an unofficial English team to Australia and it is thought to arise[4] from the idea that the matches were a "test of strength and competency" between the sides involved. When official and fully representative Australian and English cricket and rugby teams began touring each other's countries a decade or so later the term gradually began to be applied by journalists exclusively to the international fixtures on each tour, though this was not widespread until well into the 1880s.[4]
Recognising official test status
[edit]Unlike in cricket, whose governing body, the International Cricket Council, tightly controls the application of "test match" status, World Rugby's regulations do not define a "test match". They define an "international match" as "a Match played between National Representative Teams selected by Unions".[5] In rugby union, test match status and caps may be awarded by either team's governing body regardless of the decision of their opponents.[citation needed]
Although both teams' governing bodies do not need to recognise the match as a test match for caps to be awarded, it is rare that they should disagree. The only existing example remaining in men's rugby involving two top-tier nations concerns games played by the New South Wales Waratahs against the New Zealand All Blacks in the 1920s. As there was very little rugby union played in Australia outside of New South Wales, the Australian Rugby Union retroactively awarded caps to the players from the 1920s Waratahs that played against the All Blacks, however the New Zealand Rugby Union has not done the same for All Blacks that played in those matches.[6]
Differences in recognition now almost always involve matches between the senior national team of a nation outside the traditional top tier and an official developmental side of a top-tier nation.[citation needed] Depending on the policy of the lower-tier union, these matches may or may not be fully capped for that national team. For example, before a change in policy by USA Rugby after the 2008 Churchill Cup,[citation needed] it awarded full national caps when its senior national team played developmental sides, such as England Saxons, Ireland Wolfhounds, Scotland A, Argentina A and the Junior All Blacks.
However, in women's rugby matters are less clear. The first women's "test" took place in 1982 between the Netherlands and France, but the sport was not widely accepted or recognised by many existing national Unions or the International Rugby Board for many years, nor had it attracted significant media interest. Some unions do not officially recognise any tests played before they became responsible for the women's game – for example the French Union (FFR) does not list any games before 1989,[7] and the IRB did not (until recently) recognise the first two women's World Cups.[8]
See also
[edit]- History of rugby union: First international game
- List of rugby union terms
- Women's international rugby union
Notes
[edit]- ^ Farmer, Stuart. "Statistics – What constitutes a Test match?". espnscrum.com. Archived from the original on 27 June 2013. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
- ^ "Rugby Glossary". espnscrum.com. Archived from the original on 4 July 2013. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
- ^ "Stump The Bearded Wonder No 17". BBC Sport. 21 December 2001. Archived from the original on 18 March 2004. Retrieved 30 November 2010.
- ^ a b "Missed targets, cheap wickets, and the origin of 'Test' | Cricket Features | Global | ESPN Cricinfo". Archived from the original on 2011-12-23. Retrieved 2011-04-19. |title=Rowland Bowen - Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development Throughout the World (1970)
- ^ World Rugby Handbook, 2018
- ^ "pick and go - Rugby Union Test & Super14 results and statistics". www.lassen.co.nz. Archived from the original on 2011-07-20.
- ^ "Retrouvez le palmarès de l'équipe de France depuis l'intégration à la FFR en juillet 1989" (in French). Fédération Française de Rugby. Archived from the original on 5 October 2010. Retrieved 30 November 2010.
- ^ "Womens RWC - Past RWC Women's Tournaments". Archived from the original on 2011-09-03. Retrieved 2011-08-05.