The 2014 end-of-year rugby tests, also known as the 2014 autumn internationals in the Northern Hemisphere, were international rugby union matches predominantly played between visiting Southern Hemisphere countries and European nations.
Within the window, the three Pacific Island teams faced Tier 1 opposition, when Wales and France hosted Fiji, and England and Italy hosted Samoa. At the time, Italy entered the Samoa test on the back of nine consecutive losses and a 15–0 loss to Samoa in Apia in June 2014. Scotland became the first Tier 1 nation to play a Test match on a fully artificial pitch when they hosted Tonga at Rugby Park, Kilmarnock, winning 37–12.
Georgia had a rare opportunity to play a Tier 1 nation in Ireland, who played The Lelos for the first time since their Pool D fixture in the 2007 Rugby World Cup. Ireland became the first Tier 1 nation to play Georgia since Argentina in June 2013, and the first Six Nations team to host a European Nations Cup team since Scotland's 48–6 win over Romania during the 2006 Autumn Internationals.
The United States played host to New Zealand for the first time since 1980, though that was not an official test match. Therefore, this was the first official test match between the two in America since 1913, when the All Blacks were 51–3 victors, and the last meeting between the two nations took place during the 1991 Rugby World Cup. The All Blacks won the game 74–6 in front of a sell-out crowd at Soldier Field.
History was made in Hong Kong, when a first-ever meeting between Hong Kong and Russia took place, and in Windhoek with a first-ever meeting between Germany and Namibia on Namibian soil.
Argentina visited Scotland, Italy and France, as they tried to build upon their first Rugby Championship win. Australia traveled to Wales, Ireland, England and France, who they had beaten 3–0 in their 2014 June Test series. New Zealand played Scotland, Wales and England, who had lost 3–0 to the All Blacks in their June Test series, while South Africa competed against Ireland, England, Wales and Italy.
Following a reduced 2014 IRB Pacific Nations Cup, the IRB organized[citation needed] matches between the Pacific island countries and North American teams at neutral venues in Europe; Tonga and Fiji played the United States, while Samoa played Canada. In addition to those, Romania hosted both Canada and the United States, while Romania and Georgia hosted Japan. Georgia also hosted Tonga for just their third meeting, the first since 1999.
Following the qualification of Namibia for the 2015 Rugby World Cup, an IRB–funded tour allowed Namibia to test themselves against higher ranked opposition; they played Canada in Colwyn Bay and Portugal in Lisbon. In preparation for a big year in Brazilian sport ahead of the introduction of Rugby sevens into the Olympic Games, Brazil hosted Uruguay and Paraguay to broaden their depth in the sport[citation needed] before their automatic participation in the 2016 competition.
Like in recent seasons, New Zealand and Australia played the third and final Bledisloe Cup Test match for the year, with New Zealand winning 29–28 with a last-minute try.
The attendance for this match more than tripled the previous record crowd for an international rugby match in the U.S. of 20,181, set in June 2013 when the USA hosted Ireland at BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston. Soldier Field, with a 61,500 capacity, was sold out a week before the match.[11]
The score was a record for the All Blacks against the US, surpassing their 51–3 victory in 1913.[12]
Augustine Pulu made his international debut for New Zealand.
Tim Stanfill made his international debut for the United States.
This fixture was originally scheduled for 15 November 15:00 CET kick off. But the match was brought forward by the FIR because of the bad weather expected to hit the region.[35]
With this loss, England lose their fifth consecutive match, their worst run of defeats since their 7 consecutive losses in 2006 - although four of the five were against world champions New Zealand.
New Zealand Captain Richie McCaw, captained his side for the 100th time. Coincidentally his first match as captain, was against Wales at the Millennium Stadium during the 2004 end-of-year tests.
