Autumn Internationals 2014

The 2014 Autumn International series saw a slight shift in the balance of power among the top rugby nations. In contrast to previous years, the northern hemisphere teams competed well with their southern hemisphere opponents. A welcome development with Rugby World Cup 2015 on the horizon.

Among matches contested between Tier 1 nations (Six Nations and Rugby Championship teams), there were 6 matches won by northern hemisphere teams and 8 matches won by southern hemisphere teams. If the points in those matches are tallied, the final score was 309-324 in the southern hemisphere's favour, which goes to show how finely-balanced the Autumn International series has become.

Ireland led the way for northern hemisphere teams with impressive wins over South Africa and Australia. England and Wales gained morale-boosting victories over Australia and South Africa, respectively, on the final weekend of the Autumn series. Elsewhere, France beat Australia and Scotland beat Argentina.

The only southern hemisphere team that remained unbeaten throughout the Autumn series was, of course, New Zealand. The All Blacks remain a class above everyone else in all aspects of the game.

Autumn Internationals 2014 Fixtures

Click on the links below to view further details about each match. *All kick-off times in GMT.