2019 officially busiest year for test rugby

16 test matches are scheduled next month which, in addition to the 59 tests already played, making 75 tests in all which will mean that 2019 will be the busiest ever year for test rugby, outside of World Cup years, and the third busiest overall. Only the World Cup years of 2006 and 2010 (79 and 76 tests respectively) have seen more test matches played in a single calendar year.

In addition, 35 different nations will have fielded test teams this year (including two debutants), which is a record for any year.

This is a remarkable turnaround for women’s test rugby which reached a nadir of a mere 35 tests (played by 19 nations) as recently as 2015.

One small factor that has helped the growth is that the fashion for not applying for tests status for international games appears seems to have changed as the official World Rugby Test Rankings start to be used more often when deciding the rankings and even participation of teams in key tournaments. In 2017 a quarter of all women’s XVs internationals (outside of that year’s World Cup) - 12 out of 48 – were declared to be “uncapped internationals”. This year only three out of the year’s 77 international XVs games were uncapped.

The launch of official test championships in Africa and (next year) South America has pulled nations back into the test fold. As a result, in addition to Madagascar and Colombia playing their first ever tests, we have seen nations such as Brazil, China, Sweden, Zimbabwe and Zambia return to test rugby after, in some cases, a decade away.

The 15 test matches taking place this month are:

2/11/2019 Spain v Wales (Estadio Nacional Complutense, Madrid)2/11/2019 Sweden v Finland (Malmö)*9/11/2019 France v England (Clermont Ferrand)9/11/2019 Czechia v Switzerland (Brno)*10/11/2019 Ireland v Wales (UCD Bowl, Dublin)16/11/2019 England v France (Exeter)16/11/2019 Italy v Japan (Stadio Tommaso Fattori, L'Aquila)16/11/2019 Czechia v Sweden (Prague)*17/11/2019 Scotland v Wales (Scotstoun)20/11/2019 United States v Canada (Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center)23/11/2019 England v Italy (Bedford)23/11/2019 Switzerland v Finland (Yverdon)*24/11/2019 Scotland v Japan (Scotstoun)24/11/2019 United States v Canada (Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center)26/11/2019 Netherlands v Hong Kong (Amsterdam)30/11/2019 Netherlands v Hong Kong (Amsterdam)*European Championship

More information including referee appointments

Largest number of tests in a calendar year:2006: 792010: 762019: 752014: 702008 & 2017: 66Largest number of teams playing test rugby in a calendar year:2019: 352011: 322008 & 2009: 312006: 30