In 2019, some

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national teams played matches in preparation for the

2019 Rugby World Cup The 2019 Rugby World Cup () was the ninth edition of the Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's rugby union teams. It was hosted in Japan from 20 September to 2 November in 12 venues all across the country. The opening matc ...

. The matches saw

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

lose first place in the World Rugby Rankings, initially to

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, and eventually to

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

Fixtures

22 June

Notes: * Pablo Miejimolle (Spain) made his international debut. * This was Spain's largest winning margin over Uruguay, surpassing the 17-point difference set in 2016.

13 July

Notes: * Fiji's win ended a 16-match losing streak against the Maori All Blacks, dating back to 1957.

20 July

10 August

Notes: * Mike Haley and Jean Kleyn (both Ireland) and Callum Braley and Marco Riccioni (both Italy) made their international debuts. * Marco Zanon withdrew at the last moment due to injury, being replaced by the

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/ fullback Matteo Minozzi.

11 August

Notes: * Willi Heinz, Lewis Ludlam, Joe Marchant, and Jack Singleton (all England) made their international debuts. * Alun Wyn Jones (Wales) became his country's most-capped player with 135 international appearances; 126 for Wales, 9 for the

British and Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England national rugby union team, England, Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland, Scotland national rugby union team, Scotland, and ...

. * Wales' defeat ended their record 14-match unbeaten streak. * Sam Underhill, Henry Slade and Ruaridh McConnochie were named in England's starting lineup at open-side flanker, outside centre and right wing respectively, but were all ruled out due to injury. Tom Curry moved to open-side as Lewis Ludlam took Curry's place at blind-side, while Jonathan Joseph and Joe Cokanasiga replaced Slade and McConnochie. Courtney Lawes and Manu Tuilagi took Ludlam and Cokanasiga's places on the bench. Tomos Williams was also to start as the replacement scrum half for Wales but was also ruled out. He was replaced by Aled Davies.

12 August

17 August

Notes: * Liam Wright (Australia) made his international debut. * New Zealand retained the Bledisloe Cup. * This was

Steve Hansen Sir Stephen William Hansen and High Chief of Vaiala, (born 7 May 1959) is a New Zealand rugby union coach and former player. He is also the father of Black Ferns assistant coach, Whitney Hansen. He was the head coach of the New Zealand na ...

's 100th test as head coach of New Zealand. ---- Notes: * With this result, Wales became the fourth team to be placed number 1 in the World Rugby Rankings, ending New Zealand's 10-year run at the top dating back to 16 November 2009. * England failed to score in a first half for the first time since their 2011 World Cup quarter-final versus France. * Ruaridh McConnochie was named as England's right wing but was ruled out with injury for the second week running. He was replaced by Anthony Watson. Liam Williams was also ruled out at fullback for Wales and replaced by

Leigh Halfpenny Stephen Leigh Halfpenny (born 22 December 1988) is a Welsh rugby union player who plays as a fullback (rugby union), fullback or wing (rugby union), wing for Harlequin F.C., Harlequins in the Premiership Rugby, English Premiership. Halfpenny is ...

. * Following George North's try, when Dan Biggar took a quick penalty before England's

Ben Youngs Benjamin Ryder Youngs (born 5 September 1989) is a former English professional rugby union player who played as a Scrum-half (rugby union), scrum-half for Premiership Rugby club Leicester Tigers, and is the List of England national rugby union ...

had come on for Willi Heinz, World Rugby changed Law 3 so that play cannot restart until a player who has gone off due a blood or head injury has been temporarily replaced. ---- Notes: * Siyabonga Ntubeni (South Africa) and Santiago Carreras and Lucas Mensa (both Argentina) made their international debuts. * Jerónimo de la Fuente (Argentina) earned his 50th test cap. ---- Notes: * Russia played a Tier 1 nation outside a

Rugby World Cup The Men's Rugby World Cup is a rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams, the winners of which are recognised as the World championship, world champions of the sport. The tournament is administer ...

for the first time since their game against Italy in 2006. Russia most recently played a Tier 1 nation, Australia, during the

2011 Rugby World Cup The 2011 Rugby World Cup, was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The World Rugby, International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japa ...

. ---- Notes: * François Cros, Peato Mauvaka, Alivereti Raka and Emerick Setiano (all France) and Scott Cummings and Rory Hutchinson (both Scotland) made their international debuts.

24 August

---- ---- Notes: * Grant Stewart and Blade Thomson (both Scotland) made their international debuts. * Wesley Fofana was to start at inside centre for France but was ruled out through injury. Gaël Fickou moved to the inside while Sofiane Guitoune came in to the outside. * Nigel Owens was due to assistant referee in this match but was reassigned to referee the England v Ireland game in place of Jaco Peyper who withdrew from his officiating duties in that game due to a delayed flight. Andrew Brace replaced Owens on the touchline. ---- Notes: * England recorded their largest win over Ireland, surpassing the 40 point margin set in 1997. England's 57 points total was their highest score against Ireland, surpassing the 50 points scored in 2000. * Jaco Peyper was the appointed match referee but missed the game due to a delayed flight. Nigel Owens replaced him. ---- ----

27 August

30 August

Notes: * Tommaso Allan (Italy) earned his 50th test cap. ---- ----

31 August

---- ---- Notes: * This was Warren Gatland's last home game in charge of Wales. * Rhys Carré and Owen Lane (both Wales) made their international debuts. * This ended Wales' 11-match home unbeaten run. * With this loss, Wales dropped from number one in the World Rugby Rankings, after only spending two weeks at the top. ---- ---- Notes: * Scotland became the first Tier One nation to play a Test match in Georgia.

6 September

Notes: * Takuya Kitade (Japan) made his international debut. * Pieter-Steph du Toit (South Africa) earned his 50th test cap. * This was the first time that Japan has hosted South Africa. ---- ---- Notes: * Ruaridh McConnochie (England) made his international debut. * This was the first time England had played in

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

and the first home match played away from

Twickenham Twickenham ( ) is a suburban district of London, England, on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historic counties of England, Historically in Middlesex, since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, who ...

since playing

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

City of Manchester Stadium The City of Manchester Stadium, currently known as Etihad Stadium for sponsorship reasons, and commonly shortened as The Etihad, is the home of Premier League club Manchester City F.C., Manchester City, with a domestic football capacity of 53, ...

during the

2015 Rugby World Cup The IRB 2015 Rugby World Cup was the eighth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial rugby union world championship. The tournament was hosted by England from 18 September to 31 October. Of the 20 countries competing in the World Cup in 2011, there was ...

, and the first non-Rugby World Cup game since playing

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

in 2009.

7 September

Notes: * This was

's last home game in charge of New Zealand. *

Josh Ioane Joshua R. Ioane (born 11 July 1995) is a New Zealand rugby union player who plays for Connacht in the United Rugby Championship. His position of choice is fly-half. Early life Born in Auckland, Ioane also has family with the Taito's on his Sa ...

(New Zealand) and Vunipola Fifita and Siua Maile (both Tonga) made their international debuts. * No replacement was brought on for Ryan Crotty. ---- ---- Notes: * Rob Valetini (Australia), Michael Alaalatoa and Scott Malolua (both Samoa) made their international debuts. ---- Notes: * This was the last home game for Rory Best, playing for Ireland. * This was Joe Schmidt's last home game in charge of Ireland. * With this win, Ireland became the fifth team to be placed number 1 on the World Rugby Rankings, replacing New Zealand who had briefly retaken top spot from Wales after Ireland's earlier win against Wales the previous week. ---- ---- ---- ---- Notes: * Blaine Scully (United States) earned his 50th test cap.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:World Cup

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

Warm-up Matches