The 2022 mid-year rugby union internationals (also known as the summer internationals in the

Northern Hemisphere The Northern Hemisphere is the half of Earth that is north of the equator. For other planets in the Solar System, north is defined by humans as being in the same celestial sphere, celestial hemisphere relative to the invariable plane of the Solar ...

) were international

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

matches that were mostly played in the Southern Hemisphere during the July international window. For the first time since

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

all leading Northern Hemisphere teams toured, following a cancelled calendar in 2020 and a largely reversed calendar in 2021.

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

hosted

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 ...

for a first three-test series, Wales travelling to South Africa for the first time since 2014; this was the first three-test series between the two sides. Also playing a first three-test series against their opposition were

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, who played

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 ...

in what was Argentina's first set of home games since 2019.

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 ...

hosted

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 ...

for their first three-test series since 2012. Ireland also played two matches against the

Māori All Blacks The Māori All Blacks, previously called the New Zealand Maori, New Zealand Maoris and New Zealand Natives, are a rugby union team from New Zealand. They are a representative team of the New Zealand Rugby Union, and a prerequisite for playing is ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

travelled to

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

for a two-test series, which was the first official tour of Japan for Les Bleus, having only ever toured as an XV side in 1984. Italy embarked on a tour of Europe, playing away to

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

and

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, teams they had not played outside a competition environment since 2004. It was also Portugal's first match against a Six Nations country since the

2007 Rugby World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup () was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition organised by the International Rugby Board. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by F ...

. Several Tier-2 nations also toured, with

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 ...

travelling to Japan for a two-test series before later hosting

for a two-test series.

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

and

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

travelled to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, with Belgium touring outside a competition for the first time since playing

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

in 2013. With some teams still involved in the 2023 Rugby World Cup qualifying process, typical touring / hosting sides played one-off matches in preparation for their respective Qualification matches;

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

hosted an historic match against Scotland in an uncapped 'A' match,

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

hosted

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

, Italy A played

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

hosted the

French Barbarians The Barbarian Rugby Club, more commonly known as the French Barbarians, is a rugby union team formed in 1979 and based in France. It was founded as an amateur invitational team modeled on the Barbarian F.C. From the start of the 2017–18 sea ...

Series

Tours

Fixtures

4 June

10 June

18/19 June

Notes: * Daichi Akiyama, Shunsuke Asaoka, Koji Iino, Koga Nezuka, Kota Kaishi, Sione Lavemai, Taira Main, Syuhei Takeuchi, Koki Takeyama (all Japan), Santiago Álvarez, Lucas Bianchi, Carlos Deus, Tomás Etcheverry and Emiliano Faccenini (all Uruguay) made their international debuts. ---- Notes: * Alex Dombrandt (England) had been named to start but withdrew ahead of the game due to injury and was replaced by

Callum Chick Callum Chick (born 25 November 1996) is an English professional rugby union player who plays as a Number 8 for Newcastle Falcons in Premiership Rugby. Career Club Chick joined Newcastle Falcons academy at just 12 years old, also playing youth ...

. * This is the Barbarians' biggest winning margin over England, surpassing the 20-point difference set in 2004. *

Will Skelton William Skelton (born 3 May 1992) is an Australian rugby union player, who plays as a lock for La Rochelle in the French Top 14 competition. Skelton was born in Auckland, New Zealand, and he is of Samoan descent; he moved to Australia as a chi ...

became the first player to be red-carded while playing for the Barbarians.

24 June

25 June

Notes: * Yukio Morikawa (Japan) had been named on the bench, but withdrew ahead of the game and was replaced by Shogo Miura. * Lee Seung-sin, Gerhard van den Heever, Sanaila Waqa (all Japan), Bautista Basso and Matías Franco (both Uruguay) made their international debuts. ---- Notes: * This is the first time that these two teams have played each other. * Zimbabwe play a friendly test match in Europe for the first time since 1989, when they played

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Treviso Treviso ( ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 87.322 inhabitants (as of December 2024). Some 3,000 live within the Venetian wall ...

. ---- Notes: * Manfredi Albanese, Giacomo Da Re and Ion Neculai (all Italy) made their international debuts. * This is the first time since 1996 that Portugal has hosted a Tier 1 nation in a full test match. * This was the first time an all-female officiating team was appointed to a men's international, and for a female official to officiate as referee a men's Six Nations team. ---- ---- Notes: * Despite not being a full capped test-match, this was the first time these two teams have played each other. * This is the first time that Chile has hosted a Tier 1 nation (outside of any competition) since hosting a France XV side in 2005.

29 June

1 July

Notes: * Victor Leon (Romania) and Alessandro Garbisi (Italy) made their international debuts. * This was the first time since 2004, the last time Romania hosted Italy, that these two teams have met outside a World Cup* ---- ---- Notes: * Takuya Yamasawa (Japan) had been named to start but was replaced by Lee Seung-sin ahead of the game, who was replaced on the bench by Shane Gates. * Yukio Morikawa, Taichi Takahashi (both Japan), Thomas Jolmès,

Yoan Tanga Yoan Tanga Mangene (born 29 November 1996) is a French professional rugby union player. He plays number eight and centre for Top 14 club La Rochelle La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle'') is a city on the west coast o ...

and

Thomas Lavault Thomas Lavault (born 3 May 1999) is a French professional rugby union player who plays as a lock for Top 14 club La Rochelle and the France national team. Honours ; La Rochelle * 1× European Rugby Champions Cup: 2022 The year be ...

(France) made their international debuts. * This was the first time Japan hosted a test match against France. ---- Notes: *

Leicester Fainga'anuku Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

and

Pita Gus Sowakula Pita Gus Nacagilevu Sowakula (; born 26 October 1994) is a professional rugby union player from Fiji who represents Clermont in the Top 14. His primary position is blindside flanker. He played two test matches for the All Blacks in 2022 and h ...

(both New Zealand) made their international debuts. * Finlay Bealham was originally named on the Ireland bench, but was replaced on match day by Tom O'Toole. ---- Notes: *

Quade Cooper Quade Santini Cooper (born 5 April 1988) is a professional rugby union player and occasional boxing, boxer. Although born in New Zealand, he has represented Australia national rugby union team, Australia in rugby at international level. He curre ...

(Australia) had been named to start but pulled up injured in the warm-up and was replaced by

Noah Lolesio Noah Lolesio () (born 18 December 1999) is an Australians, Australian rugby union player who plays for the Brumbies in Super Rugby, and for the Australia national rugby union team, Wallabies (the Australian national team). His playing position ...

. James O'Connor replaced Lolesio on the bench. * Caderyn Neville,

Dave Porecki David Porecki (born 23 October 1992 in Australia) is an Australian rugby union player who plays for the in Super Rugby and the Australian national team, the wallabies. His playing position is hooker. Rugby career Domestic Porecki made one ...

(both Australia), Henry Arundell and

Jack van Poortvliet Jack Corstiaan van Poortvliet (born 15 May 2001) is an English professional rugby union player who plays as a scrum-half for Premiership Rugby club Leicester Tigers and the England national team. Club career Van Poortvliet was born in Col ...

(both England) made their international debuts. * This was Australia's first win over England since 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 ...

pool stage, breaking an eight-match losing streak to England. ---- Notes: * Elrigh Louw,

Salmaan Moerat Salmaan Moerat (born 6 March 1998) is a South African professional rugby union player who currently plays for the in United Rugby Championship and in the Currie Cup and in the Rugby Challenge. His regular position is lock. Moerat has captai ...

(both South Africa) and

Tommy Reffell Tomas John Reffell (born 27 April 1999) is a Welsh professional rugby union player who plays as a flanker for Premiership Rugby club Leicester Tigers and the Wales national team. Club career Reffell began his junior career at his local clu ...

(Wales) made their international debuts. ---- ---- Notes: * Callum Botchar, Dawson Fatoric, Lindsey Stevens (all Canada), Marius Dehoust, Noé Finfe, Joachim Piérart and Lucas Rassinfosse (all Belgium) made their international debuts. * This was the first time that Canada have hosted Belgium. * This was Canada's largest winning margin over Belgium, surpassing the 31-point difference set in 2010. ---- Notes: *

Tomás Cubelli Tomás Maria Cubelli (born 12 June 1989) is an Argentine professional rugby union player who plays as a scrum-half for Major League Rugby club Miami Sharks and the Argentina national team. Club career Cubelli began his career with Belgrano ...

(Argentina) had been named to start but withdrew ahead of the game and was replaced by Gonzalo Bertranou, who was replaced by Juan Imhoff on the bench. * Joel Sclavi (Argentina) made his international debut. * This was Argentina's first win over Scotland since 2011, and their first home win over the Scots since 2008. * This was Argentina's first home game since they played South Africa in August 2019, nearly 3 years ago (1,057 days since their last home game) ----

9/10 July

Notes: * Max Spring (France) made his international debut. * With this win, and other subsequent results the weekend before, France are ranked number 1 on the

World Rugby Rankings The World Rugby Rankings is a ranking system for national teams in rugby union, managed by World Rugby, the sport's governing body. There are separate men's and women's rankings. The teams of World Rugby's member nations are ranked based on th ...

for the first time. ---- Notes: * Scott Barrett (New Zealand) earned his 50th test cap. * Folau Fakatava and Aidan Ross (both New Zealand) made their international debuts. * This was Ireland's first win over New Zealand on New Zealand soil. * This was New Zealand's first loss at Forsyth Barr Stadium, and their first loss in Dunedin since 2009. * With this loss, and other subsequent results the weekend before, New Zealand dropped to fourth in the World Rugby Rankings, their lowest ranking. ---- Notes: * Jack Willis was originally named among the England substitutes, but pulled out prior to the match due to a rib injury. He was replaced on the bench by Will Joseph. *

Nick Frost Nicholas John Frost (born 28 March 1972) is an English actor, comedian and screenwriter. He has appeared in the '' Three Flavours Cornetto'' trilogy of films, consisting of '' Shaun of the Dead'' (2004), ''Hot Fuzz'' (2007), and '' The World's ...

(Australia), Tommy Freeman, Guy Porter and Will Joseph (England) made their international debuts. ---- Notes: * Kurt-Lee Arendse, Deon Fourie, Ntuthuko Mchunu,

Ruan Nortjé Ruan Nortjé (born 25 July 1998) is a South African professional rugby union who as of 2025 plays for the in the United Rugby Championship and the in the Currie Cup. His regular position is lock. Rugby career Nortjé grew up in Pretoria and ...

, Evan Roos, Grant Williams (all South Africa) and Sam Wainwright (Wales) made their international debuts. * This was Wales' first test victory over South Africa on South African soil. * This loss meant Australia, New Zealand and South Africa all lost at home on the same weekend for the first time. ---- ---- Notes: * Hamish Watson (Scotland) earned his 50th test cap. * Kyle Rowe (Scotland) made his international debut. ---- Notes: * Nika Abuladze (Georgia) made his international debut. * This was Georgia's first win over Italy, and their first over any Tier 1 nation. ---- Notes: * Diego Magno (Uruguay) became the first player from the Americas region to earn 100 test caps. * Gheorghe Gajion and Ștefan Iancu (both Romania) made their international debuts. ---- Notes: * This was Spain's first victory over Canada. * Jack McRogers, Piers von Dadelszen (both Canada), Ekain Imaz and

Ignacio Piñeiro Ignacio Piñeiro Martínez (May 21, 1888 – March 12, 1969) was a Cuban musician, bandleader and composer whose career started in rumba and flowered in the rise of the son. He was one of the most important composers of son music; in total h ...

(both Spain) made their international debuts.

12 July

Notes: * This was Ireland's first win over the Māori All Blacks. * This was the Māori All Blacks first home loss since 2017.

16/17 July

Notes: * New Zealand's Scott Barrett (starting XV) and Aidan Ross had both been named in the team, but withdrew from the team ahead of kick-off.

Akira Ioane Akira Ioane (born 16 June 1995) is a New Zealand rugby union player, who currently plays as a flanker or number 8 for in the Japan Rugby League One competition. He previously played for in New Zealand's National Provincial Championship and ...

replaced Barrett in the starting XV with Tupou Vaa'i joining the bench, whilst Karl Tu'inukuafe replaced Ross. *

Roger Tuivasa-Sheck Roger Tuivasa-Sheck (born 5 June 1993) is a List of dual-code rugby internationals, dual-code rugby international footballer who plays as a er for the New Zealand Warriors in the National Rugby League, and as a for Samoa national rugby league ...

(New Zealand) made his international debut, making him the fourth person to represent New Zealand in rugby union after having previously represented them in

Rugby League Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

. *

Rieko Ioane Rieko Edward Ioane (; born 18 March 1997) is a New Zealand rugby union player who plays as a Centre (rugby union), centre or Wing (rugby union), wing for the Blues (Super Rugby), Blues in Super Rugby and Auckland Rugby Union, Auckland in the Bu ...

(New Zealand) earned his 50th test cap. * Ireland win their first test series in New Zealand. * This is the first time since 1994, and just the fifth in history, that New Zealand have lost a home test series. * This the first time since 1998 that New Zealand have lost back-to-back home test matches. * This is the first time that Ireland have won back-to-back matches against New Zealand. * With this win, Ireland claim top spot in the

for the first time since 2019. ---- Notes: *

Nic White Nicolas William White (born 13 June 1990) is an Australia professional rugby union player who plays as a scrum-half for Super Rugby club Western Force and the Australia national team. Early life White attended St Gregory's College, Cam ...

(Australia) earned his 50th test cap. * Suliasi Vunivalu (Australia) made his international debut. * This was the first test match held at the

Sydney Cricket Ground The Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) is a sports stadium in the Moore Park, New South Wales, Moore Park suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is used for Test cricket, Test, One Day International and Twenty20 cricket, as well as, Australi ...

since Australia hosted Argentina in 1986. * England claim the Ella-Mobbs Trophy (previously the Cook Cup) for the first time. ---- Notes: * Mikheil Babunashvili, Beka Shvangiradze (both Georgia), Martim Belo and Domingos Cabral (both Portugal) made their international debuts. * Alexander Todua (Georgia) earned his 100th test cap, the fourth Georgian player to do so. ---- Notes: *

Taulupe Faletau Tangaki Taulupe Faletau (born 12 November 1990), commonly known as Toby Faletau but professionally as Taulupe Faletau, is a Welsh professional rugby union player for Cardiff Rugby in the United Rugby Championship and has represented the natio ...

was originally named to start for Wales, but pulled out during the warm-up. He was replaced in the starting line-up by Josh Navidi, whose place in the bench was taken by

Taine Basham Taine Owen Basham (born 2 November 1999) is a Welsh professional rugby union player who plays as a flanker for United Rugby Championship club Dragons and the Wales national team. Club career Basham started out at junior level with Talywain ...

. *

Gareth Anscombe Gareth Anscombe (born 10 May 1991) is a rugby union player who plays for Top 14 side Bayonne and the Wales national rugby union team. He primarily plays at fly-half but can also play as a fullback. Anscombe is the son of former Auckland and Uls ...

was originally named on the bench for Wales, but pulled out during the warm-up. His place was taken by Rhys Patchell. *

Eben Etzebeth Eben Etzebeth (born 29 October 1991) is a South African professional rugby union player who currently plays for the Sharks in the United Rugby Championship and the South Africa national rugby team. He made his international debut for the Sprin ...

(South Africa) earned his 100th test cap. *

Bongi Mbonambi Mbongeni Theo Mbonambi (born 7 January 1991), known mononymously as Bongi, is a South African professional rugby union player. He currently plays as a hooker for the as well as the South Africa national rugby team. He previously played for th ...

(South Africa) earned his 50th test cap. *

George North George Philip North (born 13 April 1992) is a professional rugby union player who plays as a centre for Pro D2 club Provence Rugby. Born in England, he grew up in Wales and represented Wales at international level between 2010 and 2024, as we ...

(Wales) earned his 105th test cap, surpassing Stephen Jones' record to become Wales' most capped back. ---- Notes: *

Lautaro Bazán Lautaro Bazán Velez (born 24 February 1996) is an Argentine professional rugby union player who plays as a scrum-half for the Argentina national team and Argentina Sevens. He played for Serie A Elite club Rovigo Delta from 2022 to 2024. H ...

, Ignacio Ruiz (both Argentina), Ollie Smith and Glen Young (both Scotland) made their international debuts. *

Matías Orlando Matías Orlando (born 14 November 1991 in Tucumán) is an Argentine professional rugby union player for Miami Sharks in the Major League Rugby. He plays as a wing and centre. Orlando plays for Miami Sharks in Major League Rugby since 2024. He ...

(Argentina) and Zander Fagerson (Scotland) earned their 50th test caps. * Argentina win a home test series for the first time since beating Ireland 2–0 in

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

. * Argentina win their first three-test series over Scotland, and their first series win against Scotland since their two-test series win in

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

. ---- Notes: * Nicolás Freitas (Uruguay) and Johannes van Heerden (Romania) earned their 50th test caps. * Mihai Mureșan and Gabriel Pop (both Romania) made their international debuts.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mid-Year

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

2022 in rugby union

Series

Tours

Fixtures

4 June

10 June

18/19 June

24 June

25 June

29 June

1 July

9/10 July

12 July

16/17 July

Notes

See also

References