A Test match is a historical term used 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 ...

football which has no official use with the sports global governing body – the

International Rugby League The International Rugby League (IRL) is the global governing body for the sport of rugby league football. The IRL organises the Rugby League World Cup, the oldest international rugby World Cup, as well as the Women's Rugby League World Cup, Wom ...

(IRL). The term predates the creation of the IRL, thus every national governing body has slightly varying definitions which has changed throughout history. As such, it is possible for a game to have test status in one nation but not the other. The Rugby Football League (RFL), the governing body in England and first governing body of the sport, currently defines a "Test Match" as "a game of Rugby League Football played between teams representing members of the IRL". The first official test match took place on 1 January 1908 when

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 ...

defeated New Zealand 9–8 at the Aberdare Athletic Ground in Aberdare,

in front of approximately 15,000 fans. The match was the 29th game of the 1907–08 All Golds tour.1907-08 All Golds Tour - Wales vs New Zealand
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Examples of differences in recognition

A notable instance of a different in opinions of the status of past matches is a consequence of the Super League war. The Australian Rugby League does not recognise the games played in 1997 by the Australian Super League side against

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

and

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 ...

. The three sides were representing members of the Super League International Board, the ARL's rival. The five matches, two against New Zealand (the inaugural Anzac Test and an end of season match) and a three test tour of

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

against Great Britain ( Super League Test series) are recognised by the Rugby League International Federation, Rugby Football League and New Zealand Rugby League as tests. There have been calls for the Super League Tests to be included in the ARL's records but ARL Chief Executive Geoff Carr said in 2010, "All historians, and the NRL, agree this is the way it should be treated". ARL historian David Middleton has stated that those players who joined Super League did so in the knowledge that they were forfeiting their chance of representing the established national team.

References

{{International rugby league seasons Rugby league terminology

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 ...

de:Test Match

Examples of differences in recognition

See also

References