International Test Match Comparison : All Blacks vs Kiwis

How many international test matches were played by the two oval ball codes in NZ? Rugby Union puts much greater emphasis on internationals so obviously the AB's will have played more. Looking at the data going back to the 1960's in decade blocks is how I did it below. The 2020's are for five years so that number is lower as it is half of the other periods.

In the 1960's there was virtually no difference. From there, the RU side grew quickly while the RL side of things was very even. By the 2010's, it was favouring the AB's by nearly 3 to 1. The data surprised me in the early stages as I didn't think it would be that close. The later years were more of what I expected throughout. I didn't realise how much RU had escalated its test programme. The 2020's Kiwi test matches played figure will surely improve.  

As an aside, I decided to also consider success rates. The AB's have a huge reputation here. They play many tests against the Australian Wallabies and the Kiwis also play the Australian Kangaroos often. NZ's strength is RU and Australia's RL so the black columns below were always going to be ahead of the red ones. The exception is the 2020's but it's too early in the decade to draw too much from that. 

Summary: The All Blacks have increased their international calendar with the Kiwis have maintained an even flow. Not surprising with so much emphasis on club RL, which doesn't easily allow for an expanded international programme in RL. That and indifference toward tests on the part of Australian RL officials. 

Others in the series are as follows. Simply click on the country name to go there: Australia, England, France.

International Test Match Comparison : England RU vs England/GB RL

How many international test matches were played by the two oval ball codes in England? Rugby Union puts much greater emphasis on internationals so obviously the RU team will have played more. Looking at the data going back to the 1960's in decade blocks is how I did it. The 2020's are for five years so that number is lower being half of the others. 

One issue is that there have also been GB sides as well. England still played matches each year despite there being GB Lions tours. In addition, the other nations contributing players have done so in large numbers. So the GB RU team is not very English and therefore not counted below.  

In RL, it is different. GB played instead of England and the GB side was overwhelmingly made up of players from England. More recently, GB has been phased out and England is playing as a nation. For those reasons, GB results are counted with England ones below. 

All games against another nation are counted, even if a few may not have been given test match status. Maybe they all were. The noticeable trend as will all RU / RL international match comparisons is how RU has pushed them as time has passed, RL hasn't. Greater emphasis on club competitions in RL is the reason. GB/England played more international games in the 1960's and 70's but by the 2020's it is massively favouring RU and the gap is still widening.

Union is red, league blue.

When looking at win rates, overall there isn't much in it. RU had a very poor two decades to start with but then little difference between them until the latest period. The RL percentage is based on how often they play Australia and to a lesser extent the Kiwis. That has lifted England's success rate in recent times but with the Kangaroos touring in 2025, we can expect the '20' figure to drop.  

Others in the series are as follows. Simply click on the country name to go there: Australia, France, New Zealand.

Is International RL Quality Improving?

When RL held its first World Cup, GB, France, NZ and Australia were the attendees. Perhaps other countries could have been included back then but either due to cost or lack of a competitive standard that didn't happen. So for many years, international RL was about four countries. 

In 1995 the WC went to ten countries and since then some effort went into trying to expand the international game. The problem was the top three countries were lifting their standard and while France fell behind, other aspiring countries were not breaking into the elite circle. To be competitive, players have to participate in one of the three professional leagues, Australia, England and France. So how were the two hemispheres evolving internationally? 

Northern: GB became England and with English players of some ancestry in other UK nations choosing to play for them, there was a reasonable pool of competitive countries. England was above the others but France, Ireland, Scotland and Wales had a decent standard.   

Efforts were made to assist countries. Italy and Lebanon would draw on Australians who qualified when a World Cup came around. North America has tried too. However, apart from England and France, the other nations have not developed strong domestic competitions and in many cases have slipped backwards in recent times. France has also struggled domestically in recent times leaving England the sole strong Northern nation. 

Southern: The game Down Under was dominated by Australia with NZ occasionally causing an upset. PNG is mad about the game but struggled to translate that into becoming top tier nation with a domestic competition not of a high enough standard.  

Pacific Islanders moving to NZ and more recently Australia have taken to the game. However, the best of these players were picked by the top two countries and the Pacific nations couldn't compete. 

Something changed a few years back when players of Pacific heritage started to play for the island nation their parents emigrated from. This slightly weakened Australia and NZ but massively improved the Pacific countries. Now there are several Pacific nations that are competitive.

Summary. There are currently about eleven countries that are of a reasonable international standard, with heritage players supporting most of these. The imbalance is the Northern Hemisphere provides just four of them and two only for World Cups. England looks south for competition as the gap widens with France.

So on the one hand the international game is in better shape than it has ever been but it's basically a Pacific region success story. It seems the game cannot expand on that situation so internationally this is as good as it gets.