The greatest showpiece in rugby union is just 12 months away and the Home Nations continue their preparations this November as they face the might of the Southern Hemisphere in the 2014 Autumn Internationals, live on BBC Sport and Sky Sports.
As the countdown continues to the Rugby World Cup , next year’s hosts England, along with Wales, Scotland and Ireland, will look to make their mark against the elite nations of world rugby such as New Zealand, Australia and South Africa, in the final set of Autumn Internationals before England 2015.
Fans are in for a treat this autumn with four consecutive weekends of international rugby to enjoy throughout November as the world’s heavyweights size each other up ahead of next year’s tournament in England.
Stuart Lancaster’s team will get the opportunity this autumn to measure themselves against all three Southern Hemisphere giants as they build towards their home World Cup, kicking off with the mouth-watering match-up against New Zealand on November 8, exclusively live on Sky Sports.
England’s head coach has claimed that 80-per-cent of his England squad for next year’s Rugby World Cup has been settled, but that still leaves room for players to force their way in with less than a year to go.
Putting in an impressive performance against the All Blacks, the reigning world champions, as well as fellow international rugby union power-houses in the Wallabies and the Springboks, as well as passionate Pacific islanders Samoa, certainly won’t hurt anybody’s chances.
The BBC will focus on Wales and Scotland’s exploits this autumn as both nations look to make significant progress in their preparations for next year’s World Cup.
As well as England, Warren Gatland’s Welsh side will also face all three Southern Hemisphere giants this autumn, starting on the opening weekend against Australia and culminating with the South Africans, with the All Blacks and the Pumas of Argentina sandwiched in between.
Scotland’s meeting against New Zealand on November will undoubtedly be the highlight of the series, as Vern Cotter’s side attempt to register their first win against the mighty All Blacks.
For the first time in 2014, Ireland’s Autumn Internationals will be televised exclusively live on Sky Sports, with the broadcaster having gained the rights from the BBC in a deal signed in signed in early 2013.
South Africa and Australia will provide the strongest opposition to the Irish this autumn, with a fixture against the emerging Georgia sandwiched between the two meetings against the Southern Hemisphere giants.
After ending last season’s autumn fixtures with a heart-breaking last-gasp defeat to the All Blacks, coach Joe Schmidt enters this year’s autumn fixtures with somewhat of an injury crisis on his hands with key players including Leinster prop Marty Moore recently joining Sean O’Brien, Cian Healy and Fergus McFadden on the treatment table, while the talismanic Brian O’Driscoll has since retired from the sport.
As well as the home nations, France and Italy will also undergo severe tests in their World Cup preparations against the best from the Southern Hemisphere, with all their autumn matches also live on Sky Sports.
When France beat England in the first round of matches at the Six Nations, it looked like they might be in for a good year, but it all went downhill from there as they lost to Wales and Ireland and eventually finished fourth in the table.
Their summer tour of Australia was not fruitful either as they succumbed to two heavy defeats, but there was one positive performance as they battled in the second Test and only lost 6-0.
The Italians have a very tough World Cup pool as they are set to battle with France and Ireland for a place in the quarter-finals. Jacques Brunel’s side were well off the pace in the Six Nations as they were awarded the wooden spoon, although a spirited display against Scotland will have given them some encouragement.
Find out whether the Home Nations can pull off an upset or two against the elite of the Southern Hemisphere nations in this year’s end-of-season internationals and you can follow their progress this November across the BBC and Sky Sports.
Full details of when and where to watch the 2014 autumn rugby union internationals on BBC TV and Sky Sports can be found below.
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| SATURDAY 29th NOVEMBER |
ENGLAND v AUSTRALIATwickenham |
14:30 |
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England fans expect victory against Australia on Saturday as the home side look to end their autumn series with a confidence boost ahead of bumper 2015 of international rugby.
Stuart Lancaster’s side will be desperate to issue a statement of intent against the Wallabies, one of their opponents in next year’s World Cup pool stages.
Twickenham will host that crucial Pool A clash next October and the home faithful will be willing England to round off their autumn international campaign in style.
England secured their first win of the autumn last weekend as they saw off Samoa under the floodlights at Twickenham with a solid, if unspectacular 28-9 victory, and another sell-out HQ crowd will be hoping for an improved performance against the Wallabies to round off a stuttering autumn campaign.
Sky Sports will screen all four of England’s autumn internationals exclusively live on TV and onlina via Sky Go, all hosted by Alex Payne and the team from Twickenham.
Joining Payne at Twickenham for expert analysis and comment will be Sky Sports regulars Will Greenwood, Michael Lynagh and Sean Fitzpatrick, alongside England’s 2003 Rugby World Cup-winning coach Sir Clive Woodward and Sky’s new star-signing Jonny Wilkinson.
Match commentary comes from Miles Harrison and Stuart Barnes, while pitchside reports and interviews come from Graham Simmons.
Free-to-air highlights of each of England’s autumn tests will be shown by the BBC, first airing on BBC Three just a few hours after the final whistle (except for the Samoa match) and repeated on Sunday afternoons on BBC Two.
Gabby Logan will present BBC TV’s highlights of England’s encounter against Australia, with commentary from Andrew Cotter and Brian Moore, while 2003 World Cup winner Mike Tindall provides expert analysis.
WALES v SOUTH AFRICAMillennium Stadium |
14:30 |
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Warren Gatland’s Wales will be looking to bounce back from defeat to the All Blacks last weekend by ending their autumn series with victory against South Africa.
The home side can take some heart from their 34-16 defeat against New Zealand ahead of Saturday’s clash with the Springboks, with Wales having led 16-15 after 69 minutes, before the All Blacks put the game beyond Wales with a flurry of late tries.
But it was yet another defeat for fans to stomach against New Zealand and they will be hoping to end their four-match autumn series on a high against the two-time World Cup winners.
Wales’ last clash with the Springboks ended in an agonising 31-30 defeat this summer on South African soil, a late Liam Williams mistake costing Warren Gatland’s side.
With the 2015 World Cup looming large on the horizon, Gatland’s men will be desperate to claim only their second win against South Africa in their 30th meeting.
John Inverdale presents live coverage on BBC One and BBC One HD from 2.00pm, with expert analysis in the studio and from pitchside by Jeremy Guscott, Martyn Williams and Keith Wood, while match commentary and expert analysis comes from Eddie Butler, Jonathan Davies and South Africa’s Schalk Brits.
Live streaming of BBC Sport’s coverage will be available to watch online via the BBC Sport website and app, which also features live text commentary, interviews and match previews.
Welsh-language coverage of the match is available to watch on S4C.
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Friday 14th November ITALY 18-20 ARGENTINA (Match rescheduled) Kick-off: 16:15 | Stadio Luigi Ferraris, Genoa LIVE: 4.00pm-6.30pm Sky Sports 2 Saturday 15th November ENGLAND 28-31 SOUTH AFRICA Kick-off: 14:30 | Twickenham, London LIVE: 2.00pm-5.00pm Sky Sports 1 Highlights: 7.30pm-8.30pm BBC Three / Repeat: 1.00pm-2.00pm (Sun) BBC Two WALES 17-13 FIJI Kick-off: 14:30 | Millennium Stadium, Cardiff LIVE: 2.00pm-4.30pm BBC One / 2.00pm-4.45pm S4C SCOTLAND 16-24 NEW ZEALAND Kick-off: 17:30 | Murrayfield, Edinburgh LIVE: 5.00pm-7.30pm BBC Two FRANCE 29-26 AUSTRALIA Kick-off: 20:00 | Stade de France, Paris LIVE: 7.55pm-10.00pm Sky Sports 4 Sunday 16th November IRELAND 49-7 GEORGIA Kick-off: 14:30 | Aviva Stadium, Dublin LIVE: 2.00pm-5.00pm Sky Sports 4
Saturday 22nd November ITALY 6-22 SOUTH AFRICA Kick-off: 14:00 | Stadio Euganeo, Padua LIVE: 1.55pm-4.00pm Sky Sports 2 SCOTLAND 37-12 TONGA Kick-off: 14:30 | Rugby Park, Kilmarnock LIVE: 2.15pm-4.30pm BBC One IRELAND 26-23 AUSTRALIA Kick-off: 16:30 | Aviva Stadium, Dublin LIVE: 4.00pm-6.30pm Sky Sports 2 WALES 16-34 NEW ZEALAND Kick-off: 17:30 | Millennium Stadium, Cardiff LIVE: 5.00pm-7.30pm BBC Two / 5.00pm-7.45pm S4C ENGLAND 28-9 SAMOA Kick-off: 19:00 | Twickenham, London LIVE: 6.30pm-9.00pm Sky Sports 2 Highlights: 1.00pm-2.00pm (Sun) BBC Two FRANCE 13-18 ARGENTINA Kick-off: 20:00 | Stade de France, Paris LIVE: 7.55pm-10.00pm Sky Sports 2 Red Button / 9.00pm-10.00pm Sky Sports 2
Saturday 29th November ENGLAND v AUSTRALIA Kick-off: 14:30 | Twickenham, London LIVE: 1.30pm-5.00pm Sky Sports 2 Highlights: 7.00pm-8.00pm BBC Three / Repeat: 12.20pm-1.20pm (Sun) BBC Two WALES v SOUTH AFRICA Kick-off: 14:30 | Millennium Stadium, Cardiff LIVE: 2.00pm-4.30pm BBC One / 2.00pm-4.45pm S4C
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