This is the last big weekends for the November Internationals, with most of the Southern Hemisphere teams concluding their seasons after these matches. This is therefore their last chance to improve or protect their current IRB ranking. However, next weekend there are a couple of heavyweight clashes, with England v New Zealand at Twickenham Stadium, London and Wales v Australia at Millennium Stadium, Cardiff on December the 1st.

A free live stream of the Italy v Wallabies game is available here. Although the score blow out against the All Blacks, the Italians showed some solid form in the first 60 …

Here are the previews and team announcements for the second week of the November Internationals, featuring a number of Southern Hemisphere teams on their 2012 End of Year Northern Tour.

Last week featured some exciting games and even some upsets. As expected, in the top tier games the Northern Hemisphere teams only won one test, but it was not the one most were expecting. Argentina decisively defeated Wales 23 – 12, while France thrashed Australia 33 – 6. This ended France’s 5 test losing streak to Australia, but more importantly left Australia in danger of dropping out of …

Here are the team announcements and previews for the first weekend of the 2012 November Internationals and End of Year Tours. The team announcements are notable for each having a 23rd player. An additional reserve prop has been added to each bench, allowing a back-up specialist loosehead and tighthead prop. This is designed to reduce the chances of uncontested scrums through front row injuries.

The highlights of this weekend include Ireland taking on South Africa at Aviva Stadium and France v the Wallabies at Stade de France. Wales, considered the form team in Europe, are also hosting Argentina, fresh off …

The squads have been announced for a busy schedule of November Internationals in 2012. The Southern Hemisphere teams of New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Argentina, Samoa, Fiji and Tonga have embarked on their annual End of Year tours. There will also be matches played by Uruguay, Portugal, Chile, Romania, Japan, Georgia, Canada, USA and Russia. Non test teams, the Ireland XV, France Barbarians, a Basque Selection, Gloucester and the Maori All Blacks will also play against international teams.

The 2012 November tests take on extra importance due to the seeding for the 2015 Rugby World Cup. Following the November Internationals …

South Africa Springboks and Fiji team announcements for their 2011 Rugby World Cup Pool D clash at Wellington Regional Stadium on Saturday September 17 at 6pm.

The Springboks welcome back lock Bakkies Botha, who has looked doubtful to take any part in the Rugby World Cup due to an Achilles’ tendon injury. However, he will return without record-breaking locking partner Victor Matfield, who is out with a hamstring injury. South Africa will be desperate to have their World Cup winning combination back for the business end of the tournament. The duo have played a record 62 tests together.

South Africa …