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42 unusual facts about Rugby World Cup


Andy Cosslett

He is also Non-Executive Chairman of England Rugby 2015 - the organising committee for the 2015 Rugby World Cup which will be played in England.

Argentine National Anthem

Due to the excessive length of the official version, in international events such as the Olympic Games, association football games, and the Rugby World Cup, only the instrumental introduction (which lasts 1 minute 6 seconds) is played.

Barry Welsh is Coming

The manic Fishguard reporter focuses on the build-up to the 2007 Rugby World Cup.

Bob Stuart

He was given a lifetime service award by the International Rugby Board immediately after the World Cup in 2003.

Canada national rugby team

Canada national rugby union team, represents Canada at rugby union, including at the Rugby World Cup

China Black

In the summer of 1995, China Black, together with Ladysmith Black Mambazo recorded a cover version of the American folk song "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" for the official England Rugby World Cup theme.

Comparison of Gaelic football and rugby union

The Rugby World Cup itself is of much more recent origin, dating back to 1987, when invitations were sent out to various national sides.

Croatia national rugby union team

Croatia have been playing internationals rugby since 1992, they have yet to qualify for the Rugby World Cup.

Die Stem van Suid-Afrika

In 1995, Die Stem was sung by a black choir at the Rugby World Cup final match.

Fiji Television

It was founded on 15 June 1994 as the first permanent commercial television broadcasting network in the country, although television had previously been introduced temporarily in October 1991 to broadcast the Rugby World Cup as well as Cricket World Cup.

Group stage

For example in both the FIFA World Cup and Rugby World Cup the teams are split into groups (also known as pools) where they play each team in their group once under a round-robin system.

Haka

In the lead up to the Rugby World Cup in 2011, flashmob hakas became a popular way of expressing support for the All Blacks.

History of rugby union matches between United States and Wales

To the most recent Rugby World Cup, Wales and the United States have never played each other at a Rugby World Cup but Wales has played the United States on a Series Tour; 1997, 2005 and 2009.

Hungary national rugby union team

They are governed by the Magyar Rögbi Szövetség (MRgSz), and have yet to qualify for the Rugby World Cup, although they have entered qualifiers for all the tournaments from the 1995 edition onwards.

IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy

The IRB's decision that the United States would host the tournament in 2012 was viewed as the United States taking a step closer towards hosting the Rugby World Cup.

ITM Cup

This expansion created the Super 14, adding two extra fixtures to that competition, and also added two more Tri-Nations matches for the All Blacks in non-World Cup years.

John Kendall-Carpenter

He was also Chairman of the committee that organised the first Rugby World Cup in 1987.

Jonathan Webb

He participated in both the 1987 and 1991 Rugby World Cups; in the 1991 World Cup final he kicked England's only points in their 12–6 loss to Australia.

Marcello Cuttitta

He played for the Italian national team at the first Rugby World Cup in 1987, as well as representing them at the subsequent World Cups in 1991 and 1995.

Mark Regan

Consequently he was named in the England squad for the 2007 Rugby World Cup.

After moving to Leeds his displays not only saw him become a crowd favourite but also saw a revival in his international career, as he was selected for the England squad for the 2003 Rugby World Cup.

Monkstown Football Club

Monkstown have hosted a number of international teams over the years, such as Australia, when they won the World Cup in 1991.

Phil Waugh

After his recovery, Phil returned to the field to be named vice captain of the 2003 Rugby World Cup team, who were ultimately runners-up.

Rod Macqueen

He led the Wallabies to victory at the 1999 Rugby World Cup in Wales, where they defeated France in the final, becoming the first nation to ever win the World Cup twice.

Rugby union in Croatia

As of April 2009, the national team is currently competing in the European Nations Cup and is attempting to qualify for the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

Rugby union in the Netherlands

Given the low profile of the game in the Netherlands, Dutch rugby still manages to support over a hundred clubs, and has 7-8,000 players, which is a larger number than some Rugby World Cup entrants.

Sports league ranking

This system is used in the group stages of all competitions operated by the International Rugby Board, such as the Rugby World Cup.

Stuart Dickinson

Dickinson has refereed in many rugby competitions, including the Rugby World Cup, Tri Nations, Six Nations, international friendlies, Super 12/14/15, and Shute Shield.

He made his international refereeing debut in 1997 in a Rugby World Cup qualifier between Tahiti and Papua New Guinea.

Switzerland national rugby union team

Switzerland finished third (out of six nations) in Pool 1 of Round 1 of the European qualification tournaments for the 1999 Rugby World Cup in Wales, winning and drawing one game out of four fixtures.

In attempting to qualify for the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France, Switzerland finished fourth in Pool D of Round 2 of the European qualification process.

Switzerland had more success in the qualifying tournaments for the 2003 Rugby World Cup in Australia, finishing at the top of Pool B in Round 1 and advancing to Round 2, but were unable to advance to Round 3.

In 1989 Switzerland attempted to qualify for the 1991 Rugby World Cup in England, playing in the European tournament - Round 2a.

Switzerland also participated in the qualifying tournaments for the 1995 Rugby World Cup in South Africa, making it past the preliminary round from the west group, but not advancing past Round 1.

Taylor Paris

On 8 July 2011 it was announced that Paris would represent Canada at the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

The Creative Assembly

The company's products included official Rugby World Cup titles for 1995 and 2001, the official game for the 1999 Cricket World Cup and the Australian Football League games for 1998 and 1999, of which the AFL 98 title was particularly successful in the Australian market.

Thretton Palamo

Aged only 18, he was called into the United States squad to participate at the 2007 Rugby World Cup.

He is the youngest ever player to have made an appearance at the Rugby World Cup.

The appearance was just eight days after his 19th birthday and made him the youngest player in Rugby World Cup history, lowering the record of Federico Méndez of Argentina, who was 19 years and 63 days when he appeared at the 1991 Rugby World Cup.

Tongan Australian

Viliami Ofahengaue, affectionately known as Willie O, former Wallaby number eight and Flanker with 41 caps between 1990 and 1998, including the 1991 and 1995 World Cups.

Two-legged tie

In rugby union, two-legged matches are used in the qualifying stages of the Rugby World Cup, and the semifinals of the Italian National Championship of Excellence are also two-legged.

Wakefield RFC

Barley was closely followed by Mike Harrison, who captained England in the first Rugby World Cup in 1987 and was the club's most capped player with fifteen caps, seven of which were as England captain.


God Defend New Zealand

A public debate emerged after only the first Māori verse was sung at the Rugby World Cup match against England, and it then became common to sing both the Māori and English first verses one after the other.

Gregory Tesser

In 2011, the year of the Rugby World Cup, he not only wrote a preview of the tournament for Country Life, but also penned a piece for The Jewish Chronicle on the many Jewish players that have lit up the game since before the First World War.

India national rugby union team

India has never played in the Rugby World Cup but they have attempted twice in 2005 and 2008 to qualify for the 2007 Rugby World Cup and 2011 Rugby World Cups respectively.

Jamie Cudmore

Cudmore made his debut for Canada in 2002 against the United States and has appeared in the 2003, 2007 and 2011 Rugby World Cups.

Martín Gaitán

In 2002, Gaitán moved to France to play for Biarritz and in 2003 he was selected to be part of the Argentina Rugby World Cup squad.

Peter de Villiers

He played scrum-half during the apartheid era, when the Springboks faced widespread international boycotts as the face of the white minority government, including exclusion from in the first two Rugby World Cup tournaments in 1987 and 1991.

Rugby 2005

The game allows players to play as many Rugby nations, both major and minor, and includes many tournaments, such as the Rugby World Cup, the Tri Nations, the Six Nations, and the Super 12.

Ryle Nugent

He is the resident rugby union commentator for RTÉ's television coverage of international and club competitions, such as the Six Nations Championship, Heineken Cup and Rugby World Cup.

Trevor Mallard

In April 2002, Trevor Mallard made crude comments about inserting beer bottles into "uncomfortable places" of International Rugby Board chairman Vernon Pugh and Australian Rugby boss John O'Neill during a radio interview about following the withdrawal of co-hosting rights for the 2003 Rugby World Cup.

Yehuda Shinar

In the sporting world, Shinar has worked with Sir Clive Woodward of the England rugby team, helping them to win the Rugby World Cup, Tony Falkner of Blackburn Rovers, helping them to win the National Academy League, and the Maccabi Tel Aviv football club to help them qualify for the UEFA Champions League in 2004-2005.