The Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament was first held in 1987, when the tournament was co-hosted by New Zealand and Australia.
The 1999 Rugby World Cup was the fourth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial international rugby union championship. It was principally hosted by Wales, and was won by Australia. This was the first Rugby World Cup to be held in the sport's professional era.
World Rugby is the world governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international rugby competitions, such as the World Rugby Sevens Series, the Rugby World Cup Sevens, the World Under 20 Championship, and the Pacific Nations Cup.
The Australia national rugby union team, nicknamed the Wallabies, is the representative national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of Australia. The team first played at Sydney in 1899, winning their first test match against the touring British Isles team.
The Wales national rugby union team represents Wales in men's international rugby union. Its governing body, the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU), was established in 1881, the same year that Wales played their first international against England. The team plays its home matches at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, which replaced Cardiff Arms Park as the national stadium of Wales in 1999.
The Italy national rugby union team represents Italy in men's international rugby union. The team is known as gli Azzurri. Savoy blue is the common colour of the national teams representing Italy, as it is the traditional colour of the royal House of Savoy which reigned over the Kingdom of Italy from 1860 to 1946.
The Wales national rugby league team represents Wales in international rugby league football matches. Currently the team is ranked fourteenth in the RLIF World Rankings. The team was run under the auspices of the Rugby Football League, but an independent body, Wales Rugby League, now runs the team from Cardiff. Three Welsh players have been entered into the Rugby League Hall Of Fame.
Iestyn Rhys Harris, also known by the nickname of "Welsh Wizard", is a former dual-code international professional rugby league and rugby union footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s, and coach in rugby league in the 2000s and 2010s. He played representative rugby league for Great Britain and Wales, and at club level for the Warrington Wolves, the Leeds Rhinos (captain) where he won the 1998 Man of Steel Award, the Bradford Bulls (captain), and Featherstone Rovers, and representative rugby union for Wales, and at club level for Cardiff RFC and Cardiff Blues, and has coached representative rugby league for Wales, and at club level for Featherstone Rovers, the Crusaders Rugby League, the Wigan Warriors, and Salford Red Devils.
The Tonga national rugby union team represents Tonga in men's international rugby union it's nicknamed ʻIkale Tahi . Like their Polynesian neighbours, the Tongans start their matches with a war dance – the Sipi Tau. They are members of the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance (PIRA) along with Fiji and Samoa. The Ikale Tahi achieved a historic 19–14 victory over France in the 2011 Rugby World Cup, but having lost to New Zealand and Canada, were unable to achieve what would have been their first-ever presence at the quarter-finals.
Colin Charvis is a former captain of the Wales national rugby union team and also played for the British and Irish lions. A back row forward, Charvis was equally adept as a flanker or as the no. 8.
Simon Marcus Taylor is a Scottish retired professional rugby union footballer who played for Bath Rugby, Stade Français and Edinburgh Rugby. He played as a back-row forward, usually a number eight. He played for Edinburgh for six seasons between 2000 and 2006 and in 2007 agreed a three-year deal with Stade Français joining them immediately after the 2007 World Cup. In the summer of 2010, Taylor signed for Bath Rugby in the English Aviva Premiership. He also represented Scotland and the British and Irish Lions. At the start of his rugby career, he played for Heriot's Former Pupils.
The Japan national rugby league team, nicknamed the Samurais, represents Japan in rugby league football. Japan have played some international competition since 1994. A regular domestic amateur competition has not been held in Japan for several years.
Rugby union is a football code within Australia with a history dating back to 1864. Although traditionally most popular in Australia's rugby football strongholds of New South Wales, Queensland and the ACT, it is played throughout the nation.
The Boston Irish Wolfhounds Rugby Football Club is a rugby union team based in Boston, Massachusetts, US. The club competes in, and is governed by, the New England Rugby Football Union, the Northeast Rugby Union, and USA Rugby. In 2014 it joined the American Rugby Premiership.
Boston Rugby Football Club is a rugby union team based in Boston, Massachusetts, US. The club competes in, and is governed by, the New England Rugby Football Union, the Northeast Rugby Union, and USA Rugby.
The first Touch Football World Cup tournament was held in 1988. Touch football and the Touch football world cup are monitored by the international governing body for touch the FIT. The Touch world cup has been hosted in five continents but is yet to be played in South America. Australia has hosted the World Cup the most having hosted it thrice. While the number of participant teams is growing steadily, almost all finals to date have been contested between Australia and New Zealand. Australia has won the most finals.
Stuart Dickinson is an Australian former Rugby union referee. 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 was a referee at the 1999 Rugby World Cup, the 2003 Rugby World Cup, and the 2007 Rugby World Cup. He is Australia's most-capped referee, and the only Australian referee to appear at three Rugby World Cups.
The Ireland Wolfhounds are the second national rugby union team of Ireland, behind the Ireland national team. They have previously competed in the Churchill Cup together with the England Saxons and the full national teams of Canada and the United States, as well as with a selection of other nations' 1st, 2nd and 3rd representative sides. They also play against other 6 Nations countries' A sides during the RBS 6 Nations. Now and again they will also play touring sides. For example, they played South Africa in 2000, the All Blacks in 2001 and Australia in 2006. On the 21 June 2009, Ireland A won their first Churchill Cup, beating the England Saxons 49–22 in the final. They also won the Churchill Plate three times in 2006, 2007 and 2008. They were renamed Ireland Wolfhounds in January 2010. They have not competed in a competition since the IRFU declined to compete in the 2016 Tibilisi Cup.
The Tertiary Student Rugby League World Cup, also known as the University Rugby League World Cup, first took place in 1986 in New Zealand, when the then five test nations each entered a side in what was the first non-first grade World Cup hosted by the Rugby League International Federation.
The Old Gold Rugby Football Club is a rugby union team based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. The club competes in, and is governed by, the New England Rugby Football Union, the Northeast Rugby Union, and USA Rugby. The team currently fields sides in Division II and Division IV in NERFU.
