Jason Thorpe Robinson OBE is an English former dual-code international rugby league and rugby union footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. Playing as a wing or fullback, he won 51 rugby union international caps for England and is the first black man to captain the England team. He was part of the 2003 World Cup winning rugby union England team.
Neil Antony Back MBE is a former international rugby union footballer for England and the British & Irish Lions who also played for Nottingham RFC, Leicester Tigers, and captained both England and Leicester during his career.
Sir John James Patrick Kirwan is a New Zealand mental health advocate, former rugby union and rugby league player, and former rugby union coach.
Cuthwyn Ellery Hanley MBE is an English former rugby league player and coach. Over a nineteen-year professional career (1978–1997), he played for Bradford Northern, Wigan, Balmain, Western Suburbs and Leeds. He won 36 caps for Great Britain, captaining the team from 1988 to 1992, and 2 for England. Nicknamed 'Mr Magic' and 'The Black Pearl', he played most often as a stand-off or loose forward after starting out as a centre or wing.
Shaun Edwards, OBE is an English rugby union coach and former rugby league player, who is the defence coach for the France national team. A scrum-half or stand-off, Edwards is the most decorated player in rugby league history, with 37 winner's medals. In 2015 he was the 25th person inducted into the Rugby League Hall of Fame.
Bradley Scott Fittler, also known by the nickname of "Freddy", is the head coach of the New South Wales State of Origin team, a commentator and a television presenter. Fittler has previously coached the Sydney Roosters in the NRL, the NSW City side and at international level he coached Lebanon. He is a former professional player who was named among the finest rugby league footballers of the first century of rugby league in Australia.
The Blue Bulls is a South African rugby union team that participates in the annual Currie Cup tournament. They are governed by the Blue Bulls Rugby Union and are based at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria, Gauteng province.
Chester Mornay Williams was a South African rugby union player. He played as a winger for the South Africa national rugby union team (Springboks) from 1993 to 2000, most notably for the team that won the 1995 Rugby World Cup, which was hosted in South Africa. He was the only non-white player on the team. During the tournament he scored four tries for South Africa in its quarter-final match and also appeared in the semi-final and final. Domestically he played rugby for the Western Province in the Currie Cup.
Adrian Lam is a Papua New Guinean professional rugby league coach, and former player, who is currently the head coach of the Super League club Leigh Leopards.
Tony Kemp is a New Zealand former rugby league test representative and former coach of the New Zealand Warriors. He is a commentator for Māori Television's coverage of the Auckland Rugby League competition and also serves as the Football Manager for the New Zealand Rugby League.
Jim Dymock is a professional rugby league coach who is the assistant coach of the Manly Sea Eagles in the NRL and a former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s.
The Ivory Coast's only Rugby World Cup appearance was in 1995 when they were placed in Pool D with France, Scotland, and Tonga.
Tony Clement is a former Welsh international rugby union player. He played as a fullback and was awarded 37 caps for Wales, scoring 7 tries and a drop goal. He played at the 1991 Rugby World Cup finals and at the 1995 Rugby World Cup finals. Tony represented the British & Irish lions in 1989, touring to Australia. In 1993 he toured New Zealand with the British Lions, scoring £ tries and a drop goal for the Lions. At the time played club rugby for Swansea RFC.
Noa Nadruku is a Fijian former rugby footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. After representing Fiji in rugby union, he switched to play rugby league in Australia for the Canberra Raiders and was named as one of the best 25 players for the Raiders' 25-year anniversary.
Jason Paul Williams is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. A New Zealand international representative winger, he played his club football in Australia for Sydney's Western Suburbs Magpies, Eastern Suburbs Roosters, South Sydney Rabbitohs, Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and the Penrith Panthers as well as in England for Salford. Williams played 145 games in the Australian competition from 1987–88 and 1991–98, scoring a total of 63 tries and winning the 1995 ARL Premiership with the Canterbury club. Williams played in 12 test matches for New Zealand between 1991 and 1995, scoring one try. He played in one non-test international on the 1993 Kiwis tour against Wales and two World Cup matches.
Rugby union in Ivory Coast is essentially amateur, with some degree of semi-professionalization in its top-flight league and the national rugby union team.
Seiji Hirao was a Japanese rugby union footballer and coach. He played as a fly-half, and was one of the most popular Japanese players of his time, earning the name of "Mr. Rugby".
Julian Michael Gardner is an Australian-Italian former international rugby union player and a current coach. He played as a flanker.
Carlo Orlandi is a former Italian rugby union player and a current coach. He played as a hooker.
In June 2017, France played a three-test series against South Africa as part of the 2017 mid-year rugby union tests. They played the Springboks over the three-week June International window, and the matches were part of the fifth year of the global rugby calendar established by the World Rugby, which runs through to 2019. This was France' first visit to South Africa since 2010 and the first test series between the teams since 2005. The last time the sides met was during the 2013 end-of-year international, where South Africa won 19–10 in Paris.
