The Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament is administered by World Rugby, the sport's international governing body. The winners are awarded the Webb Ellis Cup, named after William Webb Ellis, who according to a popular legend, invented rugby by picking up the ball during a football game.
The Bledisloe Cup is an annual rugby union competition between the national teams of Australia and New Zealand that has been contested since the 1930s. The frequency at which the competition is held has varied, as has the number of matches played, but it currently consists of an annual three-match series, reduced to a two-match series in World Cup years, with two of the matches also counting towards The Rugby Championship. New Zealand have had the most success, winning the trophy in 2021 for the 49th time, while Australia have won the trophy 12 times.
The Georgia national rugby union team, nicknamed The Borjgalosnebi or more commonly as The Lelos, represents Georgia in men's international rugby union. The team is administered by the Georgian Rugby Union and takes part in the annual Rugby Europe Championship and the Rugby World Cup, which takes place every four years.
The Scotland national rugby union team represents Scotland in men's international rugby union and is administered by the Scottish Rugby Union. The team takes part in the annual Six Nations Championship and participates in the Rugby World Cup, which takes place every four years. As of 8 February 2022, Scotland are 6th in the World Rugby Rankings.
The Japan national rugby union team, often known as the Cherry Blossoms, Sakura, and more recently The Brave Blossoms is traditionally the strongest rugby union power in Asia and has enjoyed and endured mixed results against non-Asian teams over the years. Rugby union in Japan is administered by the Japan Rugby Football Union (JRFU), which was founded in 1926. They compete annually in the Pacific Nations Cup and previously in the Asia Rugby Championship. They have also participated in every Rugby World Cup since the tournament began in 1987.
The Samoa national rugby union team represents Samoa in men's international rugby union and it is governed by the Samoa Rugby Union. They are also known as Manu Samoa, which is thought to derive from the name of a Samoan warrior. They perform a traditional Samoan challenge called the siva tau before each game. Samoa Rugby Union were formerly members of the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance (PIRA) along with Fiji and Tonga. They are ranked 12th in the world.
The United States men's national rugby union team represents the United States in men's international rugby union. Nicknamed the Eagles, it is controlled by USA Rugby, the national governing body for the sport of rugby union in the United States. USA Rugby is a member of Rugby Americas North, one of six regional governing bodies under World Rugby. Until rugby returned to Olympic competition, with sevens at the 2016 Rio Games, the United States was the reigning Olympic rugby champion, having defeated the one other competitor in 1920 and the two other competitors at the 1924 Summer Olympics.
Edward Jones is an Australian rugby union coach and former player, who is currently head coach of the England national team. He previously coached Australia between 2001 and 2005, taking the team to the 2003 Rugby World Cup Final. He was an assistant coach for South Africa when the Springboks won the 2007 Rugby World Cup and from 2012 to 2015 he coached Japan, leading them in the 2015 Rugby World Cup and their upset win over South Africa. In November 2015, Jones was appointed as head coach for England and led them to win the 2016 Six Nations Championship and the 2017 Six Nations Championship, becoming only the second international rugby team to go the entire calendar year unbeaten. He led England to the 2019 Rugby World Cup final where they were beaten by South Africa.
The Canada national rugby union team represents Canada in men's international rugby union competitions and it is governed by Rugby Canada, and play in red and white. Canada is classified by World Rugby as a tier two rugby nation. Canada has competed in competitions such as the Americas Rugby Championship and the Rugby World Cup.
Rugby World Cup records have been accumulating since the first Rugby World Cup tournament was held in 1987.
Women's Rugby League is the female-only version of the game rugby league football. There are currently clubs for female-only participation running in Australia, Great Britain, and New Zealand which are overseen by the various individual organisations of those separate countries and internationally by the Women & Girls Rugby League.
Aviva Stadium is a sports stadium located in Dublin, Ireland, with a capacity for 51,700 spectators. It is built on the site of the former Lansdowne Road Stadium, which was demolished in 2007, and replacing it as home to its chief tenants: the Irish rugby union team and the Republic of Ireland football team. The decision to redevelop the stadium came after plans for both Stadium Ireland and Eircom Park fell through. Aviva Group Ireland signed a 10-year deal for the naming rights in 2009.
The United States has played in all but one Rugby World Cup since the inaugural tournament in 1987. The USA is the second strongest national rugby side in North America, and the third strongest in the Americas after Argentina and Canada.
The 2016 mid-year rugby union internationals are international rugby union matches that were mostly played in the Southern Hemisphere during the June international window.
In June 2016, England played a three-test series against Australia as part of the 2016 mid-year rugby union tests. They played the Wallabies across the three weeks of the June International window, 11 June–25 June, and contested the Cook Cup, which England had previously won eight times to Australia's twelve. The series was part of the fourth year of the global rugby calendar established by the International Rugby Board, which runs through to 2019.
The 2016 end-of-year rugby union internationals, also known as the 2016 Autumn Internationals in the Northern Hemisphere, were a series of international rugby union matches predominantly played between the visiting Southern Hemisphere countries: Argentina, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa – and the European sides: England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales.
The 2017 mid-year rugby union internationals were international rugby union matches that were mostly played in the Southern Hemisphere during the June international window.
The 2017 end-of-year rugby union internationals, also known as the November internationals, or autumn internationals in the Northern Hemisphere, were international rugby union matches in 2017.
Rieko Edward Ioane is a New Zealand professional rugby union footballer who plays as a wing or as a centre for New Zealand team Blues in Super Rugby and the New Zealand national team. In his youth career, he was selected to play in the 2014 and 2015 Sevens World Series for New Zealand and took part in Auckland Grammar School first XV, the top representative team in secondary school.
Ireland and Canada first played each other at rugby union in 1987 with Ireland emerging victorious, 19-46 at the 1987 Rugby World Cup. Ireland and Canada have played each other a total of 8 times, 3 times each in Canada and Ireland as well as twice at neutral venues which took place at the 1987 and 2015 Rugby World Cup. Ireland have won 7 of the 8 fixtures, with the only other result between the two being a 27-27 all draw in Canada in 2000.
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