The Namibia national rugby union team represents Namibia in men's international rugby union competitions nicknamed the Welwitschias, are a tier-two nation in the World Rugby tier system, and have participated in five Rugby World Cup competitions since their first appearance in 1999. They are governed by the Namibia Rugby Union.
The Georgia national rugby union team, nicknamed 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 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 Japan national rugby union team 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.
In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards and seven backs. In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16–23. Players are not restricted to a single position, although they generally specialise in just one or two that suit their skills and body types. Players that play multiple positions are called "utility players".
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 United States men's national rugby union team, represents United States of America in men's international rugby union, nicknamed the Eagles it is controlled by USA Rugby. 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.
Schalk Willem Petrus Burger Jr. is a South African professional rugby union player. He plays as a flanker for Saracens in the English Premiership and has won 86 caps for South Africa.
The Portugal national rugby union team is rated as a performance team in the World Rugby four-band classification system, the second highest. Portugal had their first match in 1935 and now compete in the European Nations Cup and occasionally in the IRB Nations Cup. The team as well as all rugby union in Portugal is administered by the Federação Portuguesa de Rugby. Portugal qualified for their first Rugby World Cup in 2007 where they were grouped in Pool C along with New Zealand, Italy, Romania and Scotland. They are nicknamed Os Lobos, Portuguese for "The Wolves".
The Tahiti national rugby union team is a third tier rugby union team, representing the island of Tahiti in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France. They first played in 1971 and have played numerous games to date, most against rivals Cook Islands and several against Niue. Other games have been played against Samoa, Wallis and Futuna, Papua New Guinea and Tonga. France played a match against Tahiti at the end of their 1979 tour and won 92–12. Plans to have annual "test" match series against Pacific island neighbours, New Caledonia have been put on hold, due to time, availability, finances, and coaching and refereeing resources. They have yet to qualify for the Rugby World Cup. Rugby union in Tahiti is administered by the Fédération Tahitienne de Rugby de Polynésie Française. Currently, players who have represented or played for the Tahiti national rugby team, are eligible to represent France. However, playing at a professional level can only enable this. At present there are several Tahitian professional rugby players abroad in France's Top 14 and Pro D2 professional competition.
The All Blacks first played against Italy at the opening game of the inaugural Rugby World Cup in 1987, beating them 70-6 at Eden Park, Auckland. The two teams have played a total of fifteen Test matches recognized by both sides as full internationals, with New Zealand winning all of them by an average margin of 51 points. The two sides have been in the same pool in five of the eight Rugby World Cup tournaments to date but have only played each other four times because Typhoon Hagibis caused their scheduled meeting in the 2019 tournament to be cancelled. The first 11 meetings between the two sides since their first clash in 1987 were never played at the same venue, then two tests had been held back to back at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.
The national rugby union teams of Scotland and Argentina have played since 1969. However, the status of the countries' first three matches—two in 1969 and one in 1973—is ambiguous, as only Argentina awarded Test caps for those encounters. The first match recognised by both sides as a Test took place in 1990.
England and Ireland have played rugby union internationals against each other since 1875, with England winning the first match at The Oval, London by two goals to nil. The two teams have played a total of 137 Test matches; with England winning 80 of them, Ireland 49 and 8 resulting in a draw.
Georgia and Romania have played each other on 23 occasions. Georgia have won 13 times, Romania 9 times and 1 match has been drawn. They regularly play each other in the Rugby Europe Championship.
Japan and South Africa have met only three times. They played in the opening match of Pool B in the 2015 Rugby World Cup, where in an upset Japan defeated two-time Rugby World Cup winners South Africa 34–32. The match is considered by many as the biggest upset in rugby union history.
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.
Canada and Georgia have played each other a total of 7 times, with Georgia winning 4 and Canada 3 times. The first ever match was contested in 2009 as part of the 2009 Churchill Cup, where Canada were the victors 42–10. The remaining fixtures were one-off test matches, with either Canada playing away to Georgia, or vice versa. Neither team has met each other in a Rugby World Cup match.
Scotland and Georgia have played 5 times, with Scotland winning every match.
