The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987, 2011 and 2015.
Super Rugby is a professional men's rugby union international club competition involving teams from Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and Japan. Building on various Southern Hemisphere competitions dating back to the South Pacific Championship in 1986, with teams from a number of southern nations, the Super Rugby started as the Super 12 in the 1996 season with 12 teams from 3 nations: Australia, New Zealand, South Africa. The Super 12 was established by SANZAAR after the sport became professional in 1995. With the top players from nations that represent 16 of the 24 top-three finishes in the history of the Rugby World Cup, the competition is widely regarded as rugby union's toughest provincial competition.
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 England national rugby union team represents England in men's international rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. England have won the championship on 29 occasions – winning the Grand Slam 13 times and the Triple Crown 26 times – making them the most successful outright winners in the tournament's history. As of 15 October 2020, England are ranked second in the world by the International Rugby Board. They are currently the only team from the Northern Hemisphere to win the Rugby World Cup, having won the tournament in 2003, and have been runners-up on three other occasions.
The Scotland national rugby union team represents Scotland in men's international rugby union 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 2 November 2020, Scotland are 7th in the World Rugby Rankings.
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.
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.
George Musarurwa Gregan AM is a retired Australian rugby union player, and is currently Australia's highest ever internationally capped player.
The Ospreys, formerly the Neath-Swansea Ospreys is one of the four professional rugby union teams from Wales. They compete in the Pro14 and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The team formed as a result of Neath RFC and Swansea RFC combining to create a new merged entity, as part of the new regional structure of Welsh rugby, that began in 2003. They are also affiliated with a number of local semi-professional and amateur clubs, including Welsh Premier Division sides Aberavon RFC, Bridgend Ravens, and original founding clubs Neath and Swansea. The regional area represented by the team has widely become known for rugby purposes as 'Ospreylia'.
The Romania national rugby union team represents Romania in men's international rugby union competitions, nicknamed The Oaks (Stejarii), is long considered one of the stronger European teams outside the Six Nations. They have participated in all but one Rugby World Cup and currently compete in the first division of the European Nations Cup, which they won most recently in 2017. Rugby union in Romania is administered by the Romanian Rugby Federation. The team plays in yellow and blue strips.
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.
The Fiji national rugby union team represents Fiji in men's international rugby union competes every four years at the Rugby World Cup, and their best performances were the 1987 and 2007 tournaments when they defeated Argentina and Wales respectively to reach the quarterfinals. Fiji also regularly plays test matches during the June and November test windows. Fiji also plays in the Pacific Tri-Nations, and has won the most Pacific Tri-Nations Championships of the three participating teams.
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.
The Canada national rugby union team represents Canada in men's international rugby union 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 competes in competitions such as the Americas Rugby Championship and the Rugby World Cup.
Clément Poitrenaud is a former French rugby union footballer. His usual position is at fullback but he also plays at centre. He most recently played for South African side the Sharks in Super Rugby, having represented Toulouse in the French Top 14 club competition between 2000 and 2016, and France between 2001 and 2012, including at the 2003 Rugby World Cup in Australia and the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France. He has since transitioned into a role of partner, father and coach.
Kieran James Crowley is a New Zealand rugby union coach, who was previously head coach of the Canadian men's rugby team. He is now the head coach of Italian side Benetton. He is a former member of the New Zealand All Blacks where he played as a fullback. He has also coached the New Zealand Under-19s in the 2007 World Championships as well as coaching provincial side Taranaki.
The first clash in rugby union between Australia and New Zealand took place in a test match on 15 August 1903 in Sydney, New South Wales. On that occasion, New Zealand won 22–3.
New Zealand and Argentina have been playing each other in the sport of rugby union since 1976.
The history of rugby union matches between Argentina and Ireland is one of a very even contest. As of October 2015, the sides have met twenty one times with a result of twelve wins to Ireland, eight to Argentina and one drawn game, however, five of these matches were not a fully test capped match for Ireland. At the end of the 2010 Autumn Internationals there was only a nineteen-point difference in cumulative points scored. The largest winning margin of 23 points was recorded in the meeting of their 2015 Rugby World Cup quarter-final, when Argentina won by 43 points to 20. However, Argentina have yet to beat Ireland on Irish soil, and Ireland have only won twice in Argentina. Ireland's first win against Argentina was in 1952, however it was only a capped match for Argentina. Ireland's first fully test capped match win in Argentina came in 2014.
France and Wales have played each other at rugby union since 1908. A total of 100 matches have been played, with Wales winning 51 times, France 46 times and the remaining three finishing as draws.
