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.
The Ireland men's national rugby league team, known as the Wolfhounds, is organised by Rugby League Ireland. The representative team is dominated by players from the Super League and sometimes includes players from the Australasian National Rugby League. Ireland is also represented by an Ireland A side, which is made up of players from the domestic Irish competition.
The Fiji national rugby union team 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 Tonga national rugby union team is 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.
The West Harbour Rugby Football Club is a team in the Shute Shield, the premier club rugby union football competition in New South Wales. The club is based in Concord in the Inner West of Sydney, and plays home matches at Concord Oval. Concord holds a place in rugby history as a venue for the inaugural Rugby World Cup in 1987. West Harbour's major sponsor is Burwood RSL and post match functions are held at Club Burwood.
The Wales national rugby sevens team competes in the World Rugby Sevens Series, the Rugby World Cup Sevens and in the Commonwealth Games.
The 1993 Rugby World Cup Sevens was held at Murrayfield in Edinburgh, Scotland, in April 1993. This tournament was the inaugural Rugby World Cup Sevens tournament. The International Rugby Board invited the established rugby union nations but also were keen to involve emerging nations in the event, recognising the fact that Sevens was providing the bridge between the developed rugby nations and those whose rugby union traditions were less well established.
Rugby union in Samoa is the country's most popular sport. The national teams in both the standard 15-man game and rugby sevens are consistently competitive against teams from vastly more populous nations.
Rugby union in Fiji is a popular team sport and is considered to be the national sport of the country. The sport was introduced to Fiji in the 1880s. Fiji is defined as a tier two rugby nation by World Rugby. The national team has competed at the Rugby World Cup and made it as far as the quarter finals. Their sevens team is also noted for their success, and have won the Rugby World Cup Sevens twice and the World Rugby Sevens Series three times.
The James Bevan Trophy is a rugby union trophy which was created in 2007, and named after James Bevan, the Welsh Australian who was the first ever captain of the Wales rugby union team in 1881. The trophy was established after a decision on 10 May 2007 by the Welsh and Australian rugby unions to celebrate the 100 years of Test rugby between the two sides. Wales are the current holders.
Rugby union in American Samoa is a growing sport.
The South Africa national under-20 rugby union team are South Africa's junior team at national level. They have been competing in the World Rugby Under 20 Championship since its inception in 2008. This Under-20 tournament replaced the previously-held Under-19 and Under-21 Rugby World Championships. Prior to 2018, it had been the country's "next senior" (second-level) 15-man national side, but World Rugby no longer allows member unions to designate age-grade sides as "next senior' teams.
The 2012 autumn internationals, also known as the autumn tests, November tests and, in the Southern Hemisphere, the end of year tests, were international rugby union matches. They were predominantly played between visiting Southern Hemisphere countries and European nations.
In June 2012, the Scotland rugby union team made a tour of Australia, Fiji and Samoa, playing one test match against each.
For the most recent Mid-year window go to 2017 mid-year rugby union internationals
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.
The 1988 Samoa rugby union tour of Britain and Ireland was a series of ten rugby union matches played in October and November 1988 in Wales and Ireland by the Samoa national rugby union team, who competed under the name of Western Samoa at the time. Samoa lost both their international matches but won four of their eight non-international games against club and regional teams.
Tupo Fa'amasino is a former Samoan rugby union player. He played as a centre.
The 2018 end of year rugby union tests, also referred to as the Autumn internationals in the Northern Hemisphere, were a number of rugby union test matches that are contested approximately during the Autumn months of October, November and December, primarily involving countries from the Northern Hemisphere hosting those from the Southern Hemisphere. Also involved in matches are those from second-tier teams. These international games count towards World Rugby's ranking system, with a team typically playing from two to four matches during this period.
