World Rugby is the governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international competitions, such as the World Rugby Sevens Series, the Rugby World Cup Sevens, the World Under 20 Championship, and the Pacific Nations Cup.
The Ireland national rugby union team is the men's representative national team for the island of Ireland in rugby union. The team represents both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Ireland competes in the annual Six Nations Championship and in the Rugby World Cup. Ireland is one of the four unions that make up the British & Irish Lions – players eligible to play for Ireland are also eligible for the Lions.
Brian Pala LimaOM is a Samoan former rugby union player who was inducted into the IRB Hall of Fame in 2011. He earned the nickname of "The Chiropractor" for his shuddering hits both on and off the pitch that supposedly rearranged the bones of the victim.
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.
The Russia national rugby union team, nicknamed Medvedi, represented Russia in men's international rugby union international competitions. The team is administered by the Rugby Union of Russia (RUR). The RUR is considered the official successor union of the Soviet Union by World Rugby and the combined CIS team which played in the early 1990s. Since 1992, the team has played as Russia. Its first test match as Russia was against the Barbarians in Moscow in June 1992 and the country's first test against an official Test nation was against Belgium later that same year.
Vasily Grigorievich Artemyev is a Russian rugby union player for CSKA Moscow. He plays as wing or fullback.
The 2019 Rugby World Cup was the ninth edition of the Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's rugby union teams. It was hosted in Japan from 20 September to 2 November in 12 venues all across the country. The opening match was played at Ajinomoto Stadium in Chōfu, Tokyo, with the final match being held at International Stadium Yokohama in Yokohama. This was the first time that the tournament had taken place in Asia and outside the traditional Tier 1 rugby nations.
The United States national rugby union team has played in all but two Rugby World Cups 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 2011 Rugby World Cup was held in New Zealand from 9 September to 23 October 2011.
Denis Simplikevich is a Russian rugby union footballer. He plays as a centre.
Konstantin Rachkov is a Russian rugby union footballer who plays as a fly-half.
Vladimir Sergeevich Ostroushko is a former Russian rugby union player. He played as a wing.
Yuri Viktorovich Kushnarev is a former Russian rugby union player. He played as a fullback and/or as a fly-half. Kushnarev is the most capped Russian player as well as the top scorer for Russia. Having played one hundred and twenty times for his country, Kushnarev holds the 24th most caps in international rugby.
For the most recent Mid-year window go to 2022 July rugby union tests
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.
Pool A of the 2019 Rugby World Cup began on 20 September 2019. The pool included hosts Japan, and previous 2015 Rugby World Cup quarter-finalists Ireland and Scotland. They were joined by the European qualifier, Russia, and Samoa, the winner of the European-Oceania Cross-Regional play-off.
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 played during October and November, 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.
In 2019, some rugby union national teams played matches in preparation for the 2019 Rugby World Cup. The matches saw New Zealand lose first place in the World Rugby Rankings, initially to Wales, and eventually to Ireland.
This article documents the statistics of the 2019 Rugby World Cup which was held in Japan from 20 September to 2 November.
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