The Japan national rugby union team, also known as the Cherry Blossoms, the Brave Blossoms, or simply Sakura, represents Japan in men's international rugby union. Japan 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 (PNC) and previously in the Asia Rugby Championship (ARC). They have also participated in every Rugby World Cup (RWC) since the tournament began in 1987, and hosted the event in 2019.
The Pacific Nations Cup is an international rugby union competition held between Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Canada, Japan and the United States. First held in 2006, the tournament is intended to strengthen the Tier 2 rugby teams by providing competitive test matches in a tournament format.
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.
Rugby union in Russia is a moderately popular sport. Russia was in 2011 ranked 20th worldwide by the World Rugby, having over three hundred clubs and close to 22,000 players nationally. Russian Rugby Championship is the top-level professional competition held in Russia. Krasnoyarsk, in the middle of Siberia, is traditionally the heartland of Russian rugby.
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 2024 mid-year rugby union tests
The 2014 end-of-year rugby tests, also known as the 2014 autumn internationals in the Northern Hemisphere, were international rugby union matches predominantly played between visiting Southern Hemisphere countries and European nations.
Michael Savea Alaalatoa is a professional rugby union player who plays as a prop for United Rugby Championship club Leinster. Born in Australia, he represents Samoa at international level after qualifying on ancestry grounds.
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.
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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