France
Rugby history 101: France played their first international fixture against New Zealand in 1906, six years after winning an Olympic gold medal for rugby in 1900. Since the start of the Five Nations Championship (1910), they have amassed 28 tournament wins with 10 Grand Slams, during which time they incurred a suspension (1932 to 1947) following accusations of professionalism in their domestic leagues at a time when the sport was amateur. France won a Test series in South Africa in 1958, first beat the Wallabies in Australia in 1961 and claimed a Test series victory in New Zealand in 1994.
Coach: Fabien Galthié sports the most distinctive eyewear in rugby and the former international scrumhalf has transformed the fortunes of the national side since taking over as coach in 2019. A strong leader with a clear vision, he rewarded youth and surrounded himself with a great coaching team.
Captain: There are very few superlatives that haven’t been used to describe Antoine Dupont, quite simply a phenomenal rugby player, with lavish skill sets.
World Cup record: 1987, finalists. 1991, quarterfinal. 1995, third. 1999, runner-up. 2003, fourth place. 2007, fourth place. 2011, runner-up. 2015, quarterfinals. 2019, quarterfinals. Played 52 W 36 D 1 L 15
Players to watch: Damien Penaud plays with the uninhibited dash of a musketeer, Gael Fickou is a linchpin, while Gregory Alldritt is another seminal influence. And then there’s Antoine Dupont ...
Best World Cup moment: They stunned a brilliant New Zealand team 43-31 at Twickenham in the semi-final of the 1999 tournament, coming from 24-10 down to score the next 33 points, spearheaded by outhalf Christophe Lamaison, only in the team because of an injury to Thomas Castaignede, who chipped in with 28 points from a try, two dropped goals, three penalties and four conversions.
Trivia: France have lost two Rugby World Cup finals at the same venue, Eden Park in New Zealand, beaten by the tournament hosts in 1987 and then agonisingly, 8-7 in 2011, when they suffered some poor officiating decisions.
Fixtures (all times Irish)
Friday, September 8th: v New Zealand, Stade de France, Paris (8.15)
Thursday, Sept 14th: v Uruguay, Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Lille (8.0)
Thursday, Sept 21st: v Namibia, Stade de Marseille, Marseille (8.0)
Friday, Oct 6th: v Italy, OL Stadium, Lyon (8.0)
Italy
Rugby history 101: On July 25th, 1911 the “Propaganda Committee” was formed to govern rugby in Italy. It became the Federazione Italiana Rugby (FIR) in 1928. Before their inclusion in a Six Nations tournament (2000), the Italians beat Ireland twice, France and Scotland in the 1990s and in more recent times beat Australia and South Africa.
Coach: Kieran Crowley, was a World Cup winner with New Zealand (1987) and played in 1991 including a semi-final defeat to Australia at Lansdowne Road in winning 19 caps for the All Blacks at fullback. He began his coaching career at Taranaki before taking charge of Canada for eight years and Benetton for five. His teams play great rugby to watch and punch above their weight so it’s a surprise that his contract is not being renewed and he steps aside after the tournament.
Captain: Michele Lamaro, the outstanding 25-year-old flanker grew up 10 minutes from the Stadio Olimpico stadium in Rome, whose father Gianluca is a double Olympian having sailed for Italy in the 1984 and 1988 Games.
World Cup record: 1987, pool. 1991, pool, 1995, pool. 1999, pool. 2003, pool. 2007, pool. 2011, pool. 2015, pool, 2019, pool. Played: 31 W 13 D 0 L 18
Players to watch: Diminutive fullback Ange Capuozzo is easy on the eye, flying English-born wing Paolo Odogwu and Saracens prop Marco Ricconi, should the latter recover from a knee injury, bring some X-factor quality to the group.
Best World Cup moment: Trailing 16-3 at half-time, Italy outscored New Zealand 18-15 in the second half, and although they lost this 1991 World Cup match, 31-21, they got a standing ovation from the Welford Road crowd.
Trivia: Swiss-born centre Oscar Collodo entered the history books when he dropped the first goal in a World Cup in the opening match of the inaugural tournament in 1987. There have been 139 more drop goals in the tournament since.
Fixtures (all times Irish)
Saturday, Sept 9th: v Namibia, Stade Geoffrey-Guichard, Saint-Etienne, (12.0)
Wednesday, Sept 20th: v Uruguay, Stade de Nice, Nice (16.45)
Friday Sept 29th: v New Zealand, OL Stadium, Lyon (8.0)
Friday, Oct 6th: v France, OL Stadium, Lyon (8.0)
Namibia
Rugby history 101: The sport was first introduced to the then German run colony in 1916 and before it gained independence in 1990, the national team used to compete as South West Africa in the Currie Cup. A high point internationally in rugby came in 1991 when they beat Ireland 2-0 in a Test series at home.
Coach: Allister Coetzee is a former head coach of the Springboks (2016-2018) who had previously been part of the South African coaching team that helped guide the country to their 2007 World Cup triumph.
Captain: Johan Deysel is a centre whose contract with French ProD2 side Colomiers ran out at the end of last season, where he had played for the previous five years. This will be his third World Cup.
World Cup record: 1999, pool. 2003, pool. 2007, pool. 2011, pool. 2015, pool. 2019, pool. Played: 22 W 0 D 0 L 22
Players to watch: Torsten van Jaarsveld, Gihard Visagie, Adriaan Ludick, Ruan Ludick and Deysel all played their rugby in the lower tiers of French rugby last season.
Best World Cup moment: They have never won a game at the tournament, the only time they didn’t lose was in Japan (2019) when the pool match with Canada was cancelled because of Typhoon Hagibis.
Trivia: As South West Africa they hosted a Test match against the 1955 British & Irish Lions team captained by Ireland international Robin Thompson. Less notable is the fact that their 142-0 defeat to Australia (22 tries) is a World Cup record.
Fixtures (all times Irish)
Saturday, Sept 9th: v Italy, Stade Geoffrey-Guichard, Saint-Etienne, (12.0)
Friday, Sept 15th: v New Zealand, Stadium de Toulouse, Toulouse (8.0)
Thursday, Sept 21st: v France, Stade de Marseille, Marseille (8.0)
Wednesday, Sept 27th: v Uruguay, OL Stadium, Lyon (16.45)
New Zealand
Rugby history 101: Donegal native Dave Gallaher led the All Blacks on their first ever tour to the northern hemisphere in 1905, a squad celebrated as ‘The Originals,’ winning 34 of 35 matches, their only loss a controversial 3-0 defeat to Wales. They have a winning record against every other rugby nation and have been the number one ranked team in the world for a longer period than the rest of the countries combined.
Coach: Ian Foster is a former outhalf who played with Waikato and the Chiefs before beginning his coaching career in 2002. An assistant coach with the All Blacks to Steve Hansen from 2012-2019, on hearing that he got the top job, his wife, Leigh’s reaction was “oh no.” He will step down after the Wold Cup to be replaced by Scott Robertson.
Captain: Sam Kane made his All Blacks’ debut in the second of a three-match Test series against Ireland in 2012 and started his first game the following week in Hamilton where he scored two tries against the tourists. He took over as New Zealand captain full-time in May 2020.
World Cup record: 1987, champions. 1991, third place. 1995, finalists. 1999, fourth place. 2003, third place. 2007, quarterfinals. 2011, champions. 2015, champions. 2019, third place. Played 56 W 49 D 0 L 7
Players to watch: The halfback pairing of Aaron Smith and Richie Mo’unga are a key combination in bringing creativity and rhythm to New Zealand’s attacking patterns and a kicking game. Will Jordan is a joy to watch, while up front there are few better players than number eight Ardie Savea in the sport.
Best World Cup moment: Three-time champions (1987, 2011 and 2015) so there is plenty of choice, Jonah Lomu’s tour de force against England in 1995, John Kirwan’s try against Italy in 1987 in which he beat nine players on a meandering run from his 22, but their 29-9 victory over France in the final of the inaugural tournament was an imperious display of power and pace.
Trivia: New Zealand have played Test matches against 19 countries during their rugby history and have never lost an international fixture against 12 of those nations, a remarkable statistic. For the record, those countries are, Canada, Fiji, Georgia, Italy, Japan, Namibia, Portugal, Romania, Samoa, Scotland, Tonga, USA. They have a 100 per cent record in the pool stages of World Cups.
Fixtures (all times Irish)
Friday, Sept 8th: v France, Stade de France, Paris (8.15)
Friday, Sept 15th: v Namibia, Stadium de Toulouse, Toulouse (8.0)
Friday Sept 29th: v Italy, OL Stadium, Lyon (8.0)
Thursday, Oct 5th: v Uruguay, OL Stadium, Lyon (8.0)
Uruguay
Rugby history 101: Rugby is believed to have been introduced to the South American country by Irish Christian Brothers in the 19th century. In their first World Cup (1999) they won a pool match against Spain and their progress at Test level was noted in 2002 when they beat Canada and the USA. They beat Georgia in the 2003 World Cup.
Coach: Argentinian-born Esteban Meneses, a former flanker who once played with Rovigo in the European Challenge Cup, has coached Los Teros – as Uruguay are colloquially known since 2015.
Captain: The 32-year-old centre Andres Vilaseca, who is with the French club, Vannes will play in his third consecutive World Cup.
World Cup record: 1999, pool. 2003, pool. 2015, pool, 2019, pool. Played 15 W 3 D 0 L 12
Players to watch: Every player is the product of the Uruguayan system and for the first time at a World Cup the squad is composed of full-time professionals. Castres scrumhalf Santiago Arata is world class.
Best World Cup moment: Beating Fiji in 2019 is a high point. The then captain Juan Manuel Gaminara summed it up best when he said: “I’m really proud of my country, we’re not the biggest, we’re not the tallest but we came here to win.”
Trivia: Uruguay only had 22 full-time professional players going into the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
Fixtures (all times Irish)
Thursday, Sept 14th: v France, Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Lille (8.0)
Wednesday, Sept 20th: v Italy, Stade de Nice, Nice Toulouse (16.45)
Wednesday, Sept 27th: v Namibia, OL Stadium, Lyon (16.45)
Thursday, Oct 5th: v New Zealand, OL Stadium, Lyon (8.0)
