England
Rugby history 101: According to popular convention the Rugby School in England was the birthplace of the sport when William Webb Ellis picked up the ball and ran. England contested the first international against Scotland and since then have won Home Unions/Five/Six Nations Championship outright 29 times, 26 Triple Crowns, 14 Grand Slams and in 2003 they became the only northern hemisphere country to win the Rugby World Cup.
Coach: Steve Borthwick’s fledgling reign since taking over from Eddie Jones has been underwhelming in terms of results and performances. Taciturn by nature, his teams have played with a conservatism that comes with being overreliant on a kicking game and physicality rather than more subtle patterns.
Captain: Separating Owen Farrell’s obvious qualities as a person and a player from his tackle technique at times has been hugely polarising and drawn huge criticism in the latter regard. He has been a focal point for English teams that have excelled.
World Cup record: 1987, quarter-finals. 1991, finalists. 1995, fourth place. 1999, quarter-finals. 2003, champions. 2007, finalists. 2011, quarter-finals. 2015, pool stage. 2019, finalists. Played: 50 W 36 D 0 L 14
Players to watch: Ellis Genge brings power, physicality and a spiky edge, Maro Itoje is a player who commands grudging respect from opposing supporters, while Anthony Watson is an outstanding attacking presence.
Best World Cup moment: The 2003 World Cup final when Jonny Wilkinson’s drop goal enabled England to triumph over their Australian hosts and exact a measure of revenge for their 1991 final defeat to the Wallabies.
Trivia: Swing Low Sweet Chariot was first sung at a rugby match at the Twickenham Sevens in 1987 to honour a try scored by Martin Offiah, the rugby union and league star whose nickname was ‘Chariots’. A version of the African-American spiritual song made it into the UK Top 40 singles chart in 1991.
Fixtures (all times Irish)
Saturday, Sept 9th: v Argentina, Stade de Marseille, Marseille (8.0)
Sunday, Sept 17th: v Japan, Stade de Nice, Nice (8.0)
Saturday, Sept 23rd: v Chile, Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Lille (16.45)
Saturday, Oct 7th: v Samoa, Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Lille (16.45)
Argentina
Rugby history 101: Their first match in international rugby was in 1910 against a British Combined team that comprised 16 Englishmen and three Scots, which is not to be confused with the 1910 British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa in the same year, led by Ireland’s Tommy Smyth. Argentina have beaten every Tier One nation since, the last scalp to fall, New Zealand in 2020.
Coach: Michael Cheika led Leinster to their first ever Heineken Cup triumph in 2009 and, after a spell at Stade Francais, coached Australia (2014-2019), Argentina as an assistant (2020-2021) before taking over as the Pumas’ head coach last year.
Captain: The Leicester Tiger Julian Montoya follows in a proud and august group of hookers who have led their country including Mario Ledesma and Agustin Creevy.
World Cup record: 1987, pool stage. 1991, pool, 1995, pool. 1999, quarter-finals. 2003, pool. 2007, third place. 2011, quarter-finals. 2015, fourth place, 2019, pool. Played: 41 W 21 D 0 L 20
Players to watch: Toulouse fullback Juan Cruz Mallia, promising young Saracens centre Lucio Cinti, Edinburgh’s Emiliano Boffelli and Santiago Cordero, who will play for Connacht next season, underline the quality of midfield and wide players available to the Pumas to complement their traditional powerful forward game.
Best World Cup moment: Two from the same 2007 tournament, stunning hosts France 17-12 in the opening match through an Ignacio Corleto try and the boot of Felipe Contepomi and then repeating the dose in the third/fourth place playoff when they beat the French for a second time.
Trivia: Argentina’s change strip for the World Cup tournament in France was inspired by the uniform of the Mounted Grenadiers regiment, a military unit and presidential honour guard founded in 1812.
Fixtures (all times Irish)
Saturday, Sept 9th: v England, Stade de Marseille, Marseille (8.0)
Friday, Sept 22nd: v Samoa, Stade Geoffrey Guichard, Saint Etienne (16.45)
Saturday, Sept 30th: v Chile, Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes (2.0)
Sunday, Oct 8th: v Japan, Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes (12.0)
Japan
Rugby history 101: Japan beat the Junior All Blacks (1968) and a Scottish XV minus their Lions players (1989) but their first official win over a Tier One nation was a 44-29 victory over Argentina in 1998. Since then, they have beaten Wales, Italy (twice), South Africa, Ireland and Scotland and drew with France in Paris.
Coach: The former All Black Jamie Joseph has done a brilliant job in what will be his last act as Japan coach before returning to New Zealand to take charge of the Highlanders whom he previously guided for six years.
Captain: Kazuki Himeno is a barnstorming ball-carrying number eight who spent a season playing Super Rugby with the Highlanders, during which time he changed his training methods and lowered body fat percentage.
World Cup record: 1987, pool. 1991, pool. 1995, pool. 1999, pool, 2003, pool. 2007, pool. 2011, pool. 2015, pool. 2019, quarter-finals. Played: 33 W 8 D 2 L 23
Players to watch: The most obvious place to start is their renowned fullback Kotaro Matsushima, a brilliant attacking livewire, while Tongan-born wing Siosaia Fifita and 37-year-old hooker Shota Horie represent a couple of highly regarded players at opposite ends of the age spectrum.
Best World Cup moment: Although they beat Ireland and Scotland in the pool stage of their home World Cup last time out to qualify for the quarter-finals, their victory over South Africa in Brighton four years previously was arguably even better with Karne Hesketh’s last minute try capping a brilliant 34-32 victory.
Trivia: The Japanese national anthem Kimi Ga Yo is one of the shortest in the world with just four lines that translate into English as ‘May Japan’s reign, last for 10,000 years, until the pebbles grow into boulders, lush with moss.’
Fixtures (all times Irish)
Sunday, Sept 10th: v Chile, Stadium de Toulouse, Toulouse (12.0)
Sunday, Sept 17th: v England, Stade de Nice, Nice (8.0)
Thursday, Sept 28th: v Samoa, Stadium de Toulouse, Toulouse (8.0)
Sunday, Oct 8th: v Argentina, Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes (12.0)
Samoa
Rugby history 101: From 1924, the date of their first international against Fiji to 1997, the country was referred to as Western Samoa in rugby terms. They have enjoyed several victories apiece over Wales, Italy and Argentina over the years but have also beaten Australia, Scotland and Ireland, the latter 40-25 at Lansdowne Road in 1996
Coach: Seilala Mapusua spent five years at London Irish (2006-2011) scoring 21 tries in 126 appearances before moving to Japan. After he retired in 2016, he returned to work as a development officer for Otago in New Zealand and in 2020 he was appointed head coach of Samoa, whom he represented as a player.
Captain: Bristol’s Chris Vui and Leinster’s popular tighthead prop Michael Ala’alatoa are named as co-captains and it should have been a double celebration for the latter at the tournament but his brother, Allan, who plays for the Wallabies, has been ruled out through injury.
World Cup record: 1987, did not play. 1991, quarter-finals. 1995, quarter-finals. 1999, quarter-final playoffs. 2003 pool. 2007, pool. 2011, pool. 2015, pool. 2019, pool. Played: 36 W 14 D 0 L 22
Players to watch: Three former All Blacks, outhalf Lima Sopoaga, flanker Steven Luatua and tighthead prop Charlie Faumuina, one ex-Wallaby and former Ulster outhalf Christian Leali’ifano and one time USA prop Titi Lamositele were included in the squad.
Best World Cup moment: A team containing Pat Lam, Steve Bachop, Frank Bunce and Peter Fatiolofa beat Wales 16-13 on their home patch at the 1991 World Cup prompting the observation from a Welsh voice that they were “glad we weren’t playing the whole of Samoa”.
Trivia: Centre/wing Brian Lima or the “Chiropractor” as he was know for his tackling became the first player to take part in five World Cups.
Fixtures (all times Irish)
Saturday, Sept 16th: v Chile, Stadium de Bordeaux, Bordeaux (2.0)
Friday, Sept 22nd: v Argentina, Stade Geoffrey-Guichard, Saint Etienne (16.45)
Thursday, Sept 28th: Japan, Stadium de Toulouse, Toulouse (8.0)
Saturday, Oct 7th: v England, Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Lille (16.45)
Chile
Rugby history 101: The sport was first introduced by British settlers in the late 19th century but it wasn’t until 1936 that the country played its first international, against South American neighbours, Argentina. Former Chilean players, brothers Donald and Ian Campbell, of Scottish descent, were inducted into the World Rugby hall of fame in 2012.
Coach: Uruguayan Pablo Lemoine appeared in two Rugby World Cups for his native country, in 1999 and 2003, making seven appearances across the tournaments.
Captain: The 27-year-old flanker Martin Sigren Molina plays for Doncaster Knights in the English Championship and has led Los Condores since 2020.
World Cup record: 1987-2019, did not qualify. Played 0 W 0 D 0 L 0
Players to watch: Chile’s extended squad of 46 players contained four sets of brothers, number eight Alfonso and hooker Diego Escobar, centre Matias and flanker Nicolas Garafulic, twins, secondrow Clemente and centre Domingo Saavedra and scrumhalf Benjamin and placekicker Santiago Videla.
Best World Cup moment: That will be created in France.
Trivia: Los Condores, as Chile are known, had one point to spare in a two-leg shoot-out against the USA to qualify for their first World Cup finals. They lost the first leg in Santiago 22-21 but beat the Eagles in Colorado 31-29 to make history.
Fixtures (all times Irish)
Sunday, Sept 10th: v Japan, Stadium de Toulouse, Toulouse (12.0)
Saturday, Sept 16th: v Samoa, Stade de Bordeaux, Bordeaux (2.0)
Saturday, Sept 23rd: v England, Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Lille (16.45)
Saturday, Sept 30th: v Argentina, Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes (2.0)
