63336 enters the ruck with Rugby World Cup facts

20 September 2011

The Rugby World Cup is upon us once again. This quadrennial event has seen the home sides achieving a creditable amount of success: England have been winners and losing finalists, Wales have managed 3rd place, Scotland have been 4th and Ireland have reached the quarter-finals.

But there have been red-faced moments for some, though, such as Namibia losing 142-0 to Australia in 2003 or Japan being run ragged by the All Blacks in 1995, eventually losing to the New Zealanders by 145-17.

Here are some more points to ponder on as you watch the world's premier rugby competition:

Jonah Lomu, one of the most famous rugby union players, never won the Rugby World Cup. Even though he scored 15 tries altogether in the 1995 and 1999 tournaments, his team, the All Blacks, failed to win either competition. South Africa won in 1995 and Australia won in 1999. However, he did get to enjoy turning England's Mike Catt into a pancake as he steam-rolled over him to score a try in 1995.

Surprisingly, England currently have a better overall position in the world cup final standings than the mighty All Blacks. England have won once (2003) and been runners-up twice (1991, 2007) whereas New Zealand have won once (1987) and been runners-up once (1995). This statistic may well change in 2011 with the All Blacks fielding home advantage and a very strong team, so England have their work cut out to preserve it.

The Rugby World Cup introduces the world to players with rather unusual names: Kisi Pulu (Tonga), Todd Clever (USA), Cameron Lillicrap (Australia), Iwan Tukalo (Scotland) Henry Honiball (South Africa), Perry Freshwater (England) and every Japanese player ever.

Several teams have failed to score a single point in a world cup match, leaving the field with the ignominious 0 next to their name on the scoreboard. These humiliated teams are the Ivory Coast, Canada, Spain, Namibia, Romania, Scotland and England. England were beaten 36-0 by a rampant South African team in 2007.

The greatest match ever played during a rugby world cup has to be the amazing semi-final between New Zealand and France in 1999. New Zealand had looked awesome all the way throughout the tournament's earlier stages, with Jonah Lomu blasting away the opposition. It was clearly obvious the French were expected to lose, and at half time the score was New Zealand 24 France 10. However, the French fly-half Christophe Lamaison engineered an incredible comeback for his side, scoring a try, 4 conversions, 3 penalties and 2 drop-goals to lead Les Bleus to a famous 43-31 victory.

Everyone knows New Zealand are the All Blacks, Australia are the Wallabies and South Africa are the Springboks, but what about some of the other teams? Argentina are the fearsome Pumas, France are Les Bleus, the USA are the soaring Eagles and Japan are the rather innocuous-sounding Cherry Blossoms.

England are official hosts of the 2015 event with venues including Old Trafford, Anfield, Ricoh Arena, Wembley, Kingsholm Stadium and of course Twickenham. Wales have got in on the act, with Cardiff also being used as a venue.

Dummy Pass… Finally, in case you didn’t know, a maul is when the players clash in a group whilst one player holds the ball. A ruck occurs when the ball is on the ground during open play and the players move it back with their feet.

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