Perhaps the most interesting will be in Group C, which is almost a duplicate group from 4 years ago, just replace Portugal and Uruguay. However, the forces have changed quite a bit compared to 4 years ago and anything is possible to happen. As many as 4 teams have a chance to advance to the ¼ finals. We will follow all the matches with special attention because it can very easily happen that every point and every try matters.
Australia
Number of tournaments: 9
Best result: 1st place (1991 and 1999)
Head Coach: Eddie Jones
Captain: Will Scelton
Nickname: Wallabies
Australia is one of the most successful teams in the southern hemisphere, having won two World Cups. There have been many guesses as to when and how rugby began to be played in Australia, from various Aboriginal games to the early 19th century and various variants of ball games. In 1863. the first formal rugby club was formed at the University of Sydney. In 1869. Newington College was the first Australian school to play rugby in a match against the University of Sydney. From this beginning developed the first metropolitan competition in Australia, which formally began in 1874 . This was organized by the Southern Rugby Union, managed by the Rugby Union in Twickenham, England. Jurisdiction over rugby was transferred to the Southern Rugby Union in 1881 .
Australia’s first international match was played against the British Isles team in 1899, who was touring Australia. The first Test was played at the Sydney Cricket Ground and was won by Australia 13–3, but the tourists won the remaining three matches. The first Test between Australia and New Zealand was played at the Sydney Cricket Ground in 1903, where New Zealand won 22–3. This tour enhanced the popularity of rugby in Sydney and Brisbane and helped to increase attendances at club matches.
Australia is a very successful rugby country, having won two World Cups. They were the best in 1991. and 1999 . Out of 9 tournaments, in 6 Australia was at least in the ½ final, while in the remaining 3 they lost in the ¼ final and this ranks them among the most successful rugby nations. At the first World Cup in 1987. Australia lost to France in the ½ final and to Wales in the match for 3rd place. However, already at the next World Cup, the Aussies were up to the task and with 6 victories lifted the cup of the best team in the world.
In South Africa in 1995. lost in the ¼ final when they were defeated by England. But they are already on the next 1999 won the title again. Although everyone expected a grand final between the two best teams at the time, Australia and New Zealand, France knocked out the All Blacks in a legendary ½ final game. In the final, Australia routinely won without major problems 35-12. The next World Cup was held in Australia, where the hosts reached the final, where Jonny Wilkinson made the entire stadium sad with a dropkick in extra time. In 2007. in France, they were eliminated in the ¼ final again by the English and Wilkinson’s shots. In New Zealand they took 3rd place , where they were defeated in the ½ final by the mighty All Blacks who took the title that year. They also experienced defeat in the final of the 2015 World Cup. against perhaps the strongest New Zealand team in history. The last World Cup was a little disappointing for the Australians, although they were first in the group, in the ¼ final they were defeated quite convincingly by England 40-16.
Australia comes to the tournament without several players who were the players of the game in previous seasons. There is no captain like Michael Hooper who, with his experience, knowledge and dedication, would always be one of the best on the field. No Bernard Foley, no Quaide Cooper. There aren’t many players over the age of 30, so it looks as though Eddie Jones side are even preparing for the 2027 World Cup which will be held in Australia.
Expectations │ Australia are always expected to be among the best teams in the tournament. They have players who play at the highest level both in Europe and in Super Rugby. At least they are expected to pass the group, although the competition this year is quite high. However, we believe that the Australians may be the first favorites to win the group.
Wales
Number of tournaments: 9
Best result: 3rd place (1987)
Head Coach: Warren Gatland
Captains Jac Morgan / Dewi Lake
Nickname /
The beginning of rugby in Wales dates back to 1850 when Rowland Williams became vice-principal at St. David’s College and introduced sports to students. Wales played their first international match on the 19th of february 1881 against England and lost by a margin of 7 goals, one dropkick and 6 tries (according to today’s scoring 82-0). The Welsh Rugby Union was formed on 12th of march 1881 . Two years later, the competition in the Home Nations Cup, as the 6 Nations competition was then called, began.
Throughout history, Wales has had quite a few notable results, but they still pride themselves on so-called golden ages. The first golden age was from 1893-1913 . Untill 1913. 8 trophies were won, where they were at the very top all those years. In 195 Wales played in the so-called “match of the century” against New Zealand, which had been undefeated since 1899 . The match was played at the Cardiff Arms park, or today’s Millennium Stadium, in front of around 47,000 spectators. In the end, Wales won 3-0.
The second golden age dates back to the 70s when legends Gareth Edwards, JPR Williams, Gerald Davies, Barry John and Mervyn Davies played for Wales. For 10 years Wales dominated the Northern Hemisphere and lost only 7 games in that period. They won as many as 8 trophies in the 5 Nations Cup.
Wales had quite a notable participation in the first World Cup in 1991 when they took third place in the final standings, which is also their best result. Wales won every game in the group stage of the competition. In the ¼ final they defeated England 16-3, but in the ½ final they convincingly lost to New Zealand 49-6. In the match for 3rd place, they won vs Australia 22-21. At the next two World Cups in 1991 and 1995 Wales finish in group stage. The next two tournaments in 1999 and 2003 were slightly better because Wales managed to reach the ¼ finals. Then came the disappointment of 2007 when they finish competition in group stage.
World Cup 2011 was very successful for Wales. After the initial tournament, they made it to the ½ final again. The ½ final loss to France 9-8 will be remembered for the red card received by captain Sam Warburton about halfway through the first half of the match. Next World Cup 2015 was interesting in that they prevented hosts England from getting through the group. It’s Wales again in 2019 was in the ½ finals, when they lost to South Africa, who eventually won the competition.
Wales have not been playing well in the last two seasons, mainly due to injuries to key players. But we must not forget that this is the team that is in 2021 won 6 nations in 2019 and which in 2019 was in the ½ finals of the World Cup. Led by Dan Biggar, who is also called the best Welsh opener in the professional era, they will surely chase a serious result. A few familiar faces like Jonothan Davies, Justin Tipuric, Alan Wyn Jones and Josh Navidi are absent.
Expectations │ We expect Wales to qualify for the quarter-finals, but we don’t think they will have an easy task. They will have very strong opponents in the form of Australia, Fiji and Georgia. It will be quite uncertain and difficult, but we believe that the Welsh can be up to the task.
Georgia
Tournament number: 5
Best result Group stage
Head Coach: Levan Maisashvili
Captain: Merab Sharikadze
Nickname: Lelos
There were several early attempts to establish rugby in Georgia. Some of those attempts were in the 20s and 40s of the last century. The beginnings of rugby < traced back to Jacques Haspekian, a Frenchman of Armenian origin who taught rugby to students from the late 50s until the mid 60s. Officially, the first rugby training was held on the 15th of october 1959 in Tbilisi where 20 players attended.
The popularity of rugby in Georgia can be linked to a traditional Georgian game called Lelo. Lelo has been played in Georgia since ancient times, and is played even today in rural areas of the country. Lelo means field, and the field itself is established in the space between two rivers, and represents the playing field. Two teams, usually made up mostly of men from neighboring villages, play against each other. The number of players is not determined, they are mostly all healthy men in the village. A huge heavy ball or ball is placed in the middle of the field, the goal is to carry that ball or ball across the river to the opponent’s side.
Georgia until its independence in 1991 was part of the Soviet Union, so all players performed for the USSR. So Georgia did not participate in the first two World Cups. The first World Cup that Georgia qualified for was in 2003 . In the last round of qualification, Georgia met Russia in a big derby in front of 50,000 people in Tbilisi, where after a great fight they eventually won with a score of 17-13. At the World Cup, they recorded all the defeats, but apart from the match against Uruguay, they can be satisfied with their performance.
The first victory was recorded in 2007 vs Namibia 30-0. Then the Georgians perfected the scrum game, where they literally destroyed the opponents. They were especially inspired in 2011 when they lost to Scotland 15-6, and with Argentina they had a 7-5 advantage at halftime, only to lose 25-7 in the end. The Romanians were defeated 25-9. At the following World Cup in England, Georgia took 3rd place place in the group and secured a direct placement in the next tournament.
Although Georgia finished each competition in the group stage, they always showed improvement in their play and results. Last year, it managed to achieve two victories over TIR 1 rugby nations. They beat Italy 28-19 first, before beating Wales 13-12 in Cardiff, which was a surprise last fall. Georgia has already largely established itself as the best rugby nation outside of the 6 Nations, and there is more and more talk of Georgia’s inclusion in the 6 Nations Cup.
Georgia has a huge player base both at home and abroad. At international level, the players mostly play in the best French clubs. The number of Georgians is simply incredible, where whenever you scroll through the teams in ProD2 or in the National Leagues of France, you will find at least one in each team. Georgia has also made a strong team that plays in the Super Cup of the European Rugby Federation. The scrum is still the strongest weapon of the team, which is extremely dominant and me. In their ranks, they have a rising star in the form of David Ninashvili, who, although very young, left a deep mark last season in the TOP 14 league where he played for Lyon.
Expectations │ Quite a lot is expected from Georgia at this World Cup. When we look at they have an almost identical group as in Japan 2019 , but with the fact that Wales and Australia are much weaker than they were then, we come to the conclusion that the Lelos could surprise. Rugby is a sport where there aren’t too many surprises from non-TIR 1 rugby nations, but more and more are happening. Group C will be extremely interesting and we will see how much Georgia can do.
Fiji
Number of tournaments: 9
Best result: ¼ final (1987 and 2007)
Head Coach: Simon Raiwalui
Captain: Waisea Nayacalevu
Nickname: Flying Fijians
Rugby was first played in Fiji by European and Fijian soldiers in 1884 . A little later in 1913. The Alliance was formed for European immigrants. In the same year, a match was played against the New Zealanders who were returning from a tour from California. The Fijian team was made up of immigrants and lost 67-3. The following year, a domestic league was formed.
Fiji played their first international match against Western Samoa on the 18th of august 1924. . The Fijian team was composed of 20 players from domestic clubs. It is interesting that the match was played at 7 in the morning, so that the Samoans could get to their jobs after the match. Also interesting is the fact that in the middle of the field, where the center line is, there was a huge tree. Fiji won the match, while Samoa was better in the second leg.
When we look at participation in the World Cups, we can safely say that Fiji has shown the most of all the countries of the Pacific Islands. The relative had the most success. The Fijians just didn’t qualify for the 1995 World Cup. . In Fiji’s first World Cup and in the first match, the Fijians defeated Argentina 28-9, which was enough for them to reach the quarter-finals, where they had a chance to beat France, but ended up losing 31-16.
Fiji once again managed to reach the 14/ finals of the World Cup, in 2007 . Then in the group they managed to beat Japan and Canada quite narrowly. However, it was decided to rest the best players against Australia in order to enter against Wales rested and without possible injuries. The Australians won convincingly 55-12, but that’s why the Fijians defeated Wales 38-34 in one of the best matches ever at the World Cup. In the ¼ final, the South Africans were better with a score of 37-20.
The Fiji team is made up of excellent individuals who play for the world’s biggest clubs and for the local team Drew who competes in Super Rugby. Although Drew had a modest performance in the initial season, this season Super Rugby reached the quarter-finals, where they were defeated by the champions Crusaders. Among the players playing at a high level there is Botia from La Rochelle, Radradar who plays for Bristol, captain Nayakaleva from Toulon and Tuisova from Lyon. Unlike the previous World Cups, where the motto was that whoever manages to discipline the Fijians, can make a result, now things are totally different. Playing at a high level also introduced the necessary discipline in the game. They weren’t just then 7th on the world rugby list.
Expectations │ A lot is expected from Fiji at Stetko Cup, especially after they defeated England in Twickenham in the warm-up match. True, it is a warm-up match, but again, England do not lose easily at home. They have a very good position to reach even ½ final because they will avoid the best selections in the world that are in A and B group.
Portugal
Number of tournaments: 1
Best result Group stage
Head Coach: Patrice Lagisquet
Captain: Tomás Appleton
Nickname: Os Lobos (The Wolves)
The first rugby match took place in the suburbs of Lisbon in 1903 , all participants were British. However, the 20s of the last century are associated with the beginnings of rugby in Portugal, 1922. started with the organization of rugby matches. The first game was played on March 12, where the Royal Rugby Club defeated the club from Carcavelos. Then Sporting hired a French coach, who also played as a player, where they defeated the Royal Rugby Club on 11th of november. The formation of the official Rugby Union was waited until 1927 . In the same year, the league was established, where Sporting triumphed.
A big problem of Portuguese rugby throughout history has been the lack of rugby infrastructure. Children can be extremely interested in sports, but if you have nowhere to take them, you will never have much success. The Portuguese took Izuau seriously, they invested a lot of effort and a lot of resources, which paid off in the end. With improved infrastructure, they managed to dramatically increase the number of registered players. In the mid-90s, with 3,000 players, they managed to double the number. Today, the number of registered players in Portugal is approaching 50,000.
Portugal qualified for the 2007 World Cup for the first time . It is particularly interesting that it is the first amateur team to qualify for the tournament since the beginning of the professional era in rugby. At the World Cup 2007 have shown themselves in a very good edition. They scored tries in all four matches, including the game against New Zealand. It was considered a great success that they left Italy without a bonus point and that they lost to Romania 14-10, even though they led until the very end of the match.
Portugal does not have players who play in the top clubs and who are the leaders of the game. Most of their players play in domestic competition and in French clubs in TOP14, PROD2 and National competition. What distinguishes them is training and discipline.
Expectations ׀ It will be very difficult for Portugal to achieve a positive result in any match. What we can expect from them is to reduce the difference in points compared to all teams. The Portuguese have been improving their game and results for years, and it is only a matter of time when they will be able to achieve more significant results.
