It will be very interesting in Group C to see what the draw will be at the end of the group competition. England and Argentina are the favourites, but expect some great rugby from Samoa and Japan as well. It could very well happen that this group is the most uncertain. There will be no shortage of good rugby. Chile’s only debutant at this World Cup is in this group, and it is very unlikely that they will achieve a positive result. Either way, we will enjoy every match.
England
Number of tournaments: 9
Best result: 1st place (2003)
Head Coach: Steve Borthwick
Капитен: Owen Farrell
Nickname /
The country where rugby originated and from where it first spread across the British Isles and eventually throughout the world. The expansion of rugby in the first half of the 19th century when former pupils of many English state schools, especially Rugby, encouraged the game, who on leaving school took the game with them to universities, London and the counties.
England’s first international match was against Scotland on the 27th of March 1871, and not only was this England’s first match, it was also recorded as the first international rugby match. Scotland won by one goal and a try while England had a try without a successful conversion, in front of a crowd of 4,000 at Raeburn Place in Edinburgh. The rematch took place at the Oval in London on the 5th of february 1872. when England beat Scotland by a goal, dropkick and two tries, while Scotland scored one dropkick. Early matches did not use a structured scoring system this would not be introduced until after 1890 when an appropriate format for the scoring system has been devised.
It goes without saying that England has participated in every World Cup so far. The English are always among the favourites, and each of their teams had the quality to go all the way. At the first World Cup in 1987 they were stopped in the quarter-finals by Wales, where they lost 16-3. In the following tournament, they reached the very final, where Australia defeated them 12-6 at Twickenham.
In South Africa in 1995 in the ½ final they had no solution for the incredible John Lomu who was relentless in contact. The English held on as long as they could, moreover, they were not bad at all, but in the end the All Blacks won 45-29. Again the English in 1999 were eliminated in the quarter-finals, when they lost to South Africa 44-21.
Then comes 2003 and England’s brightest generation in the professional era. That was the year when the Northern Hemisphere took the only World Cup trophy to date. First, the English were the maximum in the group with 4 wins. In the ¼ final they defeated Wales 28-17. In the ½ final in the were better than the French 24-7. And in the final, they defeated Australia in overtime with Johnny Wilkinson’s dropkick 20-17.
At the next World Cup in 2007, England reached the final as the favorite, but this time South Africa was better with a score of 15-6. In New Zealand in 2011 the English did not celebrate themselves because in the ¼ final they lost to France 19-12 in a match where they were favorites. And what can we say about 2015 where the World Cup was played in England and where the English did not pass the group stage. Still in Japan in 2019 were extremely focused and surprisingly reached the final where they still lost to South Africa with a score of 32-12.
The English always have top players. The practice is that players always play in the domestic Championship. A small exception has now been made for players whose clubs have been relegated from the Premiership due to financial problems. The leaders of this generation are Over Farrell who is known for his determination, then the excellent and strong Ellis Genge, Maro Itoje, Manu Tuilagi and the young Marcus Smith and Freddie Stewart.
Expectations ׀ Always expect the English to appear as favorites and as a team that can very easily beat everyone and lift the Champions Cup. The favorites are in the group, they have an open path to the ½ finals to avoid the best selections, judging by their form and placement in the World Ranking. It will be very interesting how England’s range is.
Argentina
Number of tournaments: 9
Best result: 3rd place (2007)
Head Coach: Michael Cheika
Captain: Julián Montoya
Nickname: Los Pumas
In the mid 19th century, Irish immigrants in Argentina introduced rugby and helped establish clubs in the country, although the first clubs in Argentina only accepted English members. Natives were rarely admitted, in most cases as an exception. The first rugby match in Argentina was played in 1873 year, on the grounds of the Cricket Club of Buenos Aires, which is located in Palermo, a part of Buenos Aires. Both teams were formed by members of the cricket club and played a mixture of football and rugby.
The history of the Argentine national team begins with the first match of the Argentine national team against the British Isles in 1910 when they visited South America. Argentina gained recognition in 1965 , when the team toured South Africa playing a series of friendly matches there. On that tour, the national team was nicknamed Los Pumas, a name that has become a sign of Argentina’s identity to this day.
Argentina is one of 12 nations to have played in all 9 World Cups. In the initial tournaments, they did not pass the group stage. However, in 1999 they made it to the ¼ final where they were stopped by France with a score of 47-26. However, it will be remembered that the Argentines became the official TIR 1 rugby nation when they were at the 2007 World Cup and won 3rd place. In 2015 they were also play in /2 finals, and they won 4th place . The previous tournament was disappointing where they finished the competition in the group stage. The 39-10 defeat against the English was especially painful.
Argentina has top players who play in top world clubs where they have leadership roles. Argentina used to have their own team in Super Rugby, but too many costs forced them to give up and play the slightly cheaper American Super Rugby. A large number of Argentina’s players are very experienced and this may be their last World Cup. Argentina’s scrum relies on captain Montoya, the experienced and ruthless Alemanni and Lavanini as well as Pablo Matera. Kubeli and Carreras are the team’s main playmakers. A lot will be expected from the young Carreras on the wing, who showed dependable speed and combativeness.
Expectations ׀ Fighting for the very top of the group with the English and Japanese. It is no secret that the Argentinians are perhaps the main contenders in this part of the draw. They have a squad for big things, they are all in their prime rugby years. This is the moment when they have to prove and show themselves and the fans how much they can do and how much they are worth as a team.
Japan
Number of tournaments: 9
Best result: ¼ finals (2019)
Head Coach: Jamie Joseph
Captain: Michael Leitch
Nickname: Cherry Blossoms/Brave Blossoms/Sakuras
The first recorded instance of rugby being played in Japan was in 1866 with the establishment of Yokohama Football Club. It was played mainly between service personnel, the matches were played on the garrison field in Yokohama. Rugby was played by sailors and British missionaries and immigrants. The date of Japanese participation in the sport is most often cited as 1899, when students at Keio University were introduced to the game by Professor Edward Bramwell Clarke and Ginosuke Tanaka, who graduated from Cambridge University.
The formation of the national team and actually Japan’s first international match was held in Osaka on the 31st january 1932 when Canada’s trade delegation to Japan supported the Canadian national rugby team’s overseas tour. The Japanese won this first match 9–8. In the second test match in Tokyo 11 days later, the Japanese side again defeated the Canadians 38–5.
Japan is one of 12 teams that has played in all World Cups. They also organized the last World Cup in 2019 . They cannot boast of great results until recently and participation in the 2015 World Cup in England when they shocked the world and created a first-class surprise by defeating South Africa 34-32. Then they did not pass the group even though they had 3 victories, but in the round with South Africa and Scotland they took third place.
However, already at the next World Cup 2019 on the home field they showed how much they know and can do. They defeated Russia, Ireland, Samoa and Scotland and took first place in the group with the maximum score. Never in the history of the World Cups has a TIR 2 rugby country topped the group without defeat.
All Japanese players play in the domestic Championship. The World Cup, which was organized in Japan, popularized rugby quite a bit, so that a large number of world stars and quality players have a professional engagement in League 1. A strong and high-quality league leads to the strengthening of the national team. Japan also had the Sunwolves selection where the best players had the opportunity to play Super Rugby. Unfortunately, the Sunwolves team no longer competes in Super Rugby. We are of the opinion that that team had one of the key contributions in the development of top rugby in Japan.
Expectations ׀ It will be very difficult for the Japanese in a very difficult group and at a very difficult time for them. They are definitely not in good shape and have not been playing well and not getting good results for some time. However, the World Cup is a special competition where everything can change in a month, which is how long the group competition will last. We can also expect the Japanese to fight for a place in the ¼ finals.
Samoa
Number of tournaments: 8
Best result: ¼ final (1991 and 1995)
Head Coach: Seilala Mapusua
Captain: Michael Ala’alatoa
Nickname Manu Samoa
Marist Pilgrims brought the game of rugby to Western Samoa in 1924 , and the Western Samoa Rugby Union was founded in 1924. At 18th of August 1924, Western Samoa played their first international match against Fiji in the capital Apia, where the visitors won 6-0. The match was played at 7 in the morning so that the Samoans would have time to get to work afterwards and it was played on a field with a large tree on the halfway line, as we have already written about Fiji in the previous article. In the second leg, Samoa won 9–3 to level the series.
In 1954 Western Samoa visited both Pacific Island neighbors Fiji and Tonga, but had to wait another 20 years before a tour of New Zealand took place. The Samoans won one of their eight matches on that tour.
The traditional tri-series between Tonga, Fiji and Western Samoa was established in 1982 when Western Samoa won the first tournament. Wales visited Western Samoa and won the match 32–6 in Apia. The tour led to a return visit to Wales which put Western Samoa out of international limbo, although Western Samoa were not invited to the inaugural Rugby World Cup in 1987.
However, since the 1991 World Cup so until today they were participants in all tournaments. They even had notable successes in 1991 and 1995 when they play in 1/4 finals. At the 1999 World Cup The Samoans qualified for the quarter-final play-off when the Scots beat them 35-20. In the other World Cups, Samoa achieved either one or two victories in the group, which they brought to them 3rd or 4th place and ending in group stage.
Samoa has some extremely interesting and quality players. Due to the new rule, they managed to bring back some of the players who played for other countries such as Lima Sapoanga, Christian Laeflan and Michael Alealato. Their players play a significant role in the strongest leagues in the world. A number of players feature for Moana Pacifica in Super Rugby.
Expectations │ Samoa can surprise. The quality is there, it’s just a question of how much they can do against the favorites England and Argentina. It will be very interesting to watch the match against Japan. Maybe Group D doesn’t look too strong when you look at the World Rankings, but it will be extremely uncertain. Samoa can surprise, and Samoa is ready to make a good result.
Chile
Number of tournament: debutant
Best result: debutant
Head Coach: Pablo Lemoine
Captain: Martín Sigren
Nickname: Los Cóndores
Rugby was introduced in Chile around the end of the 19th century, as well as in other parts of South America by British immigrants who arrived at the ports. The first recorded rugby match played on Chilean soil was in 1894 by British immigrants who lived in Santiago, Iquique and Valparaiso. Until the 1930s, the game was initially played mainly by the British community in Chile. The Chilean Federation was founded in 1935 .
Chile’s first ever match was against Argentina in September 1936 a two-game series played in the capital, Santiago. Chile lost both games by scores of 20-0 and 31-3. Chile hosted Argentina in 1938 in Buenos Aires and lost 33-3. The Chilean team began to compete more frequently in the 1950s. Chile played the first South American Rugby Championship against Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina in 1951 . Chile finished third, beating Brazil 68-0, but lost to both Uruguay and Argentina.
One of the key things for the development of South American rugby is the establishment of American Super Rugby where the franchises with the best players represent their nations. The success of that project can perhaps be measured by the number of national teams from South America at the World Cup. A very strong competition from which experience and quality are gained. Teams from North America have also recognized this, so we can expect many more teams and interesting matches in the near future.
The Chilean team in American Super Rugby is Selknam, and they have had solid results over the years. The vast majority of Chile’s players play for that team, with a few internationals playing in the lower leagues of England and France. In the qualifiers for the World Cup, opener Rodrigo Fernandez stood out and showed that he can play at a high level.
Expectations │ There should be no expectations from Chileans. They are expected to enjoy the matches of the World Cup, because they bravely fought for it. The qualification to the World Cup itself is a huge reward for Chilean rugby and a huge success. We need to reward those players and build a base, create quality for future generations. The experience gained will be invaluable.
