Argentina is a Tier One Regional Model

Scotland 15-6 Georgia, RWC 2011
Close game yet a rare fixture

In rugby international competition is divided into three categories. Known as tiers they are used to establish a basis for present and future ability, setting a platform for sides to know where they lie and just how much work they need to do to advance to a superior tier and also not fall down to an inferior tier. The IRB World Rankings has ninety-six nations but the top two tiers account for only the top eighteen sides. Of the sides considered as being the Top Two Tiers all except Georgia have competed at every Rugby World Cup since it was expanded from sixteen to twenty teams in 1999. The First Tier consists of ten sides - Australia, Argentina, England, France, Ireland, Italy,  New Zealand, Scotland, South Africa and Wales. The same teams account for all places in the Six Nations Championship and The Rugby Championship. The Second Tier consists of eight sides - Canada, Fiji, Georgia, Japan, Romania, Samoa, Tonga and the United States of America. In New Zealand 2011 these eighteen sides were joined by Namibia and Russia. As expected, no Tier Two side made the Quarter Finals of the tournament and neither Namibia nor Russia won a match which goes to show the tiers´ are a good reflection of the global rugby order. 

Despite the tiers not being geographically organized at all the IRB and Rugby World Cup Limited operate on a regional structure which in the case of  Namibia, for instance, has seen the African nation qualify for the past four World Cup´s, despite never having come close to winning a World Cup match. Namibia, a Tier Three nation, has been Africa´s best for the past twelve years but has only participated at World Cup´s due to Africa being given a direct qualifying spot. This controversy highlights the failures of the global rugby authorities to create a fair system for all in that African Tier Three sides have a massive advantage over all Tier Three nations from all other regions - Asia, Europe, Oceania and the Americas. While Namibia qualified after defeating no teams from Rugby World Cup 1999, 2003 or 2007 Russia qualified after defeating teams from each of these World Cup´s - Portugal, Romania and Spain. The Europeans happened to also have significantly higher placings in the IRB World Rankings than the sides Namibia played against. 

While Namibia has been the big winner in this, the biggest loser has been South America as it is the only continent which is not allocated World Cup qualification to the team which finishes first in qualification matches. The unjust system has the South American winner face the North American runner up with the winner of that qualifying for the World Cup as Americas 2. This ignores the Tier structure since North America has two sides from the second tier but South America doesn´t have any. Having Uruguay win the South American qualification series and then face Tier two sides while Namibia qualify automatically after only facing tier three sides is unjustifiable and simply odd. Seemingly, Uruguay´s two World Cup wins from seven matches has been entirely discredited. Curiously, the side that Uruguay defeated in Rugby World Cup 2003, Georgia, has gone on to now be a Tier Two side.

Chile vs Brazil, May 2012.
Argentina face both also in May 2012

Despite the IRB not doing good enough for the Americas, Argentina remains a regional leader. There is little to suggest that teams are closing the gap on Argentina. To the contrary, Los Pumas are a permanent tier one side that continues to match it against the best. Without its professional players, Argentina is still far too strong for the others in South America, as demonstrated yesterday with a 40-5 win over Uruguay. Such matches do little for Argentine rugby but are crucial to the growth of the likes of Brazil, Chile and Uruguay. Argentina´s annual participation in the South American Championship (CONSUR A) gives potential Pumas of the future a chance but, more importantly, acts as a measuring stick for Argentina´s opponents, all of which are Tier Three rugby nations. Of the nine other Tier One sides no team plays in an annual  regional competition comparable to the South American Championship. There is no Oceania Cup involving Australia , New Zealand and the three Tier Two sides of Fiji, Samoa and Tonga. Nor is there an African Cup involving South Africa and other teams from the continent. Europe, similarly, has no competition featuring the Six Nations sides and the emerging nations. Last years World Cup saw Scotland defeating Georgia 15-6. The Tier One side failed to score a try. Yet there is no international competition between the sides at all and the match was, amazingly, the first ever between the two nations.

The reason for no regional competitions is not the differing abilities, if it were then World Cup´s would only feature Tier One sides. The First Tier simply have no interest in such matches taking place due to the financial costs involved. Aside from Argentina facing its South American counterparts in the CONSUR A tournament the only comparable example is Asia which has Japan (Tier Two) competiting in the Asian Five Nations which sees the Japanese face the next four best Asian sides - currently Hong Kong, Kazakhstan, South Korea and the United Arab Emirates. Japan is Asia´s only non-Tier Three rugby nation and has competed at every World Cup. When Japan host Rugby World Cup 2019 it will be representing Asia and Argentina stands out as a regional leader for similar reasons. The South American Championship is a key part of developing the global game and it further underlines what Argentina has to offer as a World Cup host.

Canada vs Wales 2009

York University, Toronto

One week after giving Ireland a good match in Vancouver in June 2009, Canada played hosted to Wales at York University in Toronto. Canada did well against Ireland but were unlucky to lose by the margin of 25-6. The Welsh had played the USA the previous week, winning 27-10 in Chicago but were given a good match by the Eagles. The tour took place while the British & Irish Lions were touring South Africa and as such neither Ireland nor Wales had its full squad of players avaliable. The games were, nevertheless, full internationals counting towards IRB World Rankings. Furthermore, the touring European sides were made up exclusively of full time professional players while the same could not be said of either Canada or the USA. In hosting Wales, Canada fieled a side with more amateur players than professionals and the country´ leading professional, Jamie Cudmore was absent as he was still on club duty with Clermont in the Top 14 play-off´s. 

The match proved to be a great international encounter as both sides scored two tries each and all four tries were scored by backs. Wales scored the only try of the first half to take a 16-9 halftime lead. Canada responded strongly after the interval, however as winger Phil Mack scored in the 42nd minute to tie the magtch at 16-16 with the conversion from James Pritchard. The Europeans responded with a try five minutes latter and with Dan Biggar kicking penalties Wales went clear to hold a 29-16 lead after 56 minutes. Canada´s second try gave the hosts hope as scrumhalf Ed Fairhurst went over in the 58th minute. The lead was cut to 29-23 with Pritchard´s conversion but the Canucks would not score again. Biggar would add another penalty in the 72nd minute, his sixth of the match, to make it 32-23 which was the final score. Wales used the match to play in an alternative strip, yellow allowing Canada to play in its official strip of red.

Such fixtures are precisely what Tier Two sides need if the likes of Canada and the USA can improve to make World Cup´s better. Following recent discussions both teams are soon to be confirmed in a new Pacific Nations Cup which will involve all non-European tier two teams. A competition involving Canada, Fiji, Japan, Samoa, Tonga and the United States of America will go a long way to helping bridge the gap and significantly improve the fixtures for the North Americans. With Italy visiting the Americas next month, Canada and the USA will have a great chance of hosting a top side and a similar fixture will be repeated in 2013 with Ireland visiting and then in 2014 with Ireland being the touring side. 

Hanno Dirksen signs new two year deal with Ospreys

The international future of Hanno Dirksen remains unknown as the South African born, USA raised back could still end up playing for Wales. The highly talented 21 year old played for the United States of America at the age grade level and was even played for the senior USA Eagles team in a match vs Irish province Munster. He has, howver, never played an official test match nor has he played for the Senior A side of Sevens team of the USA or anybody else. As such, he remains elligible to play for not only the USA but also South Africa and, shortly, Wales. It appears that Wales have him wrapped up however with Rob Howley having said he is monitoring Dirksen. Should he play for Wales he will need to wait until 2014, however, as before then he will not be elligible. He has been in Wales since 2009. 

Should Dirksen play for Wales it would be a huge loss to the USA who have invested huge resources into his development with the clear objective being for him to represent the USA. He is one of only a select group of USA rugby players to have received a USRFF Advanced Player Grant. Dirksen and his family moved to the USA when he was 15 years old. While his international future remains unknown, Dirksen´s professional future is certain as he has signed a new contract to stay on at the Ospreys for two years. The deal will see him become elligible for Wales but the USA may well convince him to play for the Eagles first. Should Dirksen seek to be an international player then his best chance is certainly with the USA as Wales are stacked with options for wing including the young Steven Shingler who this past Tuesday was deemed to the property of Wales and not Scotland. 

Can USA persuade Hanno Dirksen to play for them?

Hanno Dirksen has been on fine
form the Ospreys and become a very
popular player amongst fans for his
committed style of play

During the Six Nations period with Tommy Bowe playing for Ireland and Shane Williams now having taken a step back on his play duties before he fully retires at the end of the season, the South African born American winger Hanno Dirksen has come in and been a revelation for the Ospreys, and with the recent retirement of Kevin Swiryn due to injury he would be firmly in line for his first cap with the Eagles this summer.

But that is if he can be persuaded to play for the USA, he has previously pledged his allegiance to Wales and was expected to qualify for Wales at the end of the season after three years in Wales, and may well have been in with a chance of getting into the squad over the next 12 months on current form.

But according to a report from Welsh newspaper the Western Mail last weekend, he may not be available for Welsh selection so soon. The paper reported that because for the first two years of his stay in Wales, he was staying on a student visa, it means that those first two years don't count towards the three year qualification period. So after this season, Dirksen would have to spend another two seasons with the Ospreys before qualifying to play for Wales.

Dirksen in USA colours
back in 2008

If the report is accurate, then it means that the USA could have another two years to try and persuade him to play for them rather than Wales. If the new USA coach Mike Tolkin could manage to persuade Dirksen to play for the States it would be huge news for American rugby as Dirksen has really proved a very good player this season with potential to get even better.

There have been rumours that the Eagles management and coaching staff have already identified trying to persuade Dirksen to play for them as a key goal. It is also rumoured that if successful, he may play fly half for the USA, a position he played when he was representing the USA at youth level, and also a position where the USA have lacked quality in since Mike Hercus left the side.

Dirksen would be one of the USA's best players, and be unless any drastic misfortune occurs, a guaranteed member of the 2015 World Cup squad he would also be young enough to make 2019 and 2023. Whilst if he opted for Wales, he may well also be a great player for them too, but there would also be a risk of him winning just a handful of caps and then being lost to international rugby for good.

(Video: Hanno Dirksen's phenomenal individual try against Edinburgh in the RaboPro12, one of the best of the season so far)

Federico Martín Aramburú smashes Jamie Roberts

During Glasgow's 31-3 thrashing of the Cardiff Blues last Friday, Glasgow's Argentine winger Federico Martín Aramburú smashed the big Wales inside centre Jamie Roberts forcing him to knock on and ended a Cardiff Blues attack. The coffee book tackle took the Welsh destroyer by surprize and summed up the conflicting form of both teams nicely. The Warriors remain on course for a place in the Rabo Direct Pro 12 Semi Finals while the Blues simply want to see out the season having dropped matches that the club should have won. 

The 32 year old Aramburu is a former Pumas winger who played 22 test matches for his country, including playing two Rugby World Cup matches in 2007. He has been around the blocks, having played in France for Biarritz, Perpignan and Dax before joining the Glasgow Warriors last season. His missed out on selection for last years World Cup and last featured for Argentina in the 9-6 victory over Scotland at Murrayfield in 2009. He had the honor of captaining Argentina A vs France A in his home city of La Plata in 2010 and also captained Dax in his final season playing in France.

(Video: Federico Martín Aramburú smashes Jamie Roberts)

Wales vs Canada 1993

The recently crowned Grand Slam Champions of Europe, Wales were one team that was defeated at the hands of Canada in the 1990´s. Canadian rugby was on a high in the latter stages of the days of amateurism and backed up its appearance at the Quarter Finals stage of Rugby World Cup 1991 with some impressive results in the following years. In Rugby World Cup 1991 Canada had impressed in defeating Fiji and Romania and gave France a good match before losing. It was, nevertheless, enough to advance and Canada faced New Zealand in the Quarter Finals, giving the All Blacks a good run for their money. Rugby purists the world over are well aware of Canada´s appearance at the Quarter Finals stage and it is used as a marker to show that Canada is a proud rugby country that has achieved on the greatest stage of them all. 

Al Charron, RWC 2003 Captain

Canada´s biggest accomplishments, possibly of all time, were not in 1991, however. Rather, the year 1993 is one which to this day has been Canada´s finest hour. Canada hosted England while the Lions were touring New Zealand and as such, the RFU requested that the match not be termed an international and had England play under the name of England XV. It was, in effect, a strategy utilized to make it a win-win situation for England. Should England lose they could blame it on the Lions and claim it was just a training match. A win, in contrast, would be a way of saying England´s depth is strong and formidable. The cover that this provided worked out in England´s favor as Canada´s 15-12 win at Burnaby Lake has gone down in history as being a non-international. Latter that year, Canada were not denied a famous win on a techinicality, however as Wales defeated Wales 26-24 in Cardiff thanks to a late try to Al Charron to claim what, to this day, remains Canada´s greatest triumph. The match took place at the venue that has since been upgraded and renamed as the Millenium Stadium. Not only did Canada win in Wales but the home side was unable to score a try with Neil Jenkins´ boot being responsible for all of the Welsh points. 

Gareth Rees, RWC 1995 / 1999 Captain

The following year, Canada continued to impress with the North Americans completing an 18-16 home victory in Nepean over France with IRB Hall of Famer, Gareth Rees kicking the Canadians to victory. During this period, Canada was also significantly better than its North American counterpart, the USA with Canada regularly winning the matches and doing so by comfortable margins. Canada was also too strong for Japan and completed a good 22-10 win over Fiji in Nadi in 1995. Being drawn with both Australia and South Africa at Rugby World Cup 1995 meant Canada´s chances of advancing to the Quarter Finals were extremely difficult and this proved to be the reality despite Canada giving both teams strong matches. From there things became tougher and tougher for Canada as the advent of professional rugby lifted the level of all teams who exposed their players to professionalism. Canada missed the boat and it has proven to have held back the development of the country´s national team. Fiji, with players involved in Super Rugby and elsewhere completed a 38-22 win over Canada during Rugby World Cup 1999. Canada then went on to  crush Namibia 72-11. Had Canada won vs Fiji it would have advanced in the tournament. 

Rabo Direct Pro 12 - Round 18 Wrap

Edinburgh 15-29 Newport-Gwent Dragons

Edinburgh continue to look like anything other than a Heineken Cup Quarter Finalists, let alone a team hosting a Quarter Final. the Scottish side again had a poor showing in the Pro 12 with Wales´ weakest side having few problmes in completing a good win.Ulises Gamboa was on the bnech for the Scot´s but Esteban Lozada was left out of the match day team.

Leinster 22-23 Ospreys

Top of the table Leinster lost for the first time in 21 matches with the up-and-down Ospreys getting a good win to stay in the Top Four. It was the come back match for Brian O´Driscoll. Former USA age grade player, Hanno Dirksen again started on the right wing for the Welsh region while Canada´s Chauncey O´Toole was left out of the team.

Glasgow Warriors 29-6 Aironi

Another side firmly in the Top Four is Scotland´s Glasgow Warriors who completed an easy win over Italian side, Aironi also on Friday. The USA´s Tommy Seymour scored the first try of the match as he played on the wing for Glasgow. Aironi´s points came from the boot of the Argentine-Italian, Luciano Orquera. Both sides had other players from the Americas with Federico Martín Aramburu playing 62 minutes at inside centre and Argentine-Italian frontrower, Matías Agüero entering from the bench for Aironi.

Benetton Treviso 23-37 Ulster

a late minute try from Ulster robbed Benneton Treviso of another famous victory. The Italians had been leading by 10 points with as many minutes remaining after Argentine flyhalf, Alberto di Bernardo went over for a try in the 29th minute to make it 23-13. But it was to be the luck of the Irish as one last change gave Ulster the win. The Argentine-Italian, Gonzalo García played the full match while three other players from Argentina came on from the bench in the form of Diego Vidal, Ignacio Fernández Rouyet and Gonzalo Padro.

Cardiff Blues 14-26 Scarlets

After letting a great opportunity go begging last weekend vs the Newport-Gwent Dragons, the Cardiff Blues let another go, this time vs the Scarlets. Cardiff are now sitting in seventh position six points outside of the play-off´s zone while both Ulster and the Scarlets are one point behind Glasgow and three behind the Ospreys. 

Connacht 16-20 Munster

The away win sees Irish powerhouses, Munster, move into second position in the standings while Connacht continue to have no chance of advancing at all. Even with a virtual B team Munster was still too strong. The USA born Irish interantional flyhalf,. Ronan O´Gara was amongst the players rested for the encounter.

Leinster vs Ospreys


Rabo Direct Pro 12 Standings
1 Leinster 64
2 Munster 56
3 Ospreys 53
4 Glasgow 51
______________
5 Ulster 50
6 Scarlets 50
7 Cardiff 45
8 Dragons 33
9 Treviso 30
10 Connacht 25
11 Edinburgh 23
12 Aironi 19

Rugby World Cup 2007 - Canada vs Fiji

Host venues for France 2007

The best Rugby World Cup ever was not Rugby World Cup 2011 but rather 2007. Both tournaments delivered quality matches with upsets taking place and were well organzed. The crowds were larger at France 2007 not only because the venues are larger but because there were some matches that were not well attended in New Zealand 2011. The crunch Pool 3 match of Argentina vs Scotland in Wellington had a crowd of under 30,000 at a venue of 40,000. The empty seats painted a negative image. The same did not happen four years earlier as France delivered big crowds with crowds packing matches throughout the country. The one weakness of the tournament was the allocation of two matches to Edinburgh and three to Cardiff. These British cities hosted matches in exchange for voting on France rather than England as the host nation for Rugby World Cup 2007. Ireland had been set to all host but missed out due to the reconstruction of the former Lansdown Road in Dublin. Curiously, Wales will host yet again in 2015 as England looks to utilize the Millenium Stadium, a venue which failed to deliver for two of its three matches in 2007. 

Should Argentina host Rugby World Cup 2023 it can do so on its own and has absolutely no need to have a subhost involved. The stated requirements of a minimum of ten venues can be more than catered for by the Republic of Argentina. The South American country´s home matches in 2012 are a strong indication that the country has the capability with six different cities confirmed to host Los Pumas´ six home matches. The UAR had given cities throughout Argentina the opportunity of officially bidding to host internationals this year and delivered on its promise with Córdoba, La Plata, Mendoza, Rosario, San Juan and Tucumán confirmed to host matches. All meet the requirements as cities to host World Cup matches and, with the exception of Tucumán, all are modern stadiums. In awarding these cities matches, there were other´s interested in hosting  who missed out. Buenos Aires, Resistencia, Salta and Santa Fé had all applied for matches too and all have appropriate stadiums. This would give Argentina with ten venues, one less than what Australia used in hosting Rugby World Cup 2003 and the same number of French venues in 2007.

Morgan Williams passes from a ruck

On the second weekend of France 2007 Canada vs Fiji took place in Cardiff. It was the second match for both teams with Canada having pushed Wales hard before at a packed Nantes being overwhelmed  and Fiji having played one of the best matches of the tournament to hold off Japan for a 35-31 victory in front of a packed Toulouse. It was a match that neither Fiji nor Canada could afford to lose as both were chasing the dream of a Quarters Finals appearance, with Canada having made the final eight in 1991 and Fiji in 1987. Whoever lost this match would see its chances of advancing evaporate. With a highly visible large quantity of unsold seats, Fiji held off a Canadian team that was determined to get the job done but missed ou on scoring tries at crucial times. Having been leading 15-6 at the interval, Fiji were able to complete a 29-16 win but it was Canada playing all the rugby in the second half. Had Mike Pike´s 70th minute try been awarded by the video referee then Canada could well have won the match. Fiji´s spontaneity, however, proved to be match winning.  

The tournament was the end of an era for Canadian rugby with legendary internationals and former Stade Français players Morgan Williams and Mike James playing international rugby for the final time. The strength of Canada in certain positions meant Jamie Cudmore was playing in the backrow and Ed Fairhurst was on the bench. Curiously, Canada´s 2011 no. 8 was also on the bench but as hooker. Another play to change position was Ryan Smith who in New Zealand 2011 played inside centre but was the teams flyhalf vs Fiji in 2007. He replaced Ander Monro for the match and had a good performance, scoring Canada´s only try. At the time he was based in France with the then Top 14 Orange side, Montauban. 

IRB World Rankings June Implications

Canada celebrate beating Tonga. Could Canada make the Top Ten?

Following the completion of Europe´s premier international competition, the Six Nations the IRB World Rankings of its participants tell a tale of two cities. There is a clear split between the top four and the bottom two. Champions Wales were undefeated and deserved the title but the teams wins over England and France were Ireland were by small margins and all could have been loses. Results against Italy and Scotland were clearer with bigger wins not only from Wales but from the other three teams. It is a continuation of a long term trend in which Scotland have been falling behind while Ireland and Wales have been eliminating the gap between themselves and that of England and Scotland. Italy, in contrast to Scotland, have been improving and the evidence on the international stage as well as within Italian rugby seems to underline the progress of the sport in the country. Scotland, like Italy, are seemingly now a far different prospect at home than in away matches. While the other four are able to perform well home and away.

Could the USA topple Italy in 2012?

The IRB World Rankings have neither Italy nor Scotland in the World´s Top Ten. Both teams are in fact ranked much closer to Canada than they are to Argentina. Canada ranked 13th in the world with Italy and Scotland in 11th and 12th. The points difference sees Canada less than one point behind Scotland and less than two behind Italy. Scotland are more than six points behind Argentina. The European team ranked closed to both Italy and Scotland (besides eachother) is not a Six Nations participant, but rather, Georgia. Similar to Argentina entering The Rugby Championship, Georgia needs to be integrated into the Six Nations. One thing that the current shape of the World Rankings does show is that the June 2012 tours are set up well with Italy to play Argentina in San Juan, the USA in Houston and Canada in Toronto. Scotland will face Australia, Fiji and Samoa. But these tours are not common, rather a rare thing. Scotland will also host Tonga in November, giving it a good chance of rising in rankings. 

Rupeni Caucau vs Scotland in 2003

Should Scotland end the year outside of the Top Ten then Georgia´s case for a place in the Six Nations would be greatly amplified. The matches against Tier Two sides will enable them to pick up IRB Rankings points, especially because the teams they will face are ranked closely. The lowest ranked side that Scotland will face is Fiji in 17th, the same team that ran riot vs the Scot´s at Rugby World Cup 2003 with Rupeni Caucau breaking the line at will. It took the boot of Chris Paterson to rescue Scotland that day. He has now gone to retirement, however, and Scotland´s goalkicking has suffered. Fiji and Samoa will be no easy games for the Scot´s and it could see the Scot´s appear more like a Tier Two than a Tier One side. Italy, in contrast,  have a tough first match in San Juan and then head north to Toronto and Houston. If Italy´s ambition is to be ranked as highly as possible than Jacques Brunel may well opt to field his strongest team in North America, especially given the schedule of facing Canada on Friday evening, having played Argentina on the previous Saturday some 8,380KM away. 

Both Canada and the USA will also play host to Georgia. Any slip ups from either Scotland or Italy would therefore sink the sides lower than their present rankings. Should Canada replicate the form it showed at Rugby World Cup 2011 it could well win all four tests this June. Such a scenario would see the Canadians move towards the Top Ten and if Scotland fail to win in Fiji and Samoa then Canada could be ranked even higher. The USA´s position of 17th could also change greatly. Should the USA Eagles have success in June then it will rise and further put into dispute the IRB´s distribution of qualification places for Rugby World Cup 2015. The USA is ranked behind all of its opponents for the June internationals which means that wins will be more significant for the Eagles than the Canadians. Curiously, the USA is ranked closer to Chile than it is to Canada. This is a sign of the lack of matches the USA has against lower ranked sides. The opposite is true of Namibia, which explains the Africans position in World Rankings.

The World´s Top 25 also features five countries from the Americas. In other words the Americas make up for 20% of the World´s top 25 teams. Three come from South America and two from North America. South America is the only region to not have automatic qualification granted to the winner of its phase of World Cup qualification. Not only does it go against performances at World Cup´s but it also goes against World Rankings. Rather than solving the issue of African participants, other than South Africa struggling, the IRB opted to continue giving Africa an automatic place with Africa one going directly to in Rugby World Cup 2015 while South America 1 will have to face North America 1 and the loser enter repercharge. The IRB, whether intentional or not, continues to fail to address its special treatment of gifting Africa 1 a place at World Cups. Unlike other regions, it is not a system based on merit. Japan, for instance, are clearly a team who should always be at World Cup´s despite not having won many matches. Both the USA and Canada have won more as has Uruguay yet Namibia has played 24 for zero wins, sits behind Spain in World Rankings and does not have a good record against sides from outside of Africa. 

Current IRB World Rankings

1(1)	New Zealand	91.43
2(2)	Australia	87.99
3(3)	South Africa	84.34
4(4)	England	83.62
5(5)	Wales	83.32
6(6)	France	81.91
7(8)	Argentina	80.28
8(7)	Ireland	79.85
9(9)	Tonga	76.63
10(10)	Samoa	75.81
11(12)	Italy	74.17
12(11)	Scotland	73.86
13(13)	Canada	72.92
14(14)	Japan	70.45
15(15)	Georgia	70.26
16(16)	Fiji	68.78
17(17)	United States	65.63
18(18)	Romania	63.81
19(19)	Spain	62.57
20(20)	Namibia	61.24
21(21)	Uruguay	60.47
22(22)	Russia	60.12
23(23)	Chile	59.52
24(25)	Belgium	58.88
25(24)	Portugal	57.75

For a complete list of IRB World Rankings click here.

Canada vs Wales - Rugby World Cup 2007

RWC 2007 captain, Morgan Williams

Canada produced some of the biggest shocks in the 1990´s with wins over elite opposition including Ireland, Italy and Wales. The North Americans also made the Quarter Finals of Rugby World Cup 1991 and for a large period were the best teams from the Americas. With the advent of professionalism, things were never the same for Canada but this has not stopped the country´s team performing well at subsequent World Cups. While the team has not been able to repeat the Quarter Finals appearnace, Canada has, nonetheless, scored some good wins over Namibia, Romania and Tonga and two draws with Japan. 

Canada´s debut match at Rugby World Cup 2007 was against Wales, the team who had surprized everybody in the 2005 Six Nations with a Grand Slam victory. Wales entered the World Cup as the second seed from its pool which also included Australia, Canada, Fiji and Japan. The Europeans were keen on putting up their hand to show they were the real thing. Canada had other ideas, however, and Wales were pushed very far. It took the introduction of Stephen Jones and Gareth Thomas int the secondhalf to change he shape of the match. Wales had been ahead 9-0 but Canada had turned the first half around to be ahead 17-9 to the delight of the Nantes crowd. Wales´s second half come back was too good for the Canadians but the match was another reminder of the power of rugby in the Americas.