The Rest

This page is dedicated to the rest of the teams that will make the Rugby World Cup in 2011 the much anticipated competition that it is. Without the teams that are sometimes unkindly referred to as the "minnows", the competition would lose a lot of its character and become less fun. Each of the 20 teams that is at the world cup brings its own style of play, flair and character to the game. While they may not enjoy success on the field, the teams create the competition spirit and fun of the game.

Rugby Union World Cup 2011 – The Other Sides

Doubtless there will be people outraged that we have included the likes of Ireland, Wales, and Scotland in our "the rest" section, but at this point these teams will be making up the numbers and we consider them to be second, or less, in the pool they have been selected. We fully expect to be surprised by one or two upsets, but do not think that any of these teams, or even the surprising Argentineans, will pull off a win at the next Rugby Union World Cup. This is not to denigrate these quality sides, but with their form in the 6 nations and other competitions of late, these sides could not be considered contenders for the 2011 Rugby Union World Cup.

Rugby Union World Cup – Tonga, Fiji, Samoa

We'd like to make special mention of Tonga, Fiji, and Samoa. These teams struggle in adversity due to low population numbers, lack of resources, and the efforts of the bigger teams in having large numbers of players born in these islands playing on their sides. Also these teams struggle to have their best players released in time for the competition, year in and year out due to the demands of club rugby. However, in spite of all of this, each of these teams show real heart at the Rugby Union World Cup in every competition and play to their very best. The highlight of the last Rugby Union World Cup in 2007 was the Fijian triumph over Wales. Aside from the Welsh, we believe that upset was the greatest game of the competition.

Argentina and the Rugby Union World Cup 2011

Argentina really blasted themselves onto the international rugby scene in 2007 by defeating hosts France in the opening round of the competition. They announced that they were a force to be reckoned with and went on to claim many scalps in the competition. We were greatly heartened by this, and loved the extra competition that this team gave the 2007 tournament in France. We do not believe, and we say this with heavy hearts, that Argentina will rise to such lofty heights again in 2011. We do believe that they will be competitive, and will claim some surprising scalps at this tournament however.

Canada and the United States at the Rugby Union World Cup

Canada and the United States are always great to watch at the Rugby Union World Cup and have provided some great moments for us to reflect on. However, everyone knows that they will never win the competition, but nevertheless they do play some great rugby. Who can forget the American winger standing up Bryan Habana in 2007? What pace he showed against the fastest man in World Rugby. A moment of gold. Let's hope they can produce some more moments like that in the 2011 Rugby Union World Cup and claim a few wins to make the competition great.