France for World Cup Triumph?

According to Scrum, former All Blacks captain Sean Fitzpatrick reckons that Frances Footy campaign in Germany can help spur on their rugby team.

There are many predicting that it'll be a France New Zealand finale, but we'll see.

Also view: IC Wales

South African Rugby Team

There's not much love-lost between England and the Springboks following the infamous match in 2002 when England gave them their biggest ever defeat: 53-3.

In 2005 the South African's smashed the Uruguayans to a record-setting defeat with Tonerai Chavanga scoring six tries.

2006 has been a transitionary period so far with new players coming into the squad but still managed to beat Scotland twice but lost narrowly to France.

Official Site:
SA Rugby

England Rugby Team

England have been coached by Andy Robinson since 2004, but it's anyone's guess how long he'll last following the dismal recent perfomances of the team.

England's highest scorer, Jonny Wilkinson has been in and out of action since the last World Cup and there's been too many changes to breed any sort of consistency in terms of team make-up and approach.

World Cup Record
1987 - Quarter finals
1991 - Final
1995 - Semi finals
1999 - Quarter finals
2003 - Champions

Official Site:
England Rugby Football Union

Latest News

Here we collate some of the best news about the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France.

• Argentina Qualify for World Cup
• Fixture List Announced

Argentina qualify for World Cup

Argintina will play in the 2007 Rugby World Cup Finals in France after there 26-0 win over Uruguay.

Migual Avromovic, the new Worcester signing, scored two tries and Federico Todeschini converted them and scored four penalties.

Uruguay now face Chile on 22 July and the winner of which will have to navigate a play-off game against Canada or the United States to progress to the finals.

Argentina will play in Pool D against France, Ireland, another European team and the best of teh African nations.

Rugby Shirts / Rugby Jerseys

We've teamed up with Lovell Rugby, one of the UK's leading online rugby retailers, who have a massive range of official replica rugby shirts, rugby boots, training wear, team kits and accessories from all major brands including Nike, Adidas, Kooga, Under Armour and Puma.

Currently they're offering ladies fitted rugby shirts from only £4.99!

But you can also get:

British Lions Rugby Shirts
England Rugby Shirts
International Rugby Shirts
Celtic League Rugby Shirts
International Club Rugby Shirts
Kooga Leisure Rugby Shirts
NPC Series Rugby Shirts
Rugby League Shirts
Super 12 Rugby Shirts
UK Club Rugby Shirts
Devon Rugby Shirts
Ladies Rugby Shirts
Kids Rugby Shirts
Rugby Teamwear

Current IRB World Rankings

The home nations are fairly close together with Ireland leading the way.

3/07/2006 Positions
1(1) NEW ZEALAND 93.32
2(2) FRANCE 87.53
3(3) SOUTH AFRICA 87.18
4(4) AUSTRALIA 85.59
5(5) IRELAND 82.01
6(6) ENGLAND 79.66
7(7) SCOTLAND 77.72
8(8) ARGENTINA 77.49
9(9) WALES 76.34
10(10) SAMOA 73.86
11(11) FIJI 73.15
12(12) ITALY 72.11
13(13) CANADA 68.16
14(14) USA 67.50
15(15) ROMANIA 67.31
16(16) TONGA 66.04
17(17) GEORGIA 65.56
18(18) URUGUAY 65.15
19(19) RUSSIA 64.54
20(20) JAPAN 63.05
21(21) PORTUGAL 61.16
22(22) MOROCCO 60.52
23(23) KOREA 60.21
24(24) CHILE 59.47
25(26) SPAIN 56.99
26(27) CZECH REPUBLIC 56.56
27(25) NAMIBIA 56.25
28(28) GERMANY 56.06
29(29) HONG KONG 55.21
30(30) PARAGUAY 53.82
31(35) TUNISIA 52.66
32(31) UKRAINE 52.54
33(32) NETHERLANDS 51.72
34(33) BELGIUM 51.51
35(34) BRAZIL 50.72
36(36) MOLDOVA 50.22
37(37) KENYA 49.91
38(39) POLAND 49.55
39(40) CROATIA 48.93
40(41) CHINESE TAIPEI 48.41
41(42) ARABIAN GULF 48.32
42(43) LATVIA 48.26
43(44) SRI LANKA 48.16
44(45) KAZAKHSTAN 47.95
45(46) SWEDEN 47.71
46(47) MADAGASCAR 47.71
47(38) IVORY COAST 47.54
48(48) ZIMBABWE 47.14
49(49) SWITZERLAND 47.13
50(50) CHINA 46.58
51(51) MALTA 46.43
52(52) SINGAPORE 46.00
53(53) COOK ISLANDS 45.87
54(54) VENEZUELA 45.45
55(55) PERU 45.44
56(56) PAPUA NEW GUINEA 45.09
57(57) DENMARK 45.05
58(62) UGANDA 44.99
59(58) TRINIDAD & TOBAGO 43.97
60(59) CAYMAN 43.87
61(60) ANDORRA 43.54
62(61) BARBADOS 43.13
63(63) THAILAND 42.32
64(64) SENEGAL 42.13
65(65) BERMUDA 41.69
66(66) LITHUANIA 41.19
67(67) NIUE ISLANDS 40.96
68(68) SLOVENIA 40.90
69(69) GUYANA 40.35
70(70) MALAYSIA 40.19
71(71) HUNGARY 40.05
72(72) SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO 40.04
73(73) AUSTRIA 39.97
74(74) ZAMBIA 39.96
75(75) ST. VINCENT & THE GRENADINES 39.30
76(76) SOLOMON ISLANDS 39.06
77(77) JAMAICA 38.97
78(78) MONACO 38.81
79(79) NORWAY 38.70
80(80) BOTSWANA 38.64
81(81) CAMEROON 38.52
82(82) GUAM 38.13
83(83) LUXEMBOURG 37.93
84(84) SWAZILAND 37.57
85(85) ST. LUCIA 37.57
86(86) COLOMBIA 37.53
87(87) TAHITI 36.25
88(88) INDIA 36.20
89(89) NIGERIA 36.00
90(90) BAHAMAS 35.61
91(91) BULGARIA 35.20
92(92) VANUATU 34.77
93(93) ISRAEL 34.56
94(94) BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA 31.80
95(95) FINLAND 29.32

Fixture List / Match Schedule

This is the current Rugby World Cup finals fixture list. Some of the teams haven't qualified yet so they're be holes:

Pool A
Sept 8: England – Americas 3 Stade Félix Bollaert, Lens
Sept 9: South Africa – Samoa Parc des Princes, Paris
Sept 12: Americas 3 – Repechage 2 Stade de la Mosson, Montpellier
Sept 14: England – South Africa Stade de France, St-Denis
Sept 16: Samoa – Repechage 2 Stade de la Mosson, Montpellier
Sept 22: South Africa – Repechage 2 Stade Félix Bollaert, Lens
Sept 22: England – Samoa Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes
Sept 26: Samoa – Americas 3 Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, Saint-Étienne
Sept 28: England – Repechage 2 Parc des Princes, Paris
Sept 30: South Africa – Americas 3 Stade de la Mosson, Montpellier

Pool B
Sept 8: Australia – Asia Stade de Gerland, Lyon
Sept 9: Wales – Americas 2 Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes
Sept 12: Asia – Fiji Stade de Toulouse, Toulouse
Sept 15: Wales – Australia Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Sept 16: Fiji – Americas 2 Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Sept 20: Wales – Asia Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Sept 23: Australia – Fiji Stade de la Mosson, Montpellier
Sept 25: Americas 2 – Asia Parc Lescure, Bordeaux
Sept 29: Australia – Americas 2 Parc Lescure, Bordeaux
Sept 29: Wales – Fiji Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes

Pool C
Sept 8: New Zealand – Europe 1 Stade Vélodrome, Marseille
Sept 9: Scotland – Repechage 1 Parc Lescure, Bordeaux
Sept 12: Europe 1 – Europe 2 Stade Vélodrome, Marseille
Sept 15: New Zealand – Repechage 1 Stade de Gerland, Lyon
Sept 18: Scotland – Europe 2 Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh
Sept 19: Europe 1 – Repechage 1 Parc des Princes, Paris
Sept 23: Scotland – New Zealand Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh
Sept 25: Europe 2 – Repechage 1 Stade de Toulouse, Toulouse
Sept 29: Scotland – Europe 1 Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, Saint-Étienne
Sept 29: New Zealand – Europe 2 Stade de Toulouse, Toulouse

Pool D
Sept 7: France – Americas 1 Stade de France, St-Denis
Sept 9: Ireland – Africa Parc Lescure, Bordeaux
Sept 11: Americas 1 – Europe 1 Stade de Gerland, Lyon
Sept 15: Ireland – Europe 3 Parc Lescure, Bordeaux
Sept 16: France – Africa Stade de Toulouse, Toulouse
Sept 21: France – Ireland Stade de France, St-Denis
Sept 22: Americas 1 – Africa Stade Vélodrome, Marseille
Sept 26: Europe 3 – Africa Stade Félix Bollaert, Lens
Sept 30: France – Europe 3 Stade Vélodrome, Marseille
Sept 30: Ireland – Americas 1 Parc des Princes, Paris

Quarter-Finals
Oct 6: QF1: Winner Pool B – runners-up Pool A Stade Vélodrome, Marseille
Oct 6: QF2: Winner pool C – runners-up Pool D Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Oct 7: QF3: Winner Pool A – runners-up Pool B Stade Vélodrome, Marseille
Oct 6: QF4: Winner Pool D – runners-up Pool C Stade de France, St-Denis

Semi-Finals
Oct 13: SF1: Winner QF1 – winner QF2 Stade de France, St-Denis
Oct 14: SF2: Winner QF3 – winner QF4 Stade de France, St-Denis

Third/Fourth Place Playoff
Oct 19: Loser SF1 – loser SF2 Parc des Princes, Paris

Final
Oct 20: Winner SF1 – winner SF2 Stade de France, St-Denis