I became a rugby fan a few years ago, and despite the sport’s lack of popularity and coverage here in the US, I’ve done my best to follow various teams over the years and watch whatever matches I can. I’m by no means an expert, but here’s my preview of the 2011 World Cup. If we have any others with more insight, feel free to contribute and/or edit any of my points.
The 7th edition of the Rugby World Cup is taking place this year in New Zealand, starting Sept. 9 and concluding 6 weeks later on October 23. While the sport has always enjoyed a strong following outside the US, things really came of age in 2007 in France, when the Rugby World Cup became the third most popular sporting event in the world, right behind the Olympics and the Soccer World Cup. This year should be no different, and the sport is even more popular now with 20 teams participating in 4 groups of pool play.
The Rugby World Cup, and the sport as a whole, has been dominated by the 3 Southern Hemisphere teams (New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa) who also play in the annual Tri-Nations Cup. These 3 are currently ranked 1-2-3 in the world, and are the heavy favorites to win the world cup this year. The strongest competition will come from Europe, with France, England, and Wales, ranked 4-6, respectively, leading the way. Scotland, Ireland, and Argentina follow in the order, with Samoa rounding out the top 10. The rest of the teams, including the US and Canada, do not factor in the big picture and are not expected to make it out of group play. In fact, to use a baseball analogy, the rest of the teams compare to AAA squads trying to compete against Major Leaguers.
There’s a fair amount of cross-over between rugby and American Football, but ultimately, they are two very different sports. For starters, rugby has not been watered down by affirmative action to increase the number of non-whites in the sport, although it has not been completely immune. Still, it’s a majority White sport, except for teams from the Pacific (Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Japan, etc) which are obviously represented by their own people. The black participation rate is extremely small.
Another important distinction between rugby and the NFL is that everyone plays offense and defense, and the action is continuous. There are two 40 minute halves, with a halftime in between and no TV timeouts, commercials, or sumos running for the oxygen masks after 1-2 plays. All the players are in top shape, and the biggest men (forwards) usually top out around 265lb. Most, however, are in the 245-255 range. There are no pads or helmets, although some players have been known to wear minimal protective gear which is allowed by the rules. Overall, rugby is a sport with a great display of speed, athleticism, agility, power, and endurance. It’s no surprise, therefore, that Whites dominate the sport and have some of the best players in the world on each team.
This year, NBC and Universal Sports will be showing a total of 10 games, including the opener which was last night, all the US games, plus the semis, 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] place match,, and the final. This is actually pathetic coverage and if you’re in the US, your best bets are to find a bar to watch the matches or pay for them online (Universal will be streaming all the matches). I’d encourage everyone to at least watch the free matches on NBC so you can get an idea about the sport and hopefully gain some newfound appreciation. The rules are not very hard to learn, you can read about them anywhere online, and as you start watching the matches, things will make more sense. This sport is not for the faint of heart and you have to be one tough son-of-a-gun to play it, especially at the world class level.
Here’s my racial breakdown of the top 10 teams. I do not have the figures for the starters, but all the White nations (including S. Africa) have majority White rosters and starting units. Remember, 30 total players on each team, 22 on game day, with a starting line-up of 15. Give this one an error margin of +/- 1, but I think I got this correct for the most part.
- New Zealand: 19 Whites, 8 Maori, 3 mixed
- Australia: 19 Whites, 11 Maori/mixed/various Pacific Islander
- South Africa: 21 Whites, 9 blacks
- France: 24 Whites, 3 blacks, 3 mixed
- England: 26 Whites, 2 blacks, 1 Samoan, 1 mixed
- Wales: 28 Whites, 1 black, 1 Pacific Islander
- Scotland: 29 Whites, 1 black
- Ireland: 30 Whites
- Argentina: 30 Whites (this is a tough one, it’s possible that there might be a few mixed/mestizos in here, but at a minimum there 25 Whites on the roster, if not more)
- Samoa: 30 Samoans (including a few that appear to be mixed)
Also, for US and Canada:
- US: 21 Whites, 6 Pacific Islanders, 2 mixed, 1 black
- Canada: 28 Whites, 1 black, 1 Asian
And finally, who to root for? Well, I’ve always been a fan of the All Blacks (NZ) and Springboks (SA), so those are the two teams I’m rooting for to meet up in the final, with the host New Zealand finally winning their 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] cup, which has eluded them for 24 years since winning the very first cup in 1987, also on home soil. If you’re strictly going for the Whitest team, then either England or France would be the ones to cheer, as they have the most realistic shot at winning it all.
