The 2011 Rugby World Cup is a love-driven addiction for fans and players alike around the world. Canadians and expats will be staving off sleep to watch games in New Zealand that start at ungodly hours over the next two months. Similar to the FIFA World Cup, the Rugby World Cup (RWC) fields sixteen teams—including Canada—for this quadrennial event. One of the most popular sporting events in the world, the RWC is a global spectacle that wows devout rugby enthusiasts and new fans over an eight-week thrill ride.
The RWC is a relatively new event; the inaugural tournament was played in 1987 as New Zealand took the Webb Ellis trophy on home soil. England, South Africa, and Australia have all won the tournament, with the latter two having taken home multiple championships. Showcasing rugby’s global reach, teams from Samoa, Namibia, Romania, and Argentina are competing. Despite rugby’s niche popularity in Canada, the Canadian National team ranks 14th, below Japan and above Fiji.
Canadian rugby has a long and rich history spanning over 150 years. The first recorded Canadian rugby game was played at McGill University, as students from our university played against British officers stationed in Montreal. Rugby is most prevalent in countries that were under British colonial rule, but unfortunately for Canada, the game never quite caught on as it did in other places.
This year’s RWC is primed to become a classic. In the past, there has been a clear-cut favourite going into the tournament, but after #1 ranked New Zealand lost to Australia in the Tri Nation’s Cup at the beginning of this month, the door is wide open for the Wallabies, Springboks, and All Blacks of the Southern Hemisphere to take on the powers of the North: England, Ireland, and France.
When taking in a game at your favourite sports bar, at home (TSN is showing all games), or if you can make it down to New Zealand, keep an eye out for the stars of the game today. Ma’a Nonu, the Kiwi centre is on par with Australian scrumhalf Will Genia as the most exciting player on the planet. The stalwarts of the game are New Zealand captain Richie McCaw, Wallaby flanker David Pocock, and Irish outside centre, Brian O’Driscoll.
There is a large disparity between the top ten teams in the world and the rest – colloquially dubbed the ‘Rugby Minnows.’ Canada will have winnable matches against Japan and Tonga, with their tougher tests coming against New Zealand and France in Pool A. The Canadian team is optimistic after two solid pre-tournament wins against the United States plus a game against an Australian Barbarians side (club team all-stars). Led by captain Pat Riordan, a hooker from Victoria, the Canadian side looks to get scoring from centre DTH van der Merwe, fullback James Pritchard and lock Jamie Cudmore. 21-year-old Connor Trainor, a Vancouver native, joins Taylor Paris, an 18-year-old from Barrie as two of the brightest young players Canada has produced in recent memory. Brothers Phil and Jamie MacKenzie—winger and scrumhalf—represent a growing number of Canadians playing professionally overseas, developing their skills and helping rugby in Canada grow. Get ready for some long nights and awesome rugby.
