RWC 2019 – Individual Facts and Trivia

There are always interesting numbers to look at as the Rugby World Cup progresses but there are already some worth taking note of before the tournament begins. As ever the game features a mix of youth and experience, big and small, and very which way in between.

 

SIZE MATTERS

Spare a thought for Devin Toner, who would have claimed the title as the tallest man but was left out by Ireland coach Joe Schmidt. Instead that goes to Australia’s Rory Arnold, who stands an impressive 6’10” (2.08m), putting him just slightly ahead of South Africa’s RG Snyman (6’9.5″ – 2.07m). There are 15 players in attendance who reach the 6’8″ (2.03m) threshold, including two from the USA in Greg Peterson and Nick Civetta, while Uruguay’s Manuel Leindekar seems to still be growing and could actually be 6’9″ (2.05m) depending on who is holding the measuring tape.

At the other end of the height spectrum are four players who stand 5’6″ (1.68m) or shorter. Unsurprisingly the Brave Blossoms have two with Fumiaki Tanaka and Yutaka Nagare both at 5’5″ (1.66m) while South Africa’s Herschel Jantjies just meets the 5’6″ mark. Just a hair below Japan’s pair is Namibia’s Damian Stevens, who comes in one centimeter less at 1.65m. Coincidentally all four are scrumhalves. They shouldn’t feel too out of place in Japan with the average male height just 5’7″ (1.71m).

When it comes time for the scale, no man comes close to Tonga’s Ben Tameifuna. The giant prop comes in somewhere the region of 335lbs (153kg). Only around 10 other players even hit 285lbs (130kg) so Big Ben has a considerable lead in that department. Incredibly he is more than twice the size of the tournament’s lightest players – Tanaka and Nagare are both about 160lbs (73kg).

 

AGE IS JUST A NUMBER

Tell that to Japan’s Luke Thompson, who likely feels every minute as old as his 38 years and 157 days. Now heading into his 4th World Cup, he is the tournament’s oldest player, beating South Africa’s Schalk Brits by exactly one month. The three 37-year-olds – Hubert Buydens (Canada), Tusi Pisi (Samoa), and Rory Best (Ireland) – get to fly slightly under the radar.

Meanwhile two players born in 2000 are set to take part. Georgian hooker Vano Karkadze is roughly three months younger than Australia’s Jordan Petaia. The USA’s David Ainu’u is the only other teenager with his 20th birthday not coming until late November, while two flyhalves turned 20 over the summer – Tedo Abzhandadze (Georgia) and Romain Ntamack (France).

 

ARE YOU EXPERIENCED?

Italy’s Argentine-born captain Sergio Parisse will call an end to his great career at the end of the tournament. This is his 5th World Cup, which ties the record held by former Azzurri teammate Mauro Bergamasco and Samoan hit-man Brian Lima. Parisse has 140 test caps, three more than Alun Wyn Jones, though the latter has 127 for for Wales and 10 for the Lions. In all there are 14 test centurions at the tournament with two Australians – Rob Simmons (98) and Michael Hooper (95) set to join the club.

There are two teams whose most-capped player hasn’t reached 50 caps, in fact neither have hit 40! It comes as no surprise that they are both from Pacific Island teams – Tusi Pisi has 38 for Samoa and Siale Piutau has 39 for Tonga. Pisi technically has 41 but three were with the Pacific Islanders. The USA only has one player at the 50-mark, with Blaine Scully reaching the half-century in the final warm-up test against Canada in Vancouver.

A fair number of uncapped players were named in training squads but only two players enter the tournament with zero caps on their record – Jordan Petaia of Australia, the second-youngest player at the tournament, and 26-year-old Namibia winger PJ Walters share that distinction. Ten others have but one cap to their name including Argentine backs Santiago Carreras and Lucas Mensa, and Uruguay prop Joaquín Jaunsolo. The latter, in fact, is yet to play a test with his lone senior international appearance coming against the Argentina XV in the Americas Rugby Championship.

 

UPCOMING MILESTONES

As mentioned above, two Australians are on the verge of joining the century club. Rob Simmons is just two shy on 98 caps, with captain Michael Hooper just behind on 95. There are several others who could crack the 50-mark in the pool stage including:

49 caps – Guido Petti (Argentina), Djustice Sears-Duru (Canada), Levan Chilachava (Georgia), Darryl de la Harpe (Namibia), Duane Vermeulen (South Africa), Germán Kessler (Uruguay)
48 caps – James O’Connor (Australia), Gaël Fickou (France), Wesley Fofana (France), Iain Henderson (Ireland), Vladimir Ostroushko (Russia)
47 caps – Matt To’omua (Australia), Jonny May (England), Cam Dolan (USA)
46 caps – Lasha Lomidze (Georgia), Finn Russell (Scotland), Ignacio Dotti (Uruguay)

In terms of scoring, Yuri Kushnarev is getting close to becoming the first Russia player to score 800 points. According to Rugby Russia he has 781 in 111 appearances for the Bears. 16 players have reached 100 points at the World Cup, with five within striking range this time around:

97 RWC points – Nicolás Sánchez (Argentina)
93 RWC points – Handré Pollard (South Africa)
82 RWC points – Bernard Foley (Australia)
79 RWC points – Greig Laidlaw (Scotland)
73 RWC points – Kurt Morath (Tonga)

Nobody is close to the World Cup try-scoring record of 15 held jointly by Jonah Lomu and Bryan Habana. The most entering the tournament is Adam Ashley-Cooper with 11. He also has the most RWC caps in the competition with 17. Canada’s DTH van der Merwe needs just two tries to become the 16th player in test history to reach the mark, and just the third player from a Tier 2 nation following a pair of former Japan wingers – Hirotoki Onozawa and Daisuke Ohata.