World XV

World XV

Coach(es)	Robbie Deans (Oct. 2018)
Team kit
First match
South Africa  45–24 World XV (27 August 1977)
Largest win
Japan  20–45 World XV (15 August 2015)
Largest defeat
South Africa  46–10 World XV (11 July 2015)

A World XV is a rugby union team organised on an unofficial, ad hoc basis and typically composed of invited players from various countries. Several World XVs have been arranged, often to take part in celebration and testimonial games, usually against national teams, but these are not considered test matches by most nations. World XVs are not overseen or organised by any particular body.

History

South Africa first played a World XV in Pretoria on 27 August 1977. The World side included Gareth Edwards, JPR Williams, Willie John McBride, and Sandy Carmichael. A crowd of 65,000 watched as Morné du Plessis' South Africans led by 22–14 at half-time to eventually defeat the World XV by 45–24. During the match Argentinian flyhalf Hugo Porta came on as a replacement. Flank Theuns Stofberg added two tries to one each by Gerrie Germishuys, Hermanus Potgieter,^[1] Dawie Snyman, and Barry Wolmarans (on debut) for the Springboks.^[2] Four days later, the World XV played Western Province at Newlands Stadium in Cape Town. This time Porta started alongside Williams, McBride, and Carmichael, with Alan Sutherland facing off against Du Plessis. At 3.30pm coloured player Errol Tobias, representing the South African Federation, was on the reserve bench for the World XV, as he had been for the 2pm match between a Presidents' XV and Western Province B.^[3]

In 1980 and 1983, Argentina, played a World XV twice. The first match was played at Ferrocaril Oeste, Buenos Aires.^[4] Argentina went into half time ahead by 16 points to nil and despite an excellent display in the second half by the World XV Argentina were able to secure a 36–22 win. The second match was played in Atlanta Stadium, Buenos Aires, where Argentina secured a second victory 28–20.

In 1989 a World XV, sanctioned by the IRB and funded by South African Breweries, played two tests against South Africa in celebration of the centenary of the South African Rugby Board (SARB). The Springboks won both, by 20–19 at Newlands Stadium in Cape Town and the second by 22–16 on 2 September at Ellis Park in Johannesburg.

In 1992, a World XV played three matches against the All Blacks in New Zealand. The first encounter between the two sides ended in a 24–14 win for the World XV, the first time a World XV won against a national team. However, New Zealand won the second match 54–26, and the third match 26–15. The tour was to mark the centenary of the New Zealand Rugby Union in 1992.

In May and June 2006 a World XV, sponsored by South African company Steinhoff Holdings and coached by Bob Dwyer, played three games – against Saracens in London, then against South Africa at Ellis Park and Western Province XV at Newlands. The latter match was a testimonial for former South Africa captain Corné Krige, who led the Western Province side. In December 2006, again coached by Dwyer, a Steinhoff-backed World XV played a South Africa XV at Walkers Stadium in Leicester, losing 32–7. This game was to mark the centenary of South Africa's overseas tours.

In 2008, a World XV played a Wales XV side, which acted as a testimonial match for Welsh player Shane Williams. In total there were 19 tries scored in the match, which was played at the Millennium Stadium, with Williams scoring the match-winning try as Wales won 65–57. Later in 2008, a World XV played a Coronation Tongan XV side, in a game to celebrate the coronation of Tonga's King, George Tupou V. Tonga won the match 60–26, beating the Colin Charvis-captained side that included players from Australia, England, Fiji, New Zealand, Samoa and Wales.^[5]

In 2014, a World XV led by Matt Giteau played South Africa for the first time since 2006, where the Springboks won 45–24. Coached by Nick Mallett, the team featured players such as James O'Connor, Matt Giteau, Drew Mitchell, Hosea Gear, François Trinh-Duc, BJ Botha, Carl Hayman, Steffon Armitage and Julien Bonnaire.^[6]

Matches

Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Head Coach	Captain	Event
27 August 1977	Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria	South Africa	45–24	Lost	Syd Millar	Willie J. McBride
9 August 1980	Ferrocaril Oeste, Buenos Aires	Argentina	36–22	Lost		Jean-Pierre Rives
25 June 1983	Atlanta Stadium, Buenos Aires	Argentina	28–20	Lost
15 May 1988	Concord Oval, Sydney	Australia	42–38	Lost	Brian Lochore	Hugo Porta
26 August 1989	Newlands, Cape Town	South Africa	20–19	Lost	Bob Templeton	Pierre Berbizier	South African tour (Centenary of SARB)
2 September 1989	Ellis Park, Johannesburg	South Africa	22–16	Lost
18 April 1992	Jade Stadium, Christchurch	New Zealand	14–28	Won	Bob Templeton	David Sole	New Zealand tour (Centenary of NZRU)
22 April 1992	Athletic Park, Wellington	New Zealand	54–26	Lost		Nick Farr-Jones
25 April 1992	Eden Park, Auckland	New Zealand	26–15	Lost
14 April 1999	Atlanta Stadium, Buenos Aires	Argentina	49–31	Lost	Bob Templeton
3 June 2006	Ellis Park, Johannesburg	South Africa	30–27	Lost	Bob Dwyer	Justin Marshall	Testimonial match for Corné Krige
3 December 2006	Walkers Stadium, Leicester	South Africa	32–7	Lost	Bob Dwyer	Lawrence Dallaglio	Centenary of South Africa's overseas tours
17 May 2008	Millennium Stadium, Cardiff	Shane Williams Wales XV	65–57	Lost	Mike Ruddock	Justin Marshall	Shane Williams Testimony match
31 July 2008	Teufaiva Stadium, Nukuʻalofa	Coronation Tongan XV	60–26	Lost		Colin Charvis	Coronation of George Tupou V
7 June 2014	Newlands, Cape Town	South Africa	45–24	Lost	Nick Mallett	Matt Giteau
11 July 2015	Newlands, Cape Town	South Africa	46–10	Lost	Robbie Deans Bernard Laporte	Bakkies Botha	2015 RWC Warm-ups
15 August 2015	Chichibunomiya Stadium, Tokyo	Japan	20–45	Won	Robbie Deans	Bakkies Botha
28 October 2017	Level5 Stadium, Fukuoka	Japan	27–47	Won	Robbie Deans	Andrew Ellis
26 October 2018	Hanazono Rugby Stadium, Osaka	Japan	–		Robbie Deans

Squad for Japan match 2017

World XV squad for their match against Japan on 28 October.

• Head Coach – Robbie Deans

Note: Italics denotes uncapped player(s) – Bold denotes player(s) that have represented a World XV in previous matches Note: Flags indicate national union as has been defined under WR eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-WR nationality.

Player Position Date of Birth (Age) Club/province Union Corey Flynn Hooker (1981-01-05) 5 January 1981 West Coast New Zealand Greg Pleasants-Tate Hooker (1991-05-12) 12 May 1991 Highlanders New Zealand Adriaan Strauss Hooker (1985-11-18) 18 November 1985 Bulls South Africa Facundo Gigena Prop (1994-09-15) 15 September 1994 Jaguares Argentina Jean-Pierre Smith Prop (1990-01-24) 24 January 1990 Stormers South Africa Ruan Smith Prop (1990-01-24) 24 January 1990 Toyota Verblitz South Africa Jacques van Rooyen Prop (1986-10-24) 24 October 1986 Lions South Africa Geoff Parling Lock (1983-10-28) 28 October 1983 Munakata Sanix Blues England RG Snyman Lock (1995-01-29) 29 January 1995 Honda Heat South Africa Sam Wykes Lock (1988-04-25) 25 April 1988 Panasonic Wild Knights Australia Simone Favaro Flanker (1988-11-07) 7 November 1988 Fiamme Oro Italy Ed Quirk Flanker (1991-08-28) 28 August 1991 Canon Eagles Australia Kwagga Smith Flanker (1993-06-11) 11 June 1993 Lions South Africa Willie Britz Number 8 (1988-08-31) 31 August 1988 NTT Communications Shining Arcs South Africa Andrew Ellis Scrum-half (1984-02-21) 21 February 1984 Kobelco Steelers New Zealand Nic Stirzaker Scrum-half (1991-03-08) 8 March 1991 Melbourne Rebels Australia Berrick Barnes Fly-half (1986-05-28) 28 May 1986 Panasonic Wild Knights Australia Takuya Yamasawa Fly-half (1994-09-21) 21 September 1994 Panasonic Wild Knights Japan Richard Buckman Centre (1989-05-27) 27 May 1989 Highlanders New Zealand Rohan Janse van Rensburg Centre (1994-09-11) 11 September 1994 Lions South Africa Harold Vorster Centre (1993-10-11) 11 October 1993 Lions South Africa Vince Aso Wing (1995-01-05) 5 January 1995 Hurricanes New Zealand Vincent Clerc Wing (1981-05-07) 7 May 1981 Toulon France Yoshikazu Fujita Wing (1993-10-08) 8 October 1993 Panasonic Wild Knights Japan Digby Ioane Wing (1985-07-14) 14 July 1985 Panasonic Wild Knights Australia Ayumu Goromaru Fullback (1986-03-01) 1 March 1986 Yamaha Júbilo Japan Melani Nanai Fullback (1993-08-03) 3 August 1993 Blues Samoa

Previous squads

Original World XV

Head Coach: Syd Millar

1986 IRB sanctioned team

• In 1986, to celebrate the centenary of the International Rugby Board (IRB), two international XVs were put together:

a World XV played the British Lions on 16 April 1986, winning 15–7 at Cardiff Arms Park.

an Overseas Unions rugby union team played the Five Nations XV on Saturday, 19 April 1986, winning 32–13 at Twickenham Stadium.

References