World XV

World XV

Coach(es)	Robbie Deans Bernard Laporte (Jul/Aug 2015)
Captain(s)	Bakkies Botha (Jul/Aug 2015)
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)

The World XV is a rugby union team organised on an ad hoc basis and typically composed of invited players from various countries across the world. Various 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.

History

Traditionally, the World XV side plays in various locations, often as the away team. They have played all the "big three" southern hemisphere nations (Australia, New Zealand and South Africa), first playing South Africa 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' X and Western Province B.^[3] In 1980 and 1983, they played Argentina, where in the first match, that 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, went to 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, they toured New Zealand, playing 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 the side has won against a national team. However, New Zealand won the second match 54–26, World XV' biggest defeat, 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, in what was the first ever match a World XV side has played a national side at a neutral venue. This game was to mark the centenary of South Africa's overseas tours.

In 2008, World XV played one of the Six Nations Championship sides for the first time. They played a Wales XV side, which acted as a testimonial match for Welsh legend Shane Williams. In total there were 19 tries scored in the match, which was played at the Millennium Stadium, with Williams scoring the match winner as Wales won 65–57. Later in 2008, the 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, the World XV side led by Matt Giteau returned to 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]

International matches

Date	Venue	Opponent	F	A	Result	Coach	Captain	Refs
27 August 1977	Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria	South Africa	24	45	Lost	Syd Millar	Willie John McBride
9 August 1980	Ferrocaril Oeste, Buenos Aires	Argentina	22	36	Lost		Jean-Pierre Rives
25 June 1983	Atlanta Stadium, Buenos Aires	Argentina	20	28	Lost
15 May 1988	Concord Oval, Sydney	Australia	38	42	Lost	Brian Lochore	Hugo Porta	[7]
26 August 1989	Newlands, Cape Town	South Africa	19	20	Lost	Bob Templeton
2 September 1989	Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg	South Africa	16	22	Lost	Bob Templeton
18 April 1992	Jade Stadium, Christchurch	New Zealand	28	14	Won	Bob Templeton
22 April 1992	Athletic Park, Wellington	New Zealand	26	54	Lost	Bob Templeton
25 April 1992	Eden Park, Auckland	New Zealand	15	26	Lost	Bob Templeton
14 April 1999	Atlanta Stadium, Buenos Aires	Argentina	31	49	Lost	Bob Templeton
3 June 2006	Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg	South Africa	27	30	Lost	Bob Dwyer	Justin Marshall
3 December 2006	Walkers Stadium, Leicester	South Africa	7	32	Lost	Bob Dwyer	Lawrence Dallaglio
17 May 2008	Millennium Stadium, Cardiff	Shane Williams Wales XV	57	65	Lost	Mike Ruddock	Justin Marshall	[8]
31 July 2008	Tonga	Coronation Tongan XV	26	60	Lost		Colin Charvis
7 June 2014	Newlands, Cape Town	South Africa	24	45	Lost	Nick Mallett	Matt Giteau
11 July 2015	Newlands, Cape Town	South Africa	10	46	Lost	Robbie Deans Bernard Laporte	Bakkies Botha
15 August 2015	Chichibunomiya, Tokyo	Japan	45	20	Won	Robbie Deans	Bakkies Botha
28 October 2017	Level5 Stadium, Fukuoka	Japan				Robbie Deans

Overall

Against	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	Win %
Argentina	3	0	3	0	0%
Australia	1	0	1	0	0%
New Zealand	3	1	2	0	33%
South Africa	7	0	7	0	0%
Shane Williams Wales XV	1	0	1	0	0%
Tonga	1	0	1	0	0%
Japan	1	1	0	0	100%
Total	17	2	15	0	11.76%

Squad for Japan match 2015

The World XV was coached by Robbie Deans for the match against Japan on 15 August 2015. They won the match 45–20, which was their greatest victory to date.^[9]

Note: Italics denotes the traditional uncapped player(s) – Bold denotes player(s) that have represented the 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 Andrew Hore Hooker (1978-09-13) 13 September 1978 Unattached (Retired) New Zealand Tolu Latu Hooker (1993-02-23) 23 February 1993 New South Wales Waratahs Australia Ben Alexander Prop (1984-11-13) 13 November 1984 Brumbies Australia Petrus du Plessis Prop (1981-05-31) 31 May 1981 Saracens South Africa Carl Hayman Prop (1979-11-14) 14 November 1979 Unattached (Retired) New Zealand Benn Robinson Prop (1984-07-19) 19 July 1984 New South Wales Waratahs Australia Bakkies Botha Lock (1979-09-22) 22 September 1979 Unattached (Retired) South Africa Luke Jones Lock (1991-04-30) 30 April 1991 Melbourne Rebels Australia Ali Williams Lock (1981-04-30) 30 April 1981 Unattached (Retired) New Zealand Liam Gill Flanker (1992-08-06) 6 August 1992 Queensland Reds Australia Sean McMahon Flanker (1994-06-18) 18 June 1994 Melbourne Rebels Australia Adam Thomson Flanker (1982-03-13) 13 March 1982 Queensland Reds New Zealand Pierre Spies Number 8 (1985-06-08) 8 June 1985 Kintetsu Liners South Africa Luke Burgess Scrum-half (1983-08-20) 20 August 1983 Melbourne Rebels Australia Andrew Ellis Scrum-half (1984-02-21) 21 February 1984 Crusaders New Zealand Berrick Barnes Fly-half (1986-05-28) 28 May 1986 Panasonic Wild Knights Australia Mike Harris Fly-half (1988-07-08) 8 July 1988 Melbourne Rebels Australia Christian Lealiifano Centre (1987-09-24) 24 September 1987 Brumbies Australia Wynand Olivier Centre (1983-06-11) 11 June 1983 Unattached South Africa Ben Tapuai Centre (1989-01-19) 19 January 1989 Queensland Reds Australia Nick Cummins Wing (1987-05-10) 10 May 1987 Coca-Cola Red Sparks Australia Taqele Naiyaravoro Wing (1991-07-12) 12 July 1991 New South Wales Waratahs Australia Dom Shipperley Wing (1991-04-01) 1 April 1991 Melbourne Rebels Australia James O'Connor Fullback (1990-07-05) 5 July 1990 Queensland Reds Australia

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 Rest of the 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.

See also

• Rest of the World XV
• Overseas Unions rugby union team
• President's Overseas XV

References