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Rugby Player Base figures analysis - 2011 Rugby World Cup Competitors
During the course of the recent RBS 6 nations tournament, many references were made to the different player bases of the competing countries, particularly England.
With this in mind, I set about obtaining and analysing the figures in greater detail. This article aims to provide some analayse on the player bases of the various countries competing at the top end within international Rugby. The figures used in the analysis are those made available by the IRB in 2011 for each of the countries competing in that years Rugby World Cup in New Zealand.
We will begin by taking a look at the 6 countries competing in the 2013 RBS 6 Nations before then reviewing the 20 countries that competed in the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
6 Nations Analysis:
Interesting observations:
- England have 56,492 more adult males playing rugby than the next closest competing country France.
- England has more than twice the number of adult male players (166,762) that Ireland, Wales, Italy and Scotland have combined (75,383)!
- England has more than 14 times more adult males playing rugby at 166,762 than Scotland have at 11,687.
- Remarkably it is Wales with the 4th largest player base that has the best 6 Nations record with 26 outright wins and 12 shared wins. England also have 26 outright wins but 10 shared wins.
2011 Rugby World Cup Analysis:
Interesting observations:
- The old saying 'Quality not quantity' certainly holds true when it comes to the Player bases in the different competing countries. Of the 7 countries to win the Rugby World Cup, New Zealand with 2 outright tournament wins have the 7th largest player base in the world. They also have the best match winning record since 1987 with an 83.87% winning ratio.
- Considering the player base, England's much vaunted Rugby World Cup victory in 2003 was not surprising.
- Based on their large adult male player base, France should surely be more successful on the world stage? South Africa with a comparable adult male player base have secured 2 Rugby World Cup victories and have only competed in 5 of the 7 tournaments to date (after the apartheid sporting boycott was lifted).
- When one considers the above statistics, Tonga's 19 - 14 defeat of France in the 2011 Rugby World cup takes on an even greater significance. France's player base is in excess of 36 times that of minnow's Tonga!
- Japan and USA, who have the 4th and 6th largest adult male player bases respectively, should be more successful on the world stage. Neither has qualified from the group stages of the Rugby World Cup competition.
- Georgia with a player base of only 878 has probably over achieved when compared with the other competing countries. Georgia have competed in each of the last 3 Rugby World Cup's. Indeed they almost caused the greatest shock in the tournament’ history, before narrowly losing to Ireland in Bordeaux in 2007.
- The combined player base of the Pacific island nations at 18,739 is less than that of any one of the top 10 rugby nations on the adult player numbers chart.
- Scotland with the 12th largest player base has the 6th best match winning ratio in the 7 tournaments at 61%. This match winning ratio is ahead of Celtic neighbours Wales (57%) and Ireland (52%).