Jérôme Garcès
Jérôme Garcès (born 24 October 1973) is a French former international and professional rugby union referee who currently works as a discipline and refereeing advisor for the France national team. Originally from Béarn, France, he was a regular referee in the Top 14 and also officiated in the European EPCR Challenge Cup and Champions Cup competitions for a long time. At international level, Garcès refereed matches at the Six Nations Championship, The Rugby Championship as well as the Rugby World Cup, and in 2019 became the first French referee to take charge of the World Cup final, after which he retired. Regarded at the time as one of the best officials in the world, he was renowned for his pedagogy and his intent to protect the players' physical integrity and welfare. Biography Jérôme Garcès was born on in Pau, France and played as a wing at an amateur level in his hometown club of Arudy. After a hand injury occurring in 1994, he started to officiate and became a Top ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Top 14
The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the National Rugby League (France), France National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism of LNR. There is promotion and relegation between the Top 14 and the next level down, the Pro D2. The fourteen best rugby teams in France participate in the competition, hence the name Top 14. The competition was previously known as the Top 16. The league is one of the three major professional leagues in Europe (along with the English Premiership Rugby, Premiership and the United Rugby Championship, which brings together top clubs from Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Italy and South Africa), from which the most successful teams go forward to compete in the European Rugby Champions Cup, the championship which replaced the Heineken Cup after the 2013–14 Pro12, 2013–14 season. The first ever final took place in 1 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea in the south. The Japanese archipelago consists of four major islands—Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu—and List of islands of Japan, thousands of smaller islands, covering . Japan has a population of over 123 million as of 2025, making it the List of countries and dependencies by population, eleventh-most populous country. The capital of Japan and List of cities in Japan, its largest city is Tokyo; the Greater Tokyo Area is the List of largest cities, largest metropolitan area in the world, with more than 37 million inhabitants as of 2024. Japan is divided into 47 Prefectures of Japan, administrative prefectures and List of regions of Japan, eight traditional regions. About three-quarters of Geography of Japan, the countr ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Namibia National Rugby Union Team
The Namibia national rugby union team (nicknamed the Welwitschias) represents Namibia in men's international rugby union competitions. They are a tier-two nation in the World Rugby tier system, and have participated in seven Rugby World Cup competitions since their first appearance in 1999 Rugby World Cup, 1999. They are governed by the Namibia Rugby Union. Namibia has been playing international rugby since the early 1900s. As well as having competed at the World Cup, Namibia competes annually in the Africa Cup. Until independence, players for Namibia were also eligible to represent South Africa national rugby union team, South Africa, with Namibian-born Springboks including Jan Ellis. History 1990s Rugby union has been played in Namibia since 1916 when it was introduced by soldiers from South Africa who had invaded the German-run colony. Before Namibia gained its independence in 1990, the team, as South West Africa, played in South Africa's domestic club competition, the Curri ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Fiji National Rugby Union Team
The Fiji national rugby union team represents Fiji in men's international rugby union. Fiji competed in the Pacific Tri-Nations and now competes in its successor tournament Pacific Nations Cup. Fiji also regularly plays test matches during the June and November test windows. They have beaten the major rugby playing sides of Wales, Scotland, Australia, France, Italy, Argentina and England. The only major sides Fiji are yet to beat are New Zealand, South Africa and Ireland. The "Flying Fijians" as they are nicknamed compete every four years at the Rugby World Cup. Their best performances were the 1987, 2007 and 2023 tournaments when they defeated Argentina, Wales and Australia respectively to reach the quarterfinals. Fiji is one of the few countries where rugby union is the main sport. There are approximately 80,000 registered players from a total population of around 950,000. One obstacle for Fiji is simply getting their rugby players to play for the national team, as many have ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Russia National Rugby Union Team
The Russia national rugby union team, nicknamed Medvedi (''The Bears''), is administered by the Rugby Union of Russia (RUR). The RUR is considered the official successor union of the Soviet Union by World Rugby and the combined CIS team which played in the early 1990s. Since 1992, the team has played as Russia. Its first test match as Russia was against the Barbarians in Moscow in June 1992 and the country's first test against an official Test nation was against Belgium later that same year. Russia is seen as a Tier 2 union by World Rugby. The team's regular international competition was in the Rugby Europe Championship – often referred to as the Six Nations B. In addition, the team participated in World Rugby-run summer tournaments including the Nations Cup, the dormant Churchill Cup, and other international fixtures. Russia competed in their first Rugby World Cup (RWC) in New Zealand in 2011 after qualifying as Europe 2 through their second-place finish in the 2009–10 E ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ireland National Rugby Union Team
The Ireland national rugby union team is the men's representative national team for the island of Ireland in rugby union. The team represents both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Ireland competes in the annual Six Nations Championship and in the Rugby World Cup. Ireland is one of the four unions that make up the British & Irish Lions. They have players eligible to play for Ireland and the Lions. The Ireland national team dates to 1875, when they played their first international match against England. Ireland reached number 1 in the World Rugby Rankings for the first time in 2019; the team returned to number 1 for a second time on 18 July 2022 and did not relinquish the top spot until 2 October 2023. Twelve former Ireland players have been inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame. History Early years: 1875–1900 Dublin University Football Club, Dublin University was the first organised rugby football club in Ireland, having been founded in 1854. The club was ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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2011 Rugby World Cup
The 2011 Rugby World Cup, was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The World Rugby, International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South Africa at a meeting in Dublin on 17 November 2005. The tournament was won by New Zealand national rugby union team, New Zealand, who defeated France national rugby union team, France 8–7 in the 2011 Rugby World Cup final, final. The defending champions, South Africa national rugby union team, South Africa, were eliminated by Australia national rugby union team, Australia 11–9 in the quarter-finals. The result marked the third time that the tournament was won by the country that hosted the event (following New Zealand in 1987 Rugby World Cup, 1987 and South Africa in 1995 Rugby World Cup, 1995). It was the largest sporting event ever held in New Zealand, eclipsing the 1987 Rugby World Cup, 1990 Commonwealth Games, 1992 Crick ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Romain Poite
Romain Poite (born 14 September 1975) is a French former rugby union international referee. Poite retired in November 2021 after refereeing 72 tests, refereeing the third-most international tests in international rugby behind Nigel Owens (Wales) and Wayne Barnes (England). He made his debut in 2006, and has been a referee at three World Cups (2011, 2015, 2019), including the 2019 Final. He made his World Cup debut as an assistant referee in 2007 during the match between Ireland and Namibia. He also officiated (as touch judge or television match official) during three games in the 2009 Six Nations Championship. He refereed his first Six Nations match in 2010. Poite was appointed to the 10-man elite referees panel for the 2011 Rugby World Cup, where he refereed four matches. He was also appointed to referee the third and deciding Test of the 2013 British & Irish Lions tour against Australia. He was later excluded for a few months from the IRB panel for giving an incorrect yellow c ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Scotland National Rugby Union Team
The Scotland national rugby union team represents the Scottish Rugby Union in men's international rugby union. The team takes part in the annual Six Nations Championship, where they are the current Doddie Weir Cup holders. They also participate in the Rugby World Cup, which takes place every four years. The history of the team dates from 1871, when the Scottish rugby team played their first official test match, winning 1–0 against England at Raeburn Place. Scotland competed in the Five Nations from the inaugural tournament in 1883, winning it 14 times outright—including the last Five Nations in 1999—and sharing it another eight. In 2000, the competition accepted a sixth competitor, Italy, thus forming the Six Nations. Since this change, Scotland have yet to win the competition. The Rugby World Cup was introduced in 1987 and Scotland have competed in all ten competitions, the most recent being in 2023, where they failed to reach the quarter-finals. Their best finish ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Calcutta Cup
The Calcutta Cup is the trophy awarded to the winner of the rugby match between teams of England and Scotland played annually in the Six Nations Championship. Like the match itself (England–Scotland), the Calcutta Cup is the oldest trophy contested between any two international rugby union teams, pre-dating the Bledisloe Cup ( Australia–New Zealand) by more than half a century. It is also the oldest of several trophies awarded under the umbrella of the Six Nations Championship, which include the Millennium Trophy ( England–Ireland), Centenary Quaich ( Ireland–Scotland), Giuseppe Garibaldi Trophy ( France–Italy), Auld Alliance Trophy ( France–Scotland), the Doddie Weir Cup ( Scotland–Wales) and the Cuttitta Cup ( Italy–Scotland). History Calcutta Club On Christmas Day in 1872 a game of rugby union football was played in Calcutta, British India by a group of forty people (twenty-a-side), with one team representing England and the other Scotland. Following th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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2011 Six Nations Championship
The 2011 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2011 RBS 6 Nations due to sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 12th series of the Six Nations Championship, and the 117th edition of the international championship. The annual rugby union tournament was contested by England national rugby union team, England, France national rugby union team, France, Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland, Italy national rugby union team, Italy, Scotland national rugby union team, Scotland and Wales national rugby union team, Wales, and was won by England. Ireland played their first Six Nations games at the Aviva Stadium, having played their first matches at the new stadium in 2010 end of year rugby tests, November 2010. For the first time in its history, the tournament opened with a Friday night fixture. For the first time in a decade, all of the teams had the same head coach as in the previous year's tournament. This tournament was also notable for a major upset, with Italy beati ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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2010 Mid-year Rugby Union Tests
The 2010 mid-year rugby union tests (also known as the Summer Internationals in the Northern Hemisphere) refers to the rugby union Internationals that were played from late May to late June, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere. For Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, the tests constituted preparation for the 2010 Tri Nations. The first nation to announce its fixtures for this series was Australia, which unveiled its schedule on 21 September 2009. South Africa announced its fixtures on 8 October 2009, but delayed announcing the venues since it simultaneously hosted the 2010 FIFA World Cup. FIFA regulations call for World Cup venues to be handed over to FIFA 15 days before the World Cup starts. FIFA also prohibits any other major sporting events from being held in host cities from 7 days before the opening of the World Cup and until 7 days after its end. An agreement was reached between the South African Rugby Union and the local World Cup organising committee to allow the mat ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |