Scrum international

SCRUM INTERNATIONAL A LOOK AT THIS YEAR'S RUGBY WORLD CUP Every four years, countries send their biggest and best squads to compete in the Rugby World Cup. This year, the 20 nations that qualified descended on New Zealand for more than a month of competition in the run up to the 23 October final. We take a look at this year's event and how the home nations stack up. 2011 RUGBY WORLD CUP AT A GLANCE 48 12 MATCH VENUES MATCHES 45 DAYS 20 TEAMS ATTENDING THE WORLD CUP TEAMS SPECTATORS ш ше шш шшо E!ווויוו ш 900 PLAYERS AND SUPPORT STAFF WILL ATTEND. 95,000 VISITORS ARE ESTIMATED. 1,388 MATCH BALLS WILL BE NEEDED. 300,000 GLASSES ARE REQUIRED AT STADIA. 97,800 MEALS WILL BE EATEN AT TEAM HOTELS. 1 MILLION PUNNETS OF CHIPS WILL BE SOLD. A LOOK BACK 1987 2007 16 PARTICIPATING COUNTRIES 94 600,000 ATTENDANCE 2.24 MILLION 230 MILLION GLOBAL AUDIENCE 4.2 BILLION CHAMPIONSHIP WINS Rugby World Cup championship wins excluding 2011 tournament. ALL BLACKS Wallables AUSTRALIA SOUTH AFRICA ENGLAND NEW ZEALAND THE HOME NATIONS HEAD-TO-HEAD SCOTLAND TRFU WALES SCOTLAND ENGLAND IRELAND WORLD RANKING (AT THE START OF THE WORLD CUP) 6. 8. 3rd 4 th BEST WORLD CUP PERFORMANCE Quarterfinalists 1987 1991 2003 Champions Five Times 2011 81-7 1995 89-0 2003 111-13 2003 64-7 BIGGEST WORLD CUP WINNING MARGIN 74 89 98 57 WALES NAMIBIA SCOTLAND E COTE D'IVOIRE ENGLAND & URUGUAY IRELAND E NAMIBIA 29 29 31 27 AVERAGE POINTS SCORED PER MATCH PENALTIES 59 85 121 64 YELLOW CARDS RED CARDS AVERAGE PLAYER WEIGHT KG AA KG KG KG 106 KG 103 KG 106 KG 103 KG AVERAGE PLAYER AGE Unless otherwise noted, data represents all historical Rugby World Cup games through 18 October, 2011. SOURCES: INTERNATIONAL RUGBY BOARD, RUGBYWORLDCUP.COM, BBC, DAILY MAIL Confused.com