Best and worst of Japan (2012-2015)

The best and worst matches for Japan over the last 4 year World Cup cycle under coach Eddie Jones.

Failure of Mike Tolkin regime obvious before doomed RWC

Despite the pre-RWC optimism, it had been clear for at least 2 years beforehand that a win at the tournament would be unlikely and that the Mike Tolkin era was destined to fail.

Players from 'Tier 2' nations playing in Europe (2015/2016)

For the 2015/16 season there are right now around 354 players from 31 nations outside Tier 1 playing for clubs in the 5 fully professional leagues in Europe (Premiership, Championship, Top 14, Pro D2 and Pro12), plus at least another 50+ in Espoirs squads in France. Here is a breakdown country by country of those players.