The Nations Cup is aimed at providing more competition for tier one A sides, as well as offering opportunities for second and third-tier nations such as Portugal, Russia, Namibia, Uruguay, Georgia and Romania.[1] The Nations Cup is an important tournament for both Italy and Argentina; at the time of the inaugural competition in 2006, the two sides combined had only nine players who did not play in their respective domestic competitions. The inaugural tournament was won by Argentina A.
2009 saw the addition of Scotland A and France A to the tournament at the expense of the Emerging Springboks and Georgia, which both had other commitments that year. The Emerging Springboks played the British & Irish Lions during the Lions' tour of South Africa, while Georgia accepted an invitation to the Churchill Cup. Scotland A won that year's edition.
For the 2010 edition, Romania and defending champions Scotland A returned from 2009, as did Italy A. France A, Russia, and Uruguay instead played in the 2010 Churchill Cup. Georgia, returning after a one-year absence, and Namibia and Argentina Jaguars, returning for the first time since 2007, took their places. Namibia emerged as the winner.
The 2011 edition effectively served as a 2011 Rugby World Cup warm-up for host Romania, defending Nations Cup champion Namibia, and Georgia. The Argentina Jaguars also returned from the 2010 edition. Portugal returned for the first time since the inaugural edition in 2006. South Africa made their first appearance since 2008 a successful one, with a team billed as the "South African Kings" — in reality, the Southern Kings, the country's planned future Super Rugby franchise — winning the event.
Southern Kings did not return to defend their title in 2012, nor did Namibia or Georgia return to take part. Instead, Italy A (missing for a year) and Russia and Uruguay (missing for two years) reappeared. Host nation Romania won for the first time in the competition's history. They retained the title in 2013, this time in a four-team round-robin.
Emerging Ireland made their first appearance in the competition in 2014, along with Uruguay, Russia, and host Romania. This edition is important preparation for the 2015 Rugby World Cup.[4]
Namibia made its first appearance since 2011 in 2015 as it began preparing for the 2015 Rugby World Cup. They were joined by Spain, who debuted in the tournament, and the Argentina Jaguars, coached by Argentina's most capped and top point scorer Felipe Contepomi.
Teams
The teams that participated in the IRB Nations Cup and their finishing positions are as follows:
