Fiji, Georgia, Samoa, Tonga - the sides out to shock the World Cup

THE TRADITIONAL POWERS can seem totally unwilling to open the doors to potential upstarts in international rugby. That doesn’t prevent shocks from happening.

In 2011, Tonga rocked France. There’s usually at least one stirring upset at every World Cup, so where will it come from this time around? Jason Oxenham / www.photosport.co.nz Steven Luatua has switched allegiance to Samoa. Jason Oxenham / www.photosport.co.nz / www.photosport.co.nz How soon that translates into Fiji being a stronger proposition at international level remains to be seen. They lost head coach Vern Cotter in February of this year when he resigned for personal reasons, a big blow so close to the World Cup. Former Fiji and Saracens lock Simon Raiwalui took over and his coaching team includes ex-Clermont and Leicester back Seremaia Bai, as well as ex-All Black Darryl Gibson, and former Test referee Glen Jackson.

The Argentinians are capable of producing huge performances and while consistency has eluded them, the wily Michael Cheika and his sidekick Felipe Contepomi should have them well-primed for a good tilt at the knock-out stages. Their build-up to this one hasn’t started well, with two defeats to the All Blacks XV followed by a narrow loss to Samoa on Japanese soil last weekend. A red card for back row Michael Leitch for a high tackle in the 30th minute was costly.

Leinster tighthead Michael Ala’alatoa is the captain, while the squad has been bolstered by additions like ex-All Blacks Lima Sopoaga, Steven Luatua, and Charlie Faumuina, former Wallaby Christian Leali’ifano, and ex-USA tighthead Titi Lamositele. Uruguay and Namibia make up Pool A and they’ll target an Italian scalp. The majority of the Uruguayan squad also plays for the Peñarol team that claimed the Super Rugby Americas title last month, so their cohesion should help while they’re topped up by some France-based stars including the outstanding Castres scrum-half Santiago Arata.

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