They say that no-one remembers the losers, well we think it’s time to change that. Throughout the nine iterations of the Rugby World Cup, there have been six countries that have never been able to record a single victory.
Throughout the competition’s history, 25 nations have been represented, with this set to grow to 26 when Chile make their Rugby World Cup debut this September. Los Condores will aim to record at least one victory against their Pool D opponents Argentina, Samoa, Japan and England, if they want to avoid being on future incarnations of this list.
Be it a one-sided landslide defeat or a closely contested nail-biter that just didn’t go their way, these six teams have never come away with a ‘W’ at international rugby’s pinnacle tournament. This countdown of the Rugby World Cup’s ‘biggest losers’, will numerically ascend along as the losing streaks grow higher.
Here are the six teams to never record a win at the Rugby World Cup.
1. Ivory Coast (3 Matches)
When Ivory Coast qualified for the 1995 Rugby World Cup, they became only the fourth African side to ever reach the tournament. ‘les Elephants’ followed in the footsteps of the 1995 winners South Africa, as well as previous contenders Zimbabwe and the ultimate underdogs Namibia (more on them later).
For the 1995 Rugby World Cup on their home continent, Ivory Coast were drawn into Pool D, alongside competition contenders France, as well as Scotland and Tonga. Cote d’Ivoire’s historic opening match ended in a colossal defeat at the hands of Scotland. Richie Dixon instilled a ruthless fire into his side, knowing that points difference would be crucial to progress out of the Pool stages.
The Scots pulled no punches against their newcomer opponents, and ran out 89-0 winners in Rustenburg, South Africa. Their second pool stage fixture had some positive takeaways, as Les Elephants recorded their first points at the Rugby World Cup, through tries from winger Aboubacar Soulama and fly half Aboubacar Camara. However, this came in a 54-18 defeat to a weakened France team, with all eyes then turning to a first win in the dead-rubber contest against Tonga.
With Scotland and France already home and dry to the knock-out stages, Ivory Coast and Tonga battled relentlessly for their sole Rugby World Cup win. A match that is now infamously remembered for paralyzing Ivory Coast winger Max Brito, the Pacific Islanders were able to surpass their West African opponents. A closer contested 29-11 Tongan win handed Ivory Coast the wooden spoon, as the two sides were sent home.