The 2019 Rugby World Cup was an international rugby union tournament which was held in Japan from 20 September until 2 November 2019. Twenty national teams competed, and each brought a 31-man squad containing no regulated number of players per-position to the tournament. The tournament was administered by World Rugby, to whom each team submitted their finalised squad by 8 September 2019. A player may be replaced for medical or compassionate reasons, but would be unable to return to the squad. Any replacement player has an enforced stand-down period of 48 hours before they can take the field.
Players marked (c) were named as captain for their national squad.
The age listed for each player is on 20 September 2019, the first day of the tournament. The numbers of caps for each player do not include any matches played after the start of tournament.
Overview Below is a table listing all the head coaches and captains for each nation.
TeamCoachCaptain
Pool A Ireland Ireland announced a 31-man squad for the tournament on 2 September 2019.
1 On 29 September, Jordi Murphy replaced Jack Conan, who suffered a foot injury in training.
2 On 16 October, Rob Herring replaced Seán Cronin following an injury.
Head coach: Joe Schmidt
Japan Japan named a 41-man training squad for the tournament on 15 August 2019, before confirming their final 31-man squad on 29 August.
Head coach: Jamie Joseph
Russia Russia named their 31-man squad for the tournament on 1 September.
Head coach: Lyn Jones
Samoa Samoa named a 34-man training squad for the tournament on 23 August 2019, before reducing it to a final 31 on 31 August.
1 On 9 September, Pele Cowley replaced Scott Malolua, who suffered a knee injury in Samoa's final warm-up match.
2 On 26 September, Alamanda Motuga joined the squad in Japan after Afa Amosa sustained an injury in Samoa's opening match.
Head coach: Steve Jackson
Scotland Scotland named an initial 42-man training squad on 7 May 2019. The final 31-man squad for the tournament was confirmed on 3 September.
1 On 23 September, Magnus Bradbury replaced Hamish Watson, after he suffered a knee injury in the team's opening match against Ireland.
2 On 24 September, Henry Pyrgos replaced Ali Price, after he suffered a foot injury in the team's opening match against Ireland.
Head coach: Gregor Townsend
Pool B Canada Canada named a 42-man training squad for the tournament on 20 August 2019. The final 31-man squad was named on 3 September 2019.
1 On 10 September, Justin Blanchet was replaced by Josh Larsen in the World Cup squad following an injury sustained in Canada's final warm-up match.
2 On 27 September, injured centres Nick Blevins and Ben LeSage were replaced in the squad by Giuseppe du Toit and Theo Sauder.
3 On 3 October, Kainoa Lloyd joined the squad as an injury replacement for Taylor Paris.
Head coach: Kingsley Jones
Italy Italy named their 31-man squad for the tournament on 18 August 2019.
1 On 8 October, Giosuè Zilocchi and Danilo Fischetti joined the Italian squad following injuries to Simone Ferrari and Marco Riccioni.
Head coach: Conor O'Shea
Namibia Namibia named a 31-man squad for the tournament on 2 September.
Head coach: Phil Davies
New Zealand New Zealand named their 31-man squad on 28 August 2019.
1 On 13 September 2019, Shannon Frizell was named as replacement for Luke Jacobson, who was ruled out of the competition due to delayed onset of concussion.
Head coach: Steve Hansen
South Africa South Africa named their 31-man squad for the tournament on 26 August 2019.
1 On 23 September, Thomas du Toit replaced Trevor Nyakane, after he injured his calf in the team's opening match against New Zealand.
2 On 1 October, Damian Willemse replaced Jesse Kriel, after he was injured during the team's opening match against New Zealand.
Head coach: Rassie Erasmus
Pool C Argentina Argentina named their 31-man squad for the tournament on 19 August 2019.
1 On 6 October, Gonzalo Bertranou replaced Tomás Cubelli after he was injured in Argentina's game against England.
Head coach: Mario Ledesma
England On 12 August, England became the first team to announce their 31-man squad for the tournament.
1 Ben Spencer was called up on 27 October as an injury replacement for Willi Heinz.
Head coach: Eddie Jones
France On 18 June 2019, head coach Jacques Brunel named a 37-man squad for the 2019 Rugby World Cup warm-up matches. On 10 July 2019, Paul Willemse had to withdraw from the team due to injury; he was replaced by Romain Taofifénua. On 20 July 2019, Cyril Baille was called up to replace the injured Étienne Falgoux.
France named their final 31-man squad for the tournament on 2 September 2019.
1 On 22 September, Wesley Fofana withdrew from the squad due to injury, and was replaced by Pierre-Louis Barassi.
2 On 29 September, Cedate Gomes Sa was called up to replace the injured Demba Bamba.
3 On 4 October, Christopher Tolofua was called up to replace the injured Peato Mauvaka.
4 On 4 October, Vincent Rattez was called up to replace the injured Thomas Ramos.
Head coach: Jacques Brunel
Tonga Tonga announced their 31-man squad for the tournament on 1 September 2019.
1 On 24 September, Kurt Morath and Nafi Tuitavake were ruled out for the remainder of the tournament following injuries sustained in Tonga's opening match against England. Latiume Fosita and Fetuli Paea replaced them.
Head coach: Toutai Kefu
United States On 13 June, the United States named a 50-man extended training squad ahead of the 2019 World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup in preparation for the 2019 Rugby World Cup. On 19 June, Samu Manoa retired from international rugby and withdrew from the squad.
On 8 September, USA were the last side to name their 31-man squad.
1 On 1 October, David Ainu'u was ruled out for the remainder of the tournament following an injury sustained in the United States' opening match against England, Chance Wenglewski replaced him.
Head coach: Gary Gold
Pool D Australia Australia named their 31-man squad for the tournament on 23 August 2019.
Head coach: Michael Cheika
Fiji Fiji named an initial 32-man squad for the tournament on 16 August 2019, before reducing it to the final 31 on 3 September.
1 On 5 September, prop Lee Roy Atalifo replaced Kalivati Tawake, who suffered a knee injury.
Head coach: John McKee
Georgia Georgia announced their 31-man squad for the tournament on 2 September 2019.
Head coach: Milton Haig
Uruguay Uruguay named their 31-man squad for the tournament on 30 August 2019.
Head coach: Esteban Meneses
Wales Wales announced their 31-man squad for the tournament on 1 September 2019.
1 On 24 September 2019 Cory Hill withdrew from the squad having failed to recover from injury and he was replaced by Bradley Davies.
2 On 22 October 2019 Josh Navidi withdrew from the squad having failed to recover from injury and he was replaced by Owen Lane.
Head coach: Warren Gatland
Statistics All statistics relate to the initial 31-man squads named prior to the start of the tournament on 20 September 2019 and do not include players who joined a squad during the tournament.
Five squads included no players based outside their home country: England, France, Ireland, Japan, and New Zealand. The squads with the fewest players playing domestically are Tonga (zero) and Samoa (one).
Player representation by club The 620 participating players, 20 players unattached, represent 144 different club sides, the club sides with the most players selected are below: PlayersClubs26 Jaguares20 Welwitschias16 Benetton, Glasgow Warriors15 Saracens14 Leinster 13 Scarlets 12 Crusaders, Munster11 Edinburgh10 Clermont, Krasny Yar, Racing, Toulouse, Zebre9 Brumbies, Melbourne Rebels, Ospreys, Toronto Arrows
Players representation by league LeaguePlayersPercentTotal620—Pro14 11819.0%Super Rugby 11819.0%Top 14 7812.5%Premiership Rugby 7411.9%Major League Rugby 375.9%Top League 325.1%Rugby Premier League 315.0%Namibia *203.2%Campeonato Uruguayo de Rugby 162.5%Pro D2 162.5%RFU Championship 132.0%Global Rapid Rugby 101.6%Didi 10 91.5%Other284.5%Unattached203.2% * Namibia's Welwitschias most recently played in South Africa's 2019 Rugby Challenge but do not appear in a regular league as such.
Player representation by nation UnionPlayersPercentOthernationalsquadTotal620—— Argentina294.7%1 Australia386.1%8 Canada132.1%2 England8814.2%57 Fiji40.7%— France9615.5%65 Georgia91.5%— Ireland315.0%— Italy264.2%1 Japan345.4%3 Namibia203.2%— New Zealand416.6%10 Russia315.0%2 Samoa30.3%— Scotland284.5%5 South Africa283.8%4 United States284.5%18 Uruguay162.6%— Wales325.2%5Other50.0%3Unattached202.9%—
Average age of squads NationAvg. AgeOldest playerYoungest player27Juan Manuel Leguizamón (36 years, 106 days)Mayco Vivas (21 years, 109 days)27Adam Ashley-Cooper (35 years, 177 days)Jordan Petaia (19 years, 198 days)28Hubert Buydens (37 years, 258 days)Cole Keith (22 years, 135 days)27Willi Heinz (32 years, 300 days)Tom Curry (21 years, 97 days)28Vereniki Goneva (35 years, 168 days)Ratu Veremalua Vugakoto (21 years, 265 days)27Louis Picamoles (33 years, 227 days)Romain Ntamack (20 years, 142 days)27Shalva Sutiashvili (35 years, 239 days)Vano Karkadze (19 years, 87 days)28Rory Best (37 years, 36 days)Jordan Larmour (22 years, 102 days)28Sergio Parisse (36 years, 8 days)Marco Riccioni (21 years, 1 day)29Luke Thompson (38 years, 257 days)Ataata Moeakiola (23 years, 225 days)26PJ van Lill (35 years, 290 days)Prince ǃGaoseb (21 years, 75 days)27Sonny Bill Williams (34 years, 48 days)Rieko Ioane (22 years 188 days)29Andrey Garbuzov (36 years, 44 days)Bogdan Fedotko (24 years, 363 days)31Tusi Pisi (37 years, 94 days)Melani Matavao (23 years, 305 days)27Greig Laidlaw (33 years, 343 days)Darcy Graham (22 years, 91 days)28Schalk Brits (38 years, 127 days)Herschel Jantjies (23 years, 151 days)29Kurt Morath (34 years, 311 days)Siua Maile (22 years, 214 days)27Olive Kilifi (32 years, 357 days)David Ainuu (19 years, 304 days)26Juan Rombys (32 years, 199 days)Germán Kessler (21 years, 79 days)27Alun Wyn Jones (34 years, 1 day)Rhys Carré (21 years, 224 days)
Squad caps NationCapsMost capped playerLeast capped player14211370122011421120111810891074105410321002923889807705678651614439434
Previous World Cup experience
By matches PlayerRWC Matches Adam Ashley-Cooper17 Alun Wyn Jones15 Juan Manuel Leguizamón14 Sam Whitelock Sonny Bill Williams Sekope Kepu13 Sergio Parisse Rob Simmons James Slipper Kurtley Beale12 Will Genia D. T. H. van der Merwe Rory Best11 Agustin Creevy Mamuka Gorgodze Eugene Jantjies Tendai Mtawarira George North Kieran Read François Steyn Keith Earls10 Davit Kacharava Francois Louw David Pocock Luke Thompson
By tournaments PlayerWorld Cups Sergio Parisse4 Adam Ashley-Cooper3 Rory Best Leonardo Ghiraldini Mamuka Gorgodze Eugene Jantjies Alun Wyn Jones Davit Kacharava Juan Manuel Leguizamón Luke Thompson D. T. H. van der Merwe Alessandro Zanni
References