Wales RWC Hopefuls New Zealand 2011

Since finishing third in the inaugural Rugby World Cup in 1987, Wales have failed to emulate that success. As host nation in 1999 Wales reached the Quarter-Finals ensuring automatic qualification for the 2003 competition. They lost out in 2003 to eventual winners England 28-17 after a tense contest which they led for some time.Hence automatic qualification for France 2007. France 2007 and having been the top six nations team it all went wrong as they lost to Australia 20-32 and Fiji 34-38 in pool 'B', finishing third. The good news was that this finish gave them automatic qualification to New Zealand 2011.

Wales have new shirts in time for the World Cup in France. Although they have stayed true to the previous colour red. The shirt also features the slim fit style and special attributes to help specific player positions. The shirt manufactured by Reebok has a T shirt style neck, it can be seen and purchased through the Welsh Shirts page.

Will The Red Dragon Fire In Pool 'D'

Wales will expect to escape Pool D, where they face South Africa, Fiji, Samoa and Namibia, winning the pool though could well be too much of a task for them and expect them to lose to South Africa with the Fiji game being the decider for 2nd spot, we expect them to win a close fought contest.

Currently ranked eighth in the world Wales desperately want to repeat the heights of the 1987 tournament, but the bookies don't fancy their chances. We agree with this and see them falling short and being knocked out in the quarter finals.

Wales News

Martyn Williams Skippers Wales in Ireland - Martyn Williams will captain Wales as he breaks Welsh Test forward cap record currently held by Colin Charvis

France hold-out to win - Wales 20-26 France - France stay on track for the Grand Slam in a nail biting and exciting Six Nations match at the Millennium Stadium

Wales team v France - Coach Warren Gatland has selected his team to play France on Friday

Wales sneak it - Wales 31-24 Scotland - Wales must have thought it was Christmas again as having been out played for 70 minutes Scotland gave them the victory on a plate

Wales team v Scotland - Gatland has brought wing Leigh Halfpenny and lock Jonathan Thomas in to the Wales team to face Scotland in Saturday's RBS Six Nations match in Cardiff, whilst Tom James and Luke Charteris have been dropped out of the 22-man squad completely