Well never let facts distort a good story. It will be interesting to see the rankings after the 6 nations. England do have a nickname by the way. The Irish, Scots and Welsh use it all the time.
This weekend will be interesting!

OK then joking aside here are the facts:

IRB World Rankings - 18 February 2013 Position (last week) Member Union Rating Point
1(1) NEW ZEALAND 90.08
2(2) SOUTH AFRICA 86.94
3(3) AUSTRALIA 86.87
4(4) ENGLAND 84.94
5(5) FRANCE 81.56
6(6) IRELAND 80.29
7(7) WALES 79.19
8(8) SAMOA 78.71
9(9) ARGENTINA 78.71
10(10) SCOTLAND 77.18
11(11) ITALY 76.47
12(12) TONGA 76.10
13(13) FIJI 71.52
14(14) CANADA 71.41
15(15) JAPAN 70.09
16(16) USA 68.32
17(17) GEORGIA 66.59
18(18) ROMANIA 63.79
19(19) SPAIN 62.28
20(20) RUSSIA 61.73

Anyway enough serious bits:

Nicknames: The Viet Taff, Scottish CHIPolatas and Those nice fellahs from the Emerald Isle who are actually quite good.

Might need to work on number 3 to make it a bit more punchy.

probably not too much but in terms of sport, it can make a big difference, one year heros next year zeros - England football knows all about that.
except for my being born and bred on the other side of the line I could well have been at school with some of them, 2 cousins were.

not so sure about that Mike, up there near the top and well respected as a manager
but the "mutton chop" sideburns of JPR are there to hide a large scar caused by a boot on one of the few times he was on the ground
in his own words....
"I used to say that I spent half my life breaking bones on the rugby field, then the other half putting them back together in the operating theatre."
J.P.R. Williams MBE FRCS
Not the usual statement you get out of an orthopaedic surgeon

but then all of them looked rugged when playing with mud and sweat on them, although wasnt JPR one of the fastest on the field, with his long hair streaming behind him ??

`

its the tongues on the Samoans you need to watch out for, I used to have a wife like that

Fair enough, sorry I am probably letting my disdain for the girls who play half-back, in the 3/4s and at full back colour my view.

I do remember Norster destroying the England lineout on several occasions in the 80s before all the lifting nonsense came in and helping Wales win narrow matches by sheer force of will (and those were not great Welsh sides).

I can think of plenty of nicknames for the England team, but none of them are printable here!

Does it start with you can shove your (snip) chariots up your (snip) as that is what the Viet Taff normally sing when England are winning

Wales... the best team in the world never to have won anything worth while... legends in their own minds...

OY!!

They are 6 nations, Triple Crown and Grand Slam holders. I know it hurts and it's difficult to believe but... that's it - they are.

'course the World Cup is a whole new ball game...

Oh yeah, I forgot... They won against 6 other teams a couple of times.... But no, you're right... they are amazing.... Oh how I sat and watched in awe as the mainly Welsh Lions side went to South Africa and just showed the world how good they were.....

No just the five!

still have my Grand Slam ties

Meh....

Well this was meant to be a thread on the Spanish rugby team, but while we're about it

GO ENGLAND!!!

Grand Slam On...