The Ireland rugby team holds the 5 th position in the International Rugby Board world ranking. Though they have competed in all the world cup tournaments since 1987, they could not manage to go beyond the quarterfinals.
They were the quarterfinalists of the 1987, 1991, 1995 and 2003 Rugby World Cup s. But were eliminated in the quarterfinal play-off in 1999 Rugby World Cup .
The Ireland team has won 11 matches out of the 21 rugby matches played. The team has also scored 610 points. The Ireland team was considered as the second best team in the world. But after the 2006 Autumn internationals match against Australia, Ireland climbed to third in the world on the International Rugby Board (IRB) World Rankings. They dropped to the fifth position after their defeat to France in the 2007 Six Nations.
The team led by coach Eddie O'Sullivan is identified with green jersey, white shorts and green socks with the emblem of 3 leaf Shamrock. The team lost to Australia at the 1987 Rugby World Cup . In 1995 Ireland went out at the quarterfinal stage losing to France.
The Ireland team has a number of well-trained players such as Neil Best, Rory Best, Simon Best, Simon Easterby, Jerry Flannery, Keith Gleeson, John Hayes, Jamie Heaslip,
Trevor Hogan, Marcus Horan, Denis Leamy, Donncha O'Callaghan, Paul O'Connell,
Mick O'Driscoll, Malcolm O'Kelly, Frankie Sheahan, David Wallace and Bryan Young.
The team has been allotted in the Rugby World Cup Pool D along with France, Argentina, Georgia and Namibia . The team has to face these teams in the first round of the 2007 Rugby World Cup .
