Bouza link adds spice to Pool C: RWC 2027 head-to-head records

With just nine rankings places between the top three teams, Pool C has a very competitive feel about it.

Argentina and Fiji are ranked sixth and eighth, while fast-improving Spain are only one off their all-time best position, lying in 15th.

Former Puma, Pablo Bouza, has masterminded that charge as head coach of Los Leones and will relish the task of taking on his countrymen in Australia, adding further intrigue to a pool that has the potential to be full of storylines.

Here’s the overall Test head-to-head records of the teams involved, plus details of the previous Rugby World Cup encounters, listing the highest-ranked team first:

Argentina (6) vs Fiji (8)
The two-place gap in the rankings between the Pumas and Fiji is the closest between any Band 1 and 2 teams drawn in the same pool. But in terms of fixtures, they have been worlds apart, with the last meeting some 22 years ago, on the eve of Rugby World Cup 2003.

The only previous Rugby World Cup meeting at Rugby Park in Hamilton was won convincingly by Fiji, and was both teams’ first-ever Rugby World Cup fixture. Fiji’s participation had been jeopardised by a military coup in the country shortly before the inaugural tournament began, but they arrived, albeit later than every other team, and made the quarter-finals despite playing three matches in seven days.

Test head-to-head record: Played 4 – Argentina leads 3-1

Past RWC results: 1987 Pool – Argentina 9-28 Fiji

Argentina (6) v Spain (15)
Another new Rugby World Cup fixture, with the Spanish-speaking countries’ five previous meetings all falling outside of the tournament, and all won by Argentina. However, Spain’s head coach Pablo Bouza is very familiar to the Pumas, having won 36 caps for Argentina between 1996 and 2007 at No.8 and lock. He played for them at RWC 2003 and was defence coach at RWC 2015.

The most recent clash between the teams was at the home ground of Athletico Madrid in August 2023, the Pumas winning the battle of the big cats, 62-3. The closest Spain’s Los Leones (the Lions) have come to beating Argentina are the nine-point defeats in 1982 and 1992.

Test head-to-head record: Played 5 – Argentina leads 5-0

Past RWC results: N/A

Argentina (6) v Canada (25)
Argentina and Canada will come together for the first time at a Rugby World Cup. The teams have met nine times in the past but not since 2005, when Canada snapped a five-game losing streak against Los Pumas with a memorable 22-15 victory in Calgary. However, the Canadians have lost six subsequent meetings with a second-string Argentina XV side since then.

Test head-to-head record: Argentina leads 6-3

Past RWC results: N/A

Fiji (8) v Spain (15)
After a 22-year gap between the first and second clashes, Fiji and Spain have met three times in the last four years, and as recently as last month, when Los Leones gave the Pacific Islanders a real fright before losing 41-33. Again, the teams have never met before at a Rugby World Cup.

Test head-to-head record: Played 4 – Fiji leads 4-0

Past RWC results: N/A

Fiji (8) v Canada (25)
Fiji and Canada are well accustomed to one another, thanks to their participation in the Pacific Nations Cup. The sides met in the USA in this year’s cross-continental tournament, Fiji winning 63-10 in Denver. Electric winger, Kalaveti Ravouvou, scored a hat-trick for rampant Fiji, who won at a canter despite losing prop Mesake Doge to a 20-minute red card.

The teams have met at three previous Rugby World Cups, with Canada winning the first clash in 1991 and Fiji the next two, also in France in 1999, and then in Cardiff in 2007.

Test head-to-head record: Played 13 – Fiji leads 10-3

Past RWC results: 1991 Pool – Canada 13-3 Fiji; 1999 Pool – Fiji 38-22 Canada; 2007 Pool – Fiji 29-16 Canada

Spain (15) v Canada (25)
Neutrals will hope this is a repeat of the thrilling clash between the teams in Edmonton in July this year, which Spain won with the last kick of the match, 24-23. Gonzalo López was Los Leones’ hero, the centre slotting the ball through the poles with the clock in the red.

The teams have met a total of five times, and they have generally been high-scoring affairs, with an average of 69 points per game, but the 2027 encounter will be the first at a Rugby World Cup.

Test head-to-head record: Played 5 – Spain leads 3-2

Past RWC results: N/A