23 September (Wellington) The two richest nations on our table (on national income per person) battle it out tonight, though in rugby terms Australia is by far the greater power (glossing over recent Irish and Samoan upsets).  The US earns far more per person (US$47,094 compared to Australia’s US$38,692) although its economic and political p ...

Thursday 15 September (New Plymouth) Russia and the USA are two of the lowest-ranked teams in this competition – both for equality and rugby skill – and the match will surely be worth watching, even if neither team really deserves to win by our standards. The two countries have more  in common than they would probably like to think, when it co ...

Sunday 11 September The teams in Pool C get their foot to the ball for the first time today, with Australia playing Italy in Albany, and the United States facing off against Ireland in New Plymouth. Ireland will be favoured to win over the US. They also outrank on our measures of social fairness – Ireland being at no 2 in our overall rankings ...