By CHARLIE INGLEFIELD
ON the eve of the All Blacks winning the 2011 World Cup, Finland were announced as ‘officially the world’s worst rugby team” by The New Zealand Herald.
Finnish rugby’s representatives, led by technical director Stephen Whittaker, kept their sense of humour, and went about changing that stat.
The facts were true as Finnish rugby was then almost entirely expat-led with limited structure, resource or players. Rugby was a Saturday afternoon’s run around to keep the chill out and prepare for the evening’s festivities.
Eight years on Finla...