Israel keen to seize on 'biggest ever day'
For the world's superpowers the Rugby World Cup means six weeks of gruelling action in New Zealand in 2011, but for many of the developing rugby nations the tournament implies three long years of qualifying.
Already the likes of Portugal, Romania, Georgia and Russia are half way through a European Nations Cup campaign that doubles as qualifying - Georgia currently sit top - but the large number of rugby-playing nations in Europe means that no less than six tiers of teams are vying to win through division after division in pursuit of their dream.
For some, simply reaching the next plateau is enough and Israel's 70-8 win against Finland at the weekend in Europe's Division 3C - their seventh in a row - set up a match against 3B winners Slovenia this Saturday, the victor of which will proceed on in qualifying.
"This will be the biggest game in Israel's rugby history, definitely," Israel's National team coach Raanan Penn told Total Rugby.
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"Mainly because we've managed to get the game televised live on our sports channel, the first live rugby game ever on Israeli TV, so that's massive for us."
Realistic expectations
"We're not stupid, it's not a dream of ours to reach the World Cup in New Zealand.
"We're not going to turn into Wallabies, All Blacks or Springboks but we will definitely grow from a good result on Saturday, and if we can go on and compete in another round then great, but we're not counting on reaching New Zealand 2011!"
Israel have played Slovenia twice in the past and lost on both occasions, first by a wide margin and then in Slovenia by a closer scoreline, which suggests that this weekend's match at the Wingate Institute Stadium in Netanya could be competitive.
"We're looking forward to a very physical game, from our side at least, and a competitive match, I reckon it's 50-50," added Penn.
Rugby is a small sport in Isael but not a new one, having been played for 25 years. Over that time it has gained and lost popularity but its appeal and playing numbers have steadied over the last few years to leave a rugby landscape with six clubs and 250 adult male players for Penn to pick from.
Penn: "A massive game"
Of the current team, the vast majority are native-born Israelis, the rest having arrived as small children from English- or Russian-speaking countries.
There are also four women's teams and a number of junior clubs, suggesting that his pool of players will grow steadily over the next five years giving him 'four or five times' the current number to choose from.
That is the future, this weekend is in the present and Israel, ranked 86th in the world, welcome the 58th-ranked Slovenians knowing that victory will send them through to face the winners of 3A, and prolong rugby's time in the spotlight.
"It's a massive game for us here with the coverage so what we want is a good event with a capacity crowd and a good win," added Penn.
"If that should happen we will wake up to a new reality in rugby in Israel."
