Canada - The Canucks
Canada faces an uphill struggle to progress from Pool B at the 2007 Rugby World Cup.
Grouped with 2003 runners-up Australia, a strong Wales side along with Fiji and Japan, the Canucks have it all to do to be one of the two sides in the pool to reach the knock-out stage of the tournament.
Head coach Ric Suggitt's team secured a place at the World Cup thanks to a 69-3 win over fledgling Barbados at Bridgetown in June 2006 and an emphatic 56-7 victory over bitter rivals the USA two months later on home turf at St John's in Newfoundland.
Canada begins its campaign on September 9 in Nantes against Wales who they have not beaten in their past seven attempts. The last time Canada beat the Welsh was in 1993 with a shock 26-24 win in Cardiff.
The meeting between the sides in Nantes will be a repeat of Canada's opening game at the 2003 World Cup in Australia when the Dragons ran out 41-10 winners at Melbourne's Telstra Dome.
Since then the sides have met twice with Wales enjoying emphatic victories on both occasions: 60-3 at a packed York University Stadium in Toronto during June 2005 and 61-24 at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium in November 2006.
Another opening defeat would leave Canada needing to win its remaining games to qualify for the quarter-finals and the Canucks will believe they can beat the other two second-tier rugby nations in their group: Fiji and Japan.
Fiji at the Millennium Stadium on September 16 will be somewhat of an unknown quantity for Suggitt as the sides have not met since 2001 when the South Sea islanders were 52-23 winners in Tokyo.
This time round should be a more evenly-matched contest with the two sides almost neck-and-neck in the International Rugby Board world rankings ahead of the tournament.
Japan on September 25 should represent Canada's most straight-forward game against a side ranked several places below it.
However, Suggitt's side can take nothing for granted with the nations having taken one win each against the other since Canada's coach took charge after the last World Cup.
Japan took the first scalp in May 2004, a 34-21 win at the Super Powers Cup hosted by the Asian nation. Canada claimed revenge 12 months later in the final of the renamed Super Cup when it was a 15-10 victor at the Chichibu Stadium in Tokyo.
Canada faces its toughest pool match last on September 29 against Australia, which could have already secured a quarter-final place with a 100 per cent record ahead of the match.
However, the Wallabies are unlikely to take their foot off the gas knowing that topping the pool should secure them an easier quarter-final against the runners-up from Pool A, likely to be England or South Africa.
Suggitt will hope that his side can go into this clash with a minimum of two wins out of three under its belt, giving it a chance of qualification for the knock-out stages with an unlikely victory. That would match Canada's best-ever World Cup campaign in 1991 when it lost to New Zealand 29-13 in the quarter-finals.
Its chances of repeating this feat are all the harder 16 years on with two sides progressing from a group of five rather than a pool of four in 1991.
The scheduling of the final Pool B matches also does the Canadians no favours. Should they find themselves behind Australia in second place after the two sides meet, Wales - whose game against Fiji kicks off immediately after in Nantes - will know exactly what is required to overhaul the Canucks.
This could come down to points difference as in the final round of 2007 Six Nations when France - kicking-off last against Scotland - knew the margin of victory required to overhaul Ireland at the top of the championship table.
Canada's hopes of progressing from its pool have suffered a reality check in the period since the Six Nations. Taking part in the Barclays Churchill Cup in England it finished bottom of Pool B, losing 39-20 to Ireland A and 59-23 to New Zealand Maori.
A morale-boosting 52-10 victory over the USA in the Bowl Final at Twickenham saw them finish the tournament on a high but could not mask their deficiencies.
These were again exposed against World Cup favourites New Zealand in Hamilton as Canada battled bravely in the first half to only trail 26-13 at the interval.
However, the Canucks' much higher tackle count began to tell in the second period against a physically stronger All Blacks side which added 38 unanswered points to complete a 64-13 win.
A 16-13 victory over New Zealand Under-21s in Rotorua gave a useful run-out to some of Canada's second-string players and ensured it completed another tour with its pride intact but again could not paper over the cracks.
In isolation stamina should not be an issue at the World Cup for Suggitt's players as the majority of the squad plays professional rugby in Europe. But against physically stronger opposition, the amount of defensive work required to compete means they will inevitably tire and be vulnerable during the closing stages of games.
The Canadian coach is also restricted with the time he has available to work with his squad as most of his players are based abroad, making opportunities few and far between.
This, however, is a price worth paying for the success of second-row pair Mike James and Jamie Cudmore, who last season plied their trade in France's Top 14 for champions Stade Francais and European Challenge Cup winners Clermont Auvergne respectively.
Halfback Morgan Williams and prop Kevin Tkachuk are two other experienced figures who will help fresh talent like wing Justin Mensah-Coker and fullback Mike Pyke cope with the pressure of playing in a World Cup.
Challenging the likes of Wales and Australia is still likely to be a bridge too far for the Canucks. Third place in Pool B, which should be achieved with victories over Fiji and Japan, is a realistic target and would represent an outstanding World Cup campaign for Canada.