Rugby World Cup 2015

Some very, very big names are playing their last games in All Black jerseys and they'll leave a a sizeable hole.

Here's a quick rundown of who's heading off and where they're going:

-Dan Carter (111 caps) is going to Racing 92, a Parisian club known for their outrageous wealth and commitment to aristocratic exclusivity.

-Ma'a Nonu (101 caps) is headed to Toulon, whose owner Mourad Boudjellal courted controversy by comparing some debatable refereeing decisions to being sodomised.

With global participation and competitiveness at an all-time high and World Rugby committed to closing the performance gap, the global governing body has injected approximately £34 million for the period 2012-15 directly into the 10 tier two nations participating in Rugby World Cup 2015.

This money will underwrite a package of programmes aimed at reducing the competition gap with the 10 tier one nations.

In addition, World Rugby has indirectly invested a further £16m in unions via high performance competitions to enhance the pathway to the Rugby World Cup for teams.

The 'Ikale Tahi named a 30-man squad earlier this week, leaving one position still to be decided.

Mana Otai says four props were ruled out of contetion through injury, including Paea Fa'anunu, and he needed more time to consider his options.

The ‘Ikale Tahi ended a run of four successive defeats by Canada with a 28-18 success at Swanguard Stadium in Burnaby on Friday thanks to tries from scrum-half Sonatane Takulua (2) and replacement Otulea Katoa.

That win, allied to a 23-18 loss by Japan against their RWC 2015 Pool B opponents USA in Sacramento, sees Tonga climb one place to 12th and swap places with the Brave Blossoms in the rankings.