Despite the organizers’ aspirations for the cosmopolitan reach of soccer, the truth is there are only a few countries where rugby is played at any kind of high level: the nations of the British Isles, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, France and, in recent years, Argentina. With a field of 20 at the World Cup, that leaves half the spots for teams that not only have no chance to win, but also little chance to be competitive with the top teams.

Organizers say these countries, often called the minnows, are admitted to the Cup to try to increase the popularity of rugby worldwide.

The dominance of the elite teams at the Rugby World Cup is not a new phenomenon. In six previous World Cups, only five different teams have made the final, and only eight have made a semifinal. And some of the scores from earlier Cups were even more lopsided: New Zealand 108, Portugal 13 in 2007; Australia 142, Namibia 0 in 2003; England 101, Tonga 10 in 1999. (For the uninitiated, scoring is similar to American football; a try, equivalent to a touchdown, is worth 5 points, a drop kick, like a field goal, is worth 3.)

The results of most Cup games are in so little doubt that fans focus on the margin of victory. In the first game of the tournament, on Sept. 9, New Zealand beat Tonga, 41-10, only to be sharply criticized by the news media and fans for not trouncing the islanders by a bigger margin. After his team’s 81-7 shellacking of Namibia, Wales Coach Warren Gatland told the BBC he was disappointed. “We started off with 22 points,” he said, “and then the guys felt the game was all over, went to sleep and stopped being aggressive.”