ARGENTINA: A change away from adidas, with local firm Topper taking the contract. They carried the hoops onto the sleeves and increased the amount of navy trim, including on the larger collar.
AUSTRALIA: Back in Canterbury and a more familiar shade of gold, though the design of the shirt was pretty much the same as what Reebok had provided.
CANADA: The intrusion of black - not a colour of the Canadian flag, lest we forget - continued, with the sleeves going the way of the shorts and socks. An attractive design from the little-known Barbarian Rugby Wear, a Canadian company.
CANADA: Once more, a meeting wit Tonga meant a change of shirts. White and red swapped positions thought the collar was now white too.
ENGLAND: Having gone uber-traditional in 1999, Nike began to push the boat out now. This was a skin-tight jersey with no collar while the red panels helped to create a streamlined look.
FIJI: Canterbury rowed back from the 1999 excesses to a plain white jersey, apart from the requisite logos.
FRANCE: Nike used the same design across their roster - indeed, the unused French alternative shirt was the same as the England top but with blue in place of red. The demise of white shorts made Les Bleus even bleu-er but it made the strip look less balanced.
GEORGIA: Competing in the World Cup for the first time, Georgia ensured that they would be noticed. This black and maroon jersey was worn against England and South Africa, with elements of the country's crest featuring heavily.
GEORGIA (alt): A white version was also used, against Samoa and Uruguay. In this World Cup only, the country's nickname, the Lelos (referring to the name of a pre-existing sport similar to rugby), was included on the crest.
IRELAND: Canterbury had replaced Nike in 2001 and kept things very simple with their first jersey. This wasn't much of a change, though, with two narrow stripes added to the sleeves.
ITALY: Back in Kappa, who provided a plain strip, similar to 1995 but with a larger collar.
JAPAN: Considering how constant the style had been since 1987, this was a big departure. Red now played a dominant role on the jerseys as the white was reduced and black was the colour of choice on the shorts and socks.
JAPAN: When the Brave Blossoms played the USA, both countries played the first half in predominantly red shorts with dark shorts and socks but Japan were asked to change at half-time. They emerged for the second half wearing fairly plain navy shirts.
NAMIBIA: With no manufactuer's logo, it's impossible to know who produced this, not a bad strip but jsut a tad unbalanced colour-wise, not least because of green's involvement being limited to the socks.
NAMIBIA (alt): White and blue switched places for the change jersey, which was worn in the defeat to Romania.
NEW ZEALAND: The strangely-shaped grip tape panels from the 1999 shirt disappeared while adidas switched back from a raglan sleeve to a normal style.
ROMANIA: A big change, with dark blue favoured as the primary colour and yellow reduced to an appearance on the side panels. French firm Berugbe were producing.
SAMOA: Having allowed the USA to use three stripes on their jerseys in '99, the IRB changed their mind again, as normally Samoa featured adidas's trademark on the sleeves in an otherwise identical design.
SCOTLAND: The biggest change effected by Canterbury when they took over was the introduction of navy shorts. Purple's brief sojourn on the jerseys was ended, with two white stripes on the sleeves instead.
SOUTH AFRICA: The same style as that used by England and France, but the collar, or what was left of it, was gold.
TONGA: Australian firm Sekem, whose logo was more often seen on Australian rules football shirts, were producing. They erred on the side of caution, with just a small but of unintrusive white trim.
TONGA (alt): Reversal of the red shirt, worn against Wales.
URUGUAY: Carrying the S&F logo, this was a similar design to Tonga, utilising the popular 'grandad' collar.
URUGUAY: Against Samoa, a mainly-black kit, in the same design but featuring white trim, was used.
USA: Like Samoa, the US had to lose two white stripes from the sleeves due to the clampdown on adidas's trademark. Red was worn against Fiji and Japan.
USA (alt): Against France and Scotland, the Super Eagles wore shirts with the red and white reversed.
For the first time, a European country won the competition, England beating the hosts Australia after extra time in the final. The first moves towards more streamlined shirts were made as manufacturers like Nike went for tighter fits and many dispensed with collars on their shirts. Four groups of five teams each were now used, allowing an easier and more logical progression to the quarter-final stage than in 1999.
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