Sport and Leisure/Rugby World Cup
History
The idea of a Rugby World Cup had been suggested on numerous occasions going back to the 1950s, but met with opposition from most unions in the International Rugby Football Board (IRFB).
The idea resurfaced several times in the early 1980s, with the Australian Rugby Union in 1983, and the New Zealand Rugby Union in 1984 independently proposing the establishment of a world cup. A proposal was again put to the IRFB in 1985 and this time successfully passed 10–6. The delegates from Australia, France, New Zealand and South Africa all voted for the proposal, and the delegates from Ireland and Scotland against; the English and Welsh delegates were split, with one from each country for and one against.
The Webb Ellis Cup is the prize presented to winners of the Rugby World Cup, named after William Webb Ellis. It stands 38 cm high and is silver gilded in gold, and supported by two cast scroll handles, one with the head of a satyr, and the other a head of a nymph. The trophy is restored after each game by fellow Royal Warrant holder Thomas Lyte.
An Acme whistle has started every Rugby World Cup Tournament since 1987. The whistle was first used in 1905 for a game between England and New Zealand
1987: New Zealand and Australia
Seven of the 16 places were automatically filled by IRFB members. South Africa were banned. Invitations were sent out to Argentina, Fiji, Italy, Canada, Romania, Tonga, Japan, Zimbabwe and the United States. Western Samoa were excluded
Pool stage
First game – New Zealand 70 Italy 6
New Zealand 74 Fiji 13; New Zealand 46 Argentina 15
Australia 19 England 6. England 60 Japan 7 (Mike Harrison scored a hat-trick). England 34 USA 6
Wales 13 Ireland 6 (Only try scored by Mark Ring)
France 70 Zimbabwe 12. France 20 Scotland 20 (First draw in the World Cup)
France topped Pool 4 on points difference over Scotland.
Quarter-finals
England 3 Wales 16. Gareth Roberts, Robert Jones and John Devereux scored tries for Wales
New Zealand 30 Scotland 3
Australia 33 Ireland 15
France 31 Fiji 16
Semi-finals
France 30 Australia 24
New Zealand 49 Wales 6
Huw Richards of Wales became the first player to receive a red card in a Rugby World Cup tournament
Third place playoff
Wales 22 Australia 21. Winning try scored by Adrian Hadley
David Codey of Australia became the second player to receive a red card in a Rugby World Cup tournament
Final: New Zealand win
New Zealand 29 France 9. Match played at Eden Park, Auckland
Winning captain – David Kirk
Winning coach – Brian Lochore
Leading try scorers – Craig Green and John Kirwan (both New Zealand) 8
Leading points scorer – Grant Fox (New Zealand) 126
1991: England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and France
Qualifying competition
The eight quarter-finalists from 1987 qualified automatically with the remaining twenty-five countries having to qualify for the remaining eight spots
After qualifying there was only one change from the 1987 tournament, with Western Samoa appearing in place of Tonga
Pool stage
Points system was changed to 3 points for a win, 2 points for a draw, 1 point for a loss
First game: England 12 New Zealand 18. Only try scored by Michael Jones.
England 36 Italy 6. England 37 USA 9.
Scotland won Pool 2 with a 24-15 victory over Ireland
Wales beat Argentina, and lost to Australia
Wales 13 Western Samoa 16
When the final whistle went, the Welsh came off the field at Cardiff Arms Park and one of rugby's more famous quips was made – "Thank heavens Wales weren't playing the whole of Samoa"
Canada qualified from Pool 4 after victories over Fiji and Romania
Quarter-finals
France 10 England 19. Tries for Underwood and Carling. Played in Parc des Princes, Paris. After the final whistle French coach Daniel Dubroca manhandled referee David Bishop accusing him of being a cheat
Ireland 18 Australia 19. Winning try scored by Michael Lynagh
Scotland 28 Western Samoa 6
New Zealand 29 Canada 13
Semi-finals
Scotland 6 England 9. Gavin Hastings kicked two penalties for Scotland but missed a penalty from in front of the posts. John Webb kicked two penalties and Rob Andrew kicked a drop goal for England
Australia 16 New Zealand 6
Third place playoff
New Zealand 13 Scotland 6
Final: Australia win
Australia 12 England 6. Match played at Twickenham
Only try scored by Tony Daly. Referee Derek Bevan denied England a penalty try when David Campese knocked forward a pass
Winning captain – Nick Farr-Jones. Winning coach – Bob Dwyer
Leading try scorers – Jean-Baptiste Lafond (France) and David Campese (Australia) 6
Leading points scorer – Ralph Keyes (Ireland) 68
1995: South Africa
Qualifying competition
The eight quarter-finalists from the 1991 Rugby World Cup all received automatic entry, as did South Africa, as hosts
Wales had to qualify
Côte d'Ivoire qualified for the only time
Fiji failed to qualify for the first time, having lost to Tonga and Western Samoa
Pool stage
First game – South Africa 27 Australia 18. Stransky scored 22 points
Following a fight in the match between South Africa and Canada, James Dalton (South Africa), Rod Snow and Gareth Rees (both Canada) were sent off
England 24 Argentina 18. Rob Andrew kicked six penalties and two dropped goals
England 27 Italy 20. England 44 Western Samoa 22. Jon Callard scored 21 points
New Zealand 145 Japan 17
New Zealand scored 21 tries, including a record 6 by Marc Ellis. Simon Culhane converted 20 of the tries and scored a record 45 points. Most points scored by a team in a World Cup match
In the match to decide the runners-up to New Zealand, Ireland beat Wales 24-23
Scotland 89 Ivory Coast 0. Gavin Hastings scored 44 points
In the match to decide the group winners, France beat Scotland 22-19
Romania scored 14 points in their pool matches, the lowest ever in a World Cup
Quarter-finals
England 25 Australia 22
Tony Underwood scored England’s only try. Rob Andrew dropped the winning goal with the final kick of the game
France 36 Ireland 12. Thierry Lacroix kicked eight penalties
New Zealand 48 Scotland 30
South Africa 42 Western Samoa 14. Chester Williams scored four tries
Semi-finals
New Zealand 45 England 29
Jonah Lomu scored four tries, running through Mike Catt for one of the tries
New Zealand No. 8 Zinzan Brooke scored a drop goal
Will Carling and Rory Underwood each scored two consolation tries for England
South Africa 19 France 15. Only try scored by Ruben Kruger
Third place playoff
France 19 England 9
Final: South Africa win
South Africa 15 New Zealand 12 (after extra time)
Match played at Ellis Park, Johannesburg
Joel Stransky scored three penalties and two drop goals for South Africa
Andrew Mehrtens scored three penalties and one drop goal for New Zealand
Nelson Mandela, wearing a Springbok rugby jersey and baseball cap, presented the Webb Ellis Cup to Francois Pienaar
Referee – Ed Morrison (England)
Winning captain – Francois Pienaar
Winning coach – Kitch Christie
Leading try scorers – Jonah Lomu and Marc Ellis (both New Zealand) 7
Leading points scorer – Thierry Lacroix (France) 112
1999: Wales, England, France, Scotland and Ireland
Qualifying competition
The tournament was expanded to 20 teams, divided into five pools of four teams. This meant a quarter-final playoff round involving the five runners-up and best third-placed team to decide who would join the pool winners in the last eight
Only four of the places were automatically allocated and did not have to play any qualification matches. These went to the champions, runners-up and the third-placed nations at the 1995 and the tournament host, Wales
England qualified by beating Netherlands 110-0 and Italy 23-15
Namibia qualified for the first time. They have played every subsequent World Cup
Spain qualified for the only time
Pool stage
First game – Wales 23 Argentina 18. Colin Charvis scored the first try
Wales beat Japan 64-15 but lost 38-31 to Samoa (Note – the whole of Samoa, not just Western Samoa)
England 16 New Zealand 30
England 67 Italy 7
England 101 Tonga 10. England scored 13 tries, 12 of which were converted by Paul Grayson
Ngalu Taufo'ou of Tonga was sent off after running ten metres to punch England flanker Richard Hill
New Zealand 101 Italy 3. New Zealand scored 16 tries, 11 of which were converted by Tony Brown
Argentina were the best third-place team
Spain is the only team not to score a try in the World Cup
Diego Ormaechea became the oldest try scorer in a World Cup game, aged 40, for Uruguay against Spain
Quarter-final playoffs
England 45 Fiji 24. Jonny Wilkinson kicked 23 points
Scotland 35 Samoa 20
Argentina 28 Ireland 24. David Humphries kicked all of Ireland’s points
Quarter-finals
South Africa 44 England 21
Jannie de Beer kicked 34 points, including a record five drop goals. Played at Stade de France
Wales 9 Australia 24
Scotland 18 New Zealand 30
Argentina 26 France 47
Semi-finals
Both semi-finals were played at Twickenham
Australia 27 South Africa 21 (after extra time)
Matt Burke kicked eight penalties
France 43 New Zealand 31
New Zealand led 24-10 at half time. Christophe Lamaison scored 28 points
Third place playoff
South Africa 22 Australia 18
Final: Australia win
Australia 35 France 12
Matt Burke kicked 25 points for Australia
Christophe Lamaison kicked 12 points for France
Played at Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Winning captain – John Eales
Winning coach – Rod Macqueen
Leading try scorer – Jonah Lomu (New Zealand) 8
Leading points scorer – Gonzalo Quesada (Argentina) 102
2003: Australia
Qualifying competition
Of the 20 teams, eight of those places were automatically filled by the teams that reached the quarter-final stages in 1999
Ireland had to qualify
Georgia qualified for the first time
The teams were divided into four pools of five nations, with the top two in each pool moving on to the knock-out quarter-final stage
Bonus points were awarded for scoring 4 or more tries, or a loss by 7 points or fewer
Pool stage
First game: Australia 24 Argentina 8. First try scored by Wendell Sailor
Australia 90 Romania 8
Australia 142 Namibia 0
Australia scored a record 22 tries, with 16 converted by Mat Rogers. Chris Latham scored five tries. This remains the biggest winning margin in Rugby World Cup history
Ireland finished in second place in the group after beating Argentina 16-15
England 84 Georgia 6
England 25 South Africa 6. Will Greenwood scored the only try
England 35 Samoa 22
This match was marked by controversy, as England fielded 16 players at one point during the game
England 111 Uruguay 13
England scored 17 tries, with Josh Lewsey scoring five
Andy Miller's drop goal for Japan against Fiji, at 52 metres, remains the longest in Rugby World Cup history
New Zealand 91 Tonga 7
Wales qualified for the quarter-finals, despite losing their final match to New Zealand 53-37
Quarter-finals
England 28 Wales 17
Will Greenwood scored England’s only try. Jonny Wilkinson kicked 23 points
Australia 33 Scotland 16
France 43 Ireland 21
New Zealand 29 South Africa 9
Semi-finals
Both semi-finals were played at Telstra Stadium
England 24 France 7
Jonny Wilkinson kicked five penalties and three drop goals
Australia 22 New Zealand 10
The match was decided by a Stirling Mortlock interception try, after a loose pass from Carlos Spencer. George Gregan taunted his opponents in defeat with the comment, "Four more years boys, four more years". Referred by Chris White (England)
Third place playoff
New Zealand 40 France 13
Final: England win
England 20 Australia 17 (after extra time)
Played at Telstra Stadium, Sydney
Lote Tuquri scored a try, Elton Flatley kicked four penalties for Australia
Jason Robinson scored a try, Jonny Wilkinson kicked four penalties and a drop goal for England
Wilkinson kicked the winning drop goal with 26 seconds on the clock
Referee – Andre Watson (South Africa)
Winning captain – Martin Johnson
Winning coach – Clive Woodward
England team – Lewsey, Robinson, Tindall, Greenwood, Cohen, Wilkinson, Dawson, Dallaglio, Back, Hill, Kay, Johnson, Vickery, Thompson, Woodman
Will Greenwood, for superstitious reasons, preferred to play wearing the number 13 shirt, even when selected to play inside centre
This is the only World Cup where no players were sent off
Leading try scorers – Doug Howlett, Mils Muliaina (both New Zealand) 7
Leading points scorer – Jonny Wilkinson (England) 113
2007: France, Wales and Scotland
Qualifying competition
Portugal's qualification was the only change in the 20-team roster from the 2003 World Cup, replacing Uruguay. This was the only time that Portugal qualified
After France won the right to host the 2007 World Cup, it was subsequently announced that four matches would be held in Wales, at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium. Ireland was to have hosted matches at Lansdowne Road, Dublin, but opted out because the stadium was being redeveloped. Two of Scotland's Pool matches were played at Murrayfield Stadium
Pool stage
First game: France 12 Argentina 17. Only try scored by Corleto. France's first defeat in the first round of the World Cup
Argentina played two sets of brothers – Felipe and Manuel Contepomi, Ignacio Fernandez and Juan Fernandez Lobbe
France 87 Namibia 10
Ireland were eliminated after losing 25-3 to France and 30-15 to Argentina
Georgia gained their first ever victory in the World Cup, against Namibia
England 0 South Africa 36
This was the first scoreless match for England at the World Cup; it was also the first time a past World Champion had failed to score in a World Cup match. Pietersen scored two tries for South Africa
England beat Tonga, Samoa, and USA to qualify
Phil Vickery was banned for two matches for tripping USA centre Paul Emerick
Wilkinson reached 1000 points in all internationals, in the match against Samoa
Andy Farrell scored his first try for England, against Samoa
Australia 91 Japan 3
Wales 72 Japan 18
Canada 12 Japan 12. Only drawn match in the World Cup
Fiji 38 Wales 34. Deciding match on Pool B. Winning try scored by Graham Dewes and converted by Nicky Little. Gareth Thomas won his 100th cap. Gareth Jenkins sacked as head coach of Wales
Shane Williams scored six tries in the tournament
Portugal played their first ever match in the World Cup, losing 56-10 to Scotland
New Zealand 108 Portugal 13. Nick Evans kicked 14 conversions
New Zealand 85 Romania 8
Scotland 0 New Zealand 40. Doug Howlett's two tries in this match brought his total in internationals to 48, a New Zealand record
Scotland qualified by defeating Italy 18-16 in the deciding match. Chris Patterson kicked six penalties
Alessandro Troncon won his100th cap for Italy in the match against Portugal
Quarter-finals
England 12 Australia 10. Wilkinson kicked four penalties. Lote Tuqiri scored the only try of the match
Drew Mitchell scored seven tries in the tournament
France 20 New Zealand 18. Winning try scored by Yannick Jauzion. Played in Cardiff
Wayne Barnes's refereeing of the match was criticised at the time by New Zealand fans in particular regarding a pass that was arguably forward and which allowed France to score the winning try. In 2012 former coach Graham Henry questioned the competency or impartiality of all the officials involved in the match
New Zealand scored 327 points in the tournament
South Africa 37 Fiji 20
Argentina 19 Scotland 13
Chris Paterson has 17 successful kicks from 17 attempts in the World Cup
Semi-finals
England 14 France 9. Only try scored by Josh Lewsey, in his last game for England
South Africa 37 Argentina 13
Third place playoff (now known as the Bronze final)
Argentina 34 France 10
Final: South Africa win
South Africa 15 England 6
Percy Montgomery kicked four penalties and Francois Steyn kicked one penalty for South Africa
Jonny Wilkinson kicked two penalties
Mark Cueto was denied a try by video referee Stuart Dickinson (Australia)
This was the second World Cup title for retiring prop Os du Randt, who was the last player from the 1995 World Cup winning team still active
Played at Stade de France, Saint-Denis
Man of the match – Victor Matfield
Referee – Alain Rowland (Ireland)
Winning captain – John Smit
Winning coach – Jake White
Leading try scorer – Bryan Habana (8)
Leading points scorer – Percy Montgomery (105)
2011: New Zealand
Qualifying competition
Three nations bid to host the 2011 Rugby World Cup — New Zealand, Japan, and South Africa
Twelve teams qualified as a result of finishing in the top three in each pool in the 2007 tournament. Of the 20 countries that competed in the previous World Cup in 2007, there was only one change – Russia replaced Portugal
Romania beat Uruguay in a playoff for the final place
Russia qualified for the only time
Pool stage
No matches were played in Christchurch due to an earthquake in February 2011
First game: New Zealand 41Tonga 10
New Zealand 83 Japan 7
France 14 Tonga 19
Richie McCaw won his 100th cap for New Zealand in the match against France
Canada 23 Japan 23. Second draw in the World Cup between these teams
England 13 Argentina 9. Ben Youngs scored the only try
Mike Tindall “acted inappropriately” while drinking in a Queenstown bar, where a “dwarf-throwing contest” was the primary entertainment
Manu Tuilagi fined for wearing a sponsored mouthguard
England 67 Romania 3. Ashton and Cueto scored hat-tricks
England 16 Scotland 12. Chris Ashton scored the only try
Argentina finished as runners- up in Pool B after beating Scotland 13-12
Ireland finished top of Pool C after beating Australia 15-6
South Africa finished top of Pool D after beating Wales 17-16. Toby Faletau scored the only try for Wales
South Africa 87 Namibia 0
Bryan Habana set a new South Africa try-scoring record
Wales 81 Namibia 7. Shane Williams scored a hat-trick
Stephen Jones won his 101st cap for Wales, against Namibia, overtaking the record of Gareth Thomas
George North became the youngest try scorer in a World Cup game, aged 19, against Namibia
Samoan coach fined 100 pigs for poor performance at World Cup
Quarter-finals
England 12 France 19. Foden and Cueto scored tries for England
Manu Tuilagi was detained by New Zealand police and subsequently fined £3000 by the England team for jumping into Auckland harbour from a ferry
Wales 22 Ireland 10
Australia 11 South Africa 9
New Zealand 33 Argentina 10. Piri Weepu kicked 7 penalties
Mils Muliaina won his 100th cap for New Zealand
Semi-finals
France 9 Wales 8. Morgan Parra kicked three penalties for France. Mike Phillips scored the only try of the match
Sam Warburton was sent off after 18 minutes by the Irish referee Alain Rolland for a dangerous tackle on Vincent Clerc
New Zealand 20 Australia 6
Bronze final
Australia 21 Wales 18.
Refereed by Wayne Barnes. Gethin Jenkins captained Wales
Final: New Zealand win
New Zealand 8 France 7
Woodcock scored a try and Donald kicked a penalty for New Zealand
Dusautoir scored a try, converted by Trinh-Duc for France
Man of the match – Thierry Dusautoir
Referee – Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Played at Eden Park, Auckland
Winning captain – Richie McCaw
Winning coach – Graham Henry
Leading try scorers – Chrtis Ashton( England), Vincent Clerc (France) 6
Leading points scorer – Morne Steyn (South Africa) 62
2015: England
Qualifying competition
England, Japan, South Africa and Italy bid for the World Cup
In 2011 the IRB approved the use of the Millennium Stadium, despite being outside of the host country, due to its capacity and strategic location. Of the thirteen venues, only two are dedicated rugby union grounds (Kingsholm Stadium and Sandy Park)
Of the 20 countries competing in the World Cup in 2011, there was only one change – Uruguay replacing Russia. This was the first World Cup since 1987 with no new teams
Uruguay beat Russia in a repechage final to qualify
Seven teams were coached by New Zealanders
Pool stage
The draw was conducted in December 2012 in London, and used the World Rankings as of that day – which explains why England, Australia and Wales were all in Pool A
Wales lost centre Jonathan Davies, full-back Leigh Halfpenny and scrum-half Rhys Webb to long-term injuries before the tournament began
First game: England 35 Fiji 11
England 25 Wales 28
Winning try scored by Gareth Davies. Dan Biggar kicked 23 points
Jonny May scored England’s only try. Owen Farrell kicked 20 points
England 13 Australia 33. Bernard Foley scored 28 points. Anthony Watson scored England’s only try
England 60 Uruguay 3. Nick Easter and Jack Nowell scored hat-tricks
England became the first host nation to be eliminated at the World Cup in the group stages
Agustin Ormaechea of Uruguay was sent off against Fiji. This was the only red card in the tournament. Son of Diego Ormaechea
Australia 15 Wales 6
Japan 34 South Africa 32. Match played at Brighton Community Centre. Winning try scored by Karne Hesketh. Ayumu Goromaru scored 24 points
South Africa recovered from this shock defeat to top Pool B, beating Scotland 34-16 at St James’ Park
Bryan Habana equalled Jonah Lomu’s record of 15 tries in the World Cup by scoring a hat-trick against USA
George, Tusi and Ken Pisi become the first three brothers to play together at the Rugby World Cup, for Samoa
Scotland 36 Samoa 33. Grieg Laidlaw scored 26 points
Sean Lamont won his 100th cap for Scotland
Japan became the first team to win three pool games and still fail to advance to the knockout stage
Namibia 16 Georgia 17
The losing bonus point for Namibia was the country's first-ever competition point in a Rugby World Cup
Ma'a Nonu became the sixth All Blacks player to earn his 100th test cap, in the match against Tonga
Ireland beat Romania in front of a tournament record attendance of 89,267 at Wembley
Ireland topped Pool D after beating France 24-9 at the Millennium Stadium
Paul O’Connell retired after suffering a hamstring injury against France
Quarter-finals
South Africa 23 Wales 19
Fourie du Preez scored the winning try. Gareth Davies scored the only try for Wales
New Zealand 62 France 13
Julian Savea scored a hat-trick, and equaled Jonah Lomu and Bryan Habana's single-tournament record of eight tries
This was the largest winning margin in a Rugby World Cup knockout stage match
Argentina 43 Ireland 20
Nicolas Sanchez kicked 23 points
Australia 35 Scotland 34
Drew Mitchell scored two tries for Australia
Bernard Foley kicked the winning penalty which was incorrectly awarded by referee Craig Joubert, who ran straight off the field at the end of the match
Matt Giteau and Stephen Moore both won their100th test caps
Semi-finals
This was the first Rugby World Cup where no Northern Hemisphere team reached the semi-finals. Both matches were played at Twickenham
New Zealand 20 South Africa 18
Handre Pollard kicked five penalties for South Africa
Australia 29 Argentina 15
Adam Ashley-Cooper scored a hat-trick
Bronze final
South Africa 24 Argentina 13. Played at the Olympic Stadium
Final: New Zealand win
New Zealand 34 Australia 17
Dan Carter kicked 19 points
The aggregate 51 points scored was the most ever in a World Cup final
Ben Smith (New Zealand) became the first player to receive a yellow card in a World Cup final
Played at Twickenham
Man of the match – Dan Carter
Referee – Nigel Owens
Winning captain – Richie McCaw
Winning coach – Steve Hansen
Sonny Bill Williams gives his Rugby World Cup winner medal to a young boy who was "smoked" in a tackle from a security guard after running on the field
Leading try scorer – Julian Savea (New Zealand) 8
Leading points scorer – Nicolas Sanchez (Argentina) 97
2019: Japan
In July 2009, the International Rugby Board confirmed that England would host the 2015 Rugby World Cup, and Japan would host the 2019 event
Trivia
France have been beaten finalists on three occasions
Ireland have reached the quarter-final six times
Fiji, Samoa and Canada have reached the quarter-finals
Japan and Canada have drawn twice at the World Cup. The only other drawn match was between France and Scotland
Most points overall – Jonny Wilkinson (227)
Wilkinson holds the records for most penalties and drop goals, but Dan Carter holds the record for most conversions
Wilkinson is the only player to have scored points in two finals
Most points in a tournament – Grant Fox (126) in 1987
Most appearances – Jason Leonard and Richie McCaw (22)
Gareth Rees (Canada) was the only player to play at the first four Rugby World Cups
Andre Watson is only referee to have officiated in two finals (1999 and 2003)
