The
Rugby World Cup is an international
rugby unionRugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
competition organised by the
International Rugby BoardThe International Rugby Board is the governing body for the sport of rugby union. It was founded in 1886 as the International Rugby Football Board by the unions of Scotland, Wales and Ireland. England refused to join until 1890. The International Rugby Football Board changed its name to the...
and held every four years since 1987.
The winners are awarded the William Webb Ellis Cup, named after
William Webb EllisRev. William Webb Ellis was an Anglican clergyman who is famous for allegedly being the inventor of Rugby football whilst a pupil at Rugby School....
, the
Rugby SchoolRugby School is a co-educational day and boarding school located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire, England. It is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain.-History:...
pupil who – according to a popular myth – invented
rugby footballRugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...
by picking up the ball during a game. New Zealand are the current holders, having won the
2011 Rugby World CupThe 2011 Rugby World Cup was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The International Rugby Board selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South Africa at a meeting in Dublin on 17 November 2005...
in New Zealand. The hosts for
2015The 2015 Rugby World Cup is scheduled to be the eighth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial rugby union world championship. The tournament is scheduled to be hosted by England from 4 September to 17 October 2015. In addition, Cardiff's 74,500-seater Millennium Stadium in Wales will also be used...
and
2019The 2019 Rugby World Cup is scheduled to be the 9th edition of the Rugby World Cup. At a special IRB meeting held in Dublin on 28 July 2009, Japan was announced as the host for the competition. This will be the first time this tournament to be held in Asia. Hong Kong and Singapore are expected to...
will be
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and
JapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
respectively.
Qualification
Qualifying tournaments were introduced for the
second tournamentThe 1991 Rugby World Cup was the second edition of the Rugby World Cup, and was jointly hosted by England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and France; at that time, the five European countries that participated in the Five Nations Championship making it the first Rugby World Cup to be staged in the...
, where eight of the sixteen places were contested in a twenty-four-nation tournament. The
inaugural World CupThe 1987 Rugby World Cup was the first Rugby World Cup. New Zealand and Australia agreed to co-host the first ever tournament with New Zealand hosting seventeen pool stage matches, two quarter-finals and the final with Australia being the junior partner hosting seven pool matches, two...
in 1987, did not involve any qualifying process; instead, the 16 places were automatically filled by seven eligible
International Rugby Football BoardThe International Rugby Board is the governing body for the sport of rugby union. It was founded in 1886 as the International Rugby Football Board by the unions of Scotland, Wales and Ireland. England refused to join until 1890. The International Rugby Football Board changed its name to the...
(IRFB, now, International Rugby Board) member nations, and the rest by invitation.
The current format allows for twelve of the twenty available positions to be filled by automatic qualification, as the teams who finish third or better in the group (pool) stages of the previous tournament enter its successor (where they will be seeded). The qualification system for the remaining eight places is region-based, with Europe and the Americas allocated two qualifying places each, Africa, Asia and Oceania one place each, with the last place determined by a play-off.
The previous format, used in 2003 and 2007, allowed for eight of the twenty available positions to be filled by automatic qualification, as the eight quarter finalists of the previous tournament enter its successor. The remaining twelve positions were filled by
continentA continent is one of several very large landmasses on Earth. They are generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, with seven regions commonly regarded as continents—they are : Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia.Plate tectonics is...
al qualifying tournaments. Positions were filled by three teams from the
AmericasThe Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
, one from
AsiaAsia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
, one from
AfricaAfrica is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, three from
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and two from
OceaniaOceania is a region centered on the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean. Conceptions of what constitutes Oceania range from the coral atolls and volcanic islands of the South Pacific to the entire insular region between Asia and the Americas, including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago...
. Another two places were allocated for
repechageRepechage is a practice amongst ladder competitions that allows participants that failed to meet qualifying standards by a small margin to continue to the next round.- Types of repechage :...
. The first repechage place was determined by a match between the runners-up from the Africa and Europe qualifying tournaments, with that winner then playing the Americas runner-up to determine the place. The second repechage position was determined between the runners-up from the Asia and Oceania qualifiers.
Tournament
The current model features twenty nations competing over a month in the host nation(s). There are two stages, a group and a knock-out. Nations are divided into four pools, A through to D, of five nations each. The teams are
seededA seed is a preliminary ranking that can be used in arranging a sports tournament. It is called a seed because of the analogy with plants where the seed might grow into a top rank at the end of that tournament, or might instead wither away...
before the start of the tournament, with the seedings taken from the
IRB World RankingsThe IRB World Rankings is a ranking system for men's national teams in rugby union, managed by the International Rugby Board , the sport's governing body. The teams of the IRB's member nations are ranked based on their game results, with the most successful teams being ranked highest...
. The four highest-ranked teams are placed in pools A to D. The next four highest-ranked teams are then drawn into the pools at random, followed by the next four. The remaining positions in each pool are filled by the qualifiers.
Nations play four pool games, playing their respective pool members once each. A
bonus points systemThe Rugby union bonus points system is a method of deciding table points from a rugby union match. It was implemented in order to encourage attacking play throughout a match, to discourage repetitive goal-kicking, and to reward teams for "coming close" in losing efforts...
is used during pool play. If two or more teams are level on points, a system of criteria is used to determine the higher ranked; the sixth and final criterion decides the higher rank through the official IRB World Rankings.
The winner (first position) and runner-up (second position) of each pool enter the knock-out stage. The knock-out stage consists of quarter- and semi-finals, and then the final. The winner of each pool is placed against a runner-up of a different pool in a quarter-final. The winner of each quarter-final goes on to the semi-finals, and the respective winners proceed to the final. Losers of the semi-finals contest for third place (called the 'Bronze Final'). Should a draw result during a match in the knock-out stages, the winner is determined through extra time. Should that fail, sudden death begins when the next team to score any points is declared the winner; as a last resort, a kicking competition is used.
History
Prior to the Rugby World Cup, there were only regional international rugby union competitions. One of the largest and oldest is the
Six Nations ChampionshipThe Six Nations Championship is an annual international rugby union competition involving six European sides: England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales....
, which started in 1883 as the "
Home NationsHome Nations is a collective term with one of two meanings depending on the context. Politically, it means the nations of the constituent countries of the United Kingdom...
" championship, a tournament between
EnglandThe England national rugby union team represents England in rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, and Wales. They have won this championship on 26 occasions, 12 times winning the Grand Slam, making them the most successful team in...
,
IrelandThe Ireland national rugby union team represents the island of Ireland in rugby union. The team competes annually in the Six Nations Championship and every four years in the Rugby World Cup, where they reached the quarter-final stage in all but two competitions The Ireland national rugby union...
,
ScotlandThe Scotland national rugby union team represent Scotland in international rugby union. Rugby union in Scotland is administered by the Scottish Rugby Union. The Scotland rugby union team is currently ranked eighth in the IRB World Rankings as of 19 September 2011...
and
WalesThe Wales national rugby union team represent Wales in international rugby union tournaments. They compete annually in the Six Nations Championship with England, France, Ireland, Italy and Scotland. Wales have won the Six Nations and its predecessors 24 times outright, second only to England with...
. It became the Five Nations in 1910, when
FranceThe France national rugby union team represents France in rugby union. They compete annually against England, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales in the Six Nations Championship. They have won the championship outright sixteen times, shared it a further eight times, and have completed nine grand slams...
joined the tournament. France did not participate from 1931 to 1939, during which period it reverted to a Home Nations championship. In 2000,
ItalyThe Italy national rugby union team represent the nation of Italy in the sport of rugby union. The team is also known as the Azzurri . Italy have been playing international rugby since the late 1920s, and since 2000 compete annually in the Six Nations Championship with England, France, Ireland,...
joined the competition, which became the Six Nations.
In the southern hemisphere, the equivalent competition is the
Tri NationsThe Rugby Championship is an international rugby union competition contested annually by Argentina, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The competition is organized by SANZAR, a consortium formed by the governing bodies of the Australian Rugby Union, the New Zealand Rugby Union and the South...
series held between
AustraliaThe Australian national rugby union team is the representative side of Australia in rugby union. The national team is nicknamed the Wallabies and competes annually with New Zealand and South Africa in the Tri-Nations Series, in which they also contest the Bledisloe Cup with New Zealand and the...
, New Zealand, and
South AfricaThe South African national rugby union team are 2009 British and Irish Lions Series winners. They are currently ranked as the fourth best team in the IRB World Rankings and were named 2008 World Team of the Year at the prestigious Laureus World Sports Awards.Although South Africa was instrumental...
, which began in 1996.
Rugby union was also played at the Summer Olympics, first appearing at the
1900 Paris gamesThe 1900 Summer Olympics, today officially known as the Games of the II Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1900 in Paris, France. No opening or closing ceremonies were held; competitions began on May 14 and ended on October 28. The Games were held as part of...
and subsequently at
London in 1908The 1908 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the IV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was held in 1908 in London, England, United Kingdom. These games were originally scheduled to be held in Rome. At the time they were the fifth modern Olympic games...
,
Antwerp in 1920The 1920 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event in 1920 in Antwerp, Belgium....
, and
Paris again in 1924The 1924 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the VIII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1924 in Paris, France...
. France won the first gold medal, then Australasia, with the last two being won by the United States. However rugby union was soon removed from the Summer Olympic program.
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 IRFB. The idea resurfaced several times in the early 1980s, with the
Australian Rugby UnionThe Australian Rugby Union is the governing body of rugby union in Australia. It was founded in 1949 and is a member of the International Rugby Board the sport's governing body. It consists of eight member unions, representing each state and territory...
(ARU) and the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) independently writing to the IRFB seeking to conduct a World Cup tournament. In 1985, Australia, New Zealand and France were in favour of a world cup and, despite knowing that
the international sports boycott of the apartheid regimeSouth Africa under apartheid was subjected to a variety of international boycotts, including on sporting contacts. There was some debate about whether the aim of the boycott was to end segregation in sport or to end apartheid altogether.-United Nations:...
would prevent their participation, the South African delegates also voted in favour, which was vital in tying the vote 8–8. When one English delegate followed by a Welsh delegate switched sides, the IRFB finally approved the inaugural cup, by 10 votes to 6.
The inaugural tournament, jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand, was held in May and June 1987, with sixteen nations taking part. The
All BlacksThe New Zealand men's national rugby union team, known as the All Blacks, represent New Zealand in what is regarded as its national sport....
(New Zealand) became the first ever champions, defeating
FranceThe France national rugby union team represents France in rugby union. They compete annually against England, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales in the Six Nations Championship. They have won the championship outright sixteen times, shared it a further eight times, and have completed nine grand slams...
twenty-nine points to nine in the final. The subsequent
1991 tournamentThe 1991 Rugby World Cup was the second edition of the Rugby World Cup, and was jointly hosted by England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and France; at that time, the five European countries that participated in the Five Nations Championship making it the first Rugby World Cup to be staged in the...
was hosted by
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, with matches being played throughout
BritainThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
,
IrelandIreland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
and
FranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. This tournament also saw the abolition of invitation qualification, with a qualifying tournament being introduced which involved thirty-five nations.
AustraliaThe Australian national rugby union team is the representative side of Australia in rugby union. The national team is nicknamed the Wallabies and competes annually with New Zealand and South Africa in the Tri-Nations Series, in which they also contest the Bledisloe Cup with New Zealand and the...
won the second tournament, defeating
EnglandThe England national rugby union team represents England in rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, and Wales. They have won this championship on 26 occasions, 12 times winning the Grand Slam, making them the most successful team in...
, twelve points to six in the final. The
1995 tournamentThe 1995 Rugby World Cup was the third Rugby World Cup. It was hosted and won by South Africa, and was the first Rugby World Cup in which every match was held in one country....
was hosted by
South AfricaThe Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, which had originally tied the vote that eventually saw the first event take place. The tournament was the first in which South Africa participated, following the end of the international sports boycott. The tournament had a fairytale ending, as South Africa were crowned champions over the All Blacks, with then President
Nelson MandelaNelson Rolihlahla Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing...
, wearing a
SpringbokThe South African national rugby union team are 2009 British and Irish Lions Series winners. They are currently ranked as the fourth best team in the IRB World Rankings and were named 2008 World Team of the Year at the prestigious Laureus World Sports Awards.Although South Africa was instrumental...
jerseyA rugby shirt, often referred to as a rugby jersey, is a shirt worn by players of rugby union or rugby league. It usually has short sleeves, though long sleeves are common as well....
and matching baseball cap, presenting the trophy to South Africa's captain,
Francois PienaarJacobus Francois Pienaar is a South African former rugby union player. He played flanker for South Africa from 1993 until 1996, winning 29 international caps, all of them as captain. He is best known for leading South Africa to victory in the 1995 Rugby World Cup...
.
The tournament in
1999The 1999 Rugby World Cup was the fourth Rugby World Cup, and the first to be held in rugby union's professional era. The principal host nation was Wales, although the majority of matches were played outside the country, shared between England, France, Scotland and Ireland...
was hosted by Wales with matches also being held throughout the rest of the United Kingdom, Ireland and France. The tournament included a
repechageRepechage is a practice amongst ladder competitions that allows participants that failed to meet qualifying standards by a small margin to continue to the next round.- Types of repechage :...
system, alongside specific regional qualifying places, and an increase from sixteen to twenty participating nations. Australia claimed their second title, defeating France in the final. The
2003 eventThe 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup and was won by England. Originally planned to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the New Zealand Rugby Football Union and Rugby World...
was hosted by Australia, although it was originally intended to be held jointly with New Zealand. England emerged as champions defeating Australia in extra time. England's win was unique in that it broke the
southern hemisphereSANZAR is the body which operates Super Rugby and Tri Nations competitions in rugby union. It is a joint venture of the South African Rugby Union, the New Zealand Rugby Union and the Australian Rugby Union, formed in 1996.Created shortly after rugby's move to professionalism in 1995, SANZAR's two...
's dominance in the event. Such was the celebration of England's victory, that an estimated 750,000 people gathered in central
LondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
to greet the team, making the day the largest sporting celebration of its kind ever in the United Kingdom. The
2007 competitionThe 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 20 October. France won the hosting rights in 2003,...
was hosted by France, with matches also being held in Wales and Scotland. South Africa claimed their second title by defeating defending champions England fifteen points to six.
The
2011 tournamentThe 2011 Rugby World Cup was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The International Rugby Board selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South Africa at a meeting in Dublin on 17 November 2005...
was awarded to New Zealand in November 2005, ahead of bids from
JapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and South Africa. Rugby World Cup Limited recommended to the IRB that the
2015The 2015 Rugby World Cup is scheduled to be the eighth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial rugby union world championship. The tournament is scheduled to be hosted by England from 4 September to 17 October 2015. In addition, Cardiff's 74,500-seater Millennium Stadium in Wales will also be used...
and
2019The 2019 Rugby World Cup is scheduled to be the 9th edition of the Rugby World Cup. At a special IRB meeting held in Dublin on 28 July 2009, Japan was announced as the host for the competition. This will be the first time this tournament to be held in Asia. Hong Kong and Singapore are expected to...
World Cups be held in England and Japan, respectively, and in July 2009 it was announced that this proposal was adopted.
Trophy
The Webb Ellis Cup is the prize presented to winners of the Rugby World Cup, named after
William Webb EllisRev. William Webb Ellis was an Anglican clergyman who is famous for allegedly being the inventor of Rugby football whilst a pupil at Rugby School....
. The trophy is also referred to simply as the
Rugby World Cup. The trophy was chosen in 1987 as an appropriate cup for use in the competition. The words 'International Rugby Board' and 'The Webb Ellis Cup' are engraved on the face of the cup. It stands thirty-eight centimetres high and is silver gilded in gold, and supported by two cast scroll handles, one with the head of a
satyrIn Greek mythology, satyrs are a troop of male companions of Pan and Dionysus — "satyresses" were a late invention of poets — that roamed the woods and mountains. In myths they are often associated with pipe-playing....
, and the other a head of a
nymphA nymph in Greek mythology is a female minor nature deity typically associated with a particular location or landform. Different from gods, nymphs are generally regarded as divine spirits who animate nature, and are usually depicted as beautiful, young nubile maidens who love to dance and sing;...
. In Australia the trophy is colloquially known as "Bill" (a reference to William Webb Ellis).
Selection of hosts
Tournaments are organised by Rugby World Cup Ltd (RWCL), and hosts are voted on by the IRB member nations. The voting procedure is managed by a team of independent auditors, and the voting kept secret. All the tournaments thus far have been held in nations in which rugby union is a major sport; this trend continued when New Zealand was awarded the 2011 event ahead of Japan, an historically weaker rugby nation. The allocation of a tournament to a host nation is now made five or six years prior to the commencement of the particular event, as New Zealand were awarded the 2011 event in late 2005.
The tournament has in the past been hosted by both single and multiple nations. For example the 1987 tournament was co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand. The IRB requires that a host nation must have a venue of (minimum) 60,000 capacity for the final. Host nations sometimes construct or upgrade stadia in preparation for the World Cup, such as
Millennium StadiumThe Millennium Stadium is the national stadium of Wales, located in the capital, Cardiff. It is the home of the Wales national rugby union team and also frequently stages games of the Wales national football team, but is also host to many other large scale events, such as the Super Special Stage...
– purpose built for the
1999 tournamentThe 1999 Rugby World Cup was the fourth Rugby World Cup, and the first to be held in rugby union's professional era. The principal host nation was Wales, although the majority of matches were played outside the country, shared between England, France, Scotland and Ireland...
– and
Eden ParkEden Park is the biggest stadium in Auckland, New Zealand. It is used primarily for rugby union in winter and cricket in summer . The ground also occasionally hostts rugby league matches. To accommodate all three sports, the cricket pitch is removable...
, upgraded for 2011. The first non Tri Nations or Five Nations country to host a Rugby World Cup will be Japan in
2019The 2019 Rugby World Cup is scheduled to be the 9th edition of the Rugby World Cup. At a special IRB meeting held in Dublin on 28 July 2009, Japan was announced as the host for the competition. This will be the first time this tournament to be held in Asia. Hong Kong and Singapore are expected to...
.
Media coverage
The tournament is one of the largest international sporting events in the world, surpassed in scale only by the
FIFA World CupThe FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...
, the Olympics, and the
Tour de FranceThe Tour de France is an annual bicycle race held in France and nearby countries. First staged in 1903, the race covers more than and lasts three weeks. As the best known and most prestigious of cycling's three "Grand Tours", the Tour de France attracts riders and teams from around the world. The...
. The first World Cup, in 1987, had a cumulative world television audience of 300 million; its successor, the 1991 event in England, reached 1.75 billion. South Africa's 1995 tournament reached 2.67 billion, and the 1999 Welsh-hosted event reached 3 billion. The 2003 tournament had a cumulative world television audience of 3.5 billion, and the final, between Australia and England, became the most watched
rugby unionRugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
match in the history of Australian television. The event was broadcast in 205 countries. The 2003 tournament had a cumulative world television audience of 3.5 billion, it had 48 matches, with an average attendance of 38,282 and a total of 1,837,547. The 2007 tournament had a cumulative world television audience of 4.2 billion for the 48 matches, with an average attendance of 47,150 per match, and a total attendance at all matches of 2,263,223.
Tournaments
| Year |
Host(s) |
|
Final |
|
Bronze Final |
| Winner |
Score |
Runner-up |
3rd place |
Score |
4th place |
1987
DetailsThe 1987 Rugby World Cup was the first Rugby World Cup. New Zealand and Australia agreed to co-host the first ever tournament with New Zealand hosting seventeen pool stage matches, two quarter-finals and the final with Australia being the junior partner hosting seven pool matches, two...
|
&
|
|
29–9 |
|
|
22–21 |
|
1991
DetailsThe 1991 Rugby World Cup was the second edition of the Rugby World Cup, and was jointly hosted by England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and France; at that time, the five European countries that participated in the Five Nations Championship making it the first Rugby World Cup to be staged in the...
|
,
,
IrelandIreland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
,
&
|
|
12–6 |
|
|
13–6 |
|
1995
DetailsThe 1995 Rugby World Cup was the third Rugby World Cup. It was hosted and won by South Africa, and was the first Rugby World Cup in which every match was held in one country....
|
|
|
15–12
(aet) |
|
|
19–9 |
|
1999
DetailsThe 1999 Rugby World Cup was the fourth Rugby World Cup, and the first to be held in rugby union's professional era. The principal host nation was Wales, although the majority of matches were played outside the country, shared between England, France, Scotland and Ireland...
|
|
|
35–12 |
|
|
22–18 |
|
2003
DetailsThe 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup and was won by England. Originally planned to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the New Zealand Rugby Football Union and Rugby World...
|
|
|
20–17
(aet) |
|
|
40–13 |
|
2007
DetailsThe 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 20 October. France won the hosting rights in 2003,...
|
|
|
15–6 |
|
|
34–10 |
|
2011
DetailsThe 2011 Rugby World Cup was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The International Rugby Board selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South Africa at a meeting in Dublin on 17 November 2005...
|
|
|
8–7 |
|
|
21–18 |
|
2015
DetailsThe 2015 Rugby World Cup is scheduled to be the eighth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial rugby union world championship. The tournament is scheduled to be hosted by England from 4 September to 17 October 2015. In addition, Cardiff's 74,500-seater Millennium Stadium in Wales will also be used...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2019
DetailsThe 2019 Rugby World Cup is scheduled to be the 9th edition of the Rugby World Cup. At a special IRB meeting held in Dublin on 28 July 2009, Japan was announced as the host for the competition. This will be the first time this tournament to be held in Asia. Hong Kong and Singapore are expected to...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Performance of nations
In total, twenty-five nations have participated at the Rugby World Cup (excluding qualifying tournaments). Of the seven tournaments that have been held, all but one have been won by a national team from the
southern hemisphereThe Southern Hemisphere is the part of Earth that lies south of the equator. The word hemisphere literally means 'half ball' or "half sphere"...
. New Zealand won the inaugural World Cup in 1987, with Australia winning in 1991, South Africa in 1995, Australia again in 1999, South Africa again in 2007, then New Zealand again in 2011. The southern hemisphere's dominance has been broken only in 2003, when England beat Australia in the final.
Thus far the only nations to host and win a tournament are New Zealand (1987 and 2011) and South Africa (1995). The performance of other host nations includes England (1991 final hosts) and Australia (2003 hosts) finishing runners-up. France (2007 hosts) finished fourth, while Wales (1999 hosts) failed to reach the semi-finals. Of the twenty-five nations that have ever participated in at least one tournament, twelve of them have never missed a tournament.
Team records
| Team |
Champions |
Runners-up |
Third |
Fourth |
|
2 (1987The 1987 Rugby World Cup was the first Rugby World Cup. New Zealand and Australia agreed to co-host the first ever tournament with New Zealand hosting seventeen pool stage matches, two quarter-finals and the final with Australia being the junior partner hosting seven pool matches, two...
, 2011The 2011 Rugby World Cup was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The International Rugby Board selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South Africa at a meeting in Dublin on 17 November 2005...
) |
1 (1995The 1995 Rugby World Cup was the third Rugby World Cup. It was hosted and won by South Africa, and was the first Rugby World Cup in which every match was held in one country....
) |
2 (1991 The 1991 Rugby World Cup was the second edition of the Rugby World Cup, and was jointly hosted by England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and France; at that time, the five European countries that participated in the Five Nations Championship making it the first Rugby World Cup to be staged in the...
, 2003The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup and was won by England. Originally planned to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the New Zealand Rugby Football Union and Rugby World...
) |
1 (1999The 1999 Rugby World Cup was the fourth Rugby World Cup, and the first to be held in rugby union's professional era. The principal host nation was Wales, although the majority of matches were played outside the country, shared between England, France, Scotland and Ireland...
) |
|
2 (1991 The 1991 Rugby World Cup was the second edition of the Rugby World Cup, and was jointly hosted by England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and France; at that time, the five European countries that participated in the Five Nations Championship making it the first Rugby World Cup to be staged in the...
, 1999The 1999 Rugby World Cup was the fourth Rugby World Cup, and the first to be held in rugby union's professional era. The principal host nation was Wales, although the majority of matches were played outside the country, shared between England, France, Scotland and Ireland...
) |
1 (2003The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup and was won by England. Originally planned to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the New Zealand Rugby Football Union and Rugby World...
) |
1 (2011The 2011 Rugby World Cup was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The International Rugby Board selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South Africa at a meeting in Dublin on 17 November 2005...
) |
1 (1987The 1987 Rugby World Cup was the first Rugby World Cup. New Zealand and Australia agreed to co-host the first ever tournament with New Zealand hosting seventeen pool stage matches, two quarter-finals and the final with Australia being the junior partner hosting seven pool matches, two...
) |
|
2 (1995The 1995 Rugby World Cup was the third Rugby World Cup. It was hosted and won by South Africa, and was the first Rugby World Cup in which every match was held in one country....
, 2007The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 20 October. France won the hosting rights in 2003,...
) |
– |
1 (1999The 1999 Rugby World Cup was the fourth Rugby World Cup, and the first to be held in rugby union's professional era. The principal host nation was Wales, although the majority of matches were played outside the country, shared between England, France, Scotland and Ireland...
) |
– |
|
1 (2003The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup and was won by England. Originally planned to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the New Zealand Rugby Football Union and Rugby World...
) |
2 (1991 The 1991 Rugby World Cup was the second edition of the Rugby World Cup, and was jointly hosted by England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and France; at that time, the five European countries that participated in the Five Nations Championship making it the first Rugby World Cup to be staged in the...
, 2007The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 20 October. France won the hosting rights in 2003,...
) |
– |
1 (1995The 1995 Rugby World Cup was the third Rugby World Cup. It was hosted and won by South Africa, and was the first Rugby World Cup in which every match was held in one country....
) |
|
– |
3 (1987The 1987 Rugby World Cup was the first Rugby World Cup. New Zealand and Australia agreed to co-host the first ever tournament with New Zealand hosting seventeen pool stage matches, two quarter-finals and the final with Australia being the junior partner hosting seven pool matches, two...
, 1999The 1999 Rugby World Cup was the fourth Rugby World Cup, and the first to be held in rugby union's professional era. The principal host nation was Wales, although the majority of matches were played outside the country, shared between England, France, Scotland and Ireland...
, 2011The 2011 Rugby World Cup was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The International Rugby Board selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South Africa at a meeting in Dublin on 17 November 2005...
) |
1 (1995The 1995 Rugby World Cup was the third Rugby World Cup. It was hosted and won by South Africa, and was the first Rugby World Cup in which every match was held in one country....
) |
2 (2003The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup and was won by England. Originally planned to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the New Zealand Rugby Football Union and Rugby World...
, 2007The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 20 October. France won the hosting rights in 2003,...
) |
|
– |
– |
1 (1987The 1987 Rugby World Cup was the first Rugby World Cup. New Zealand and Australia agreed to co-host the first ever tournament with New Zealand hosting seventeen pool stage matches, two quarter-finals and the final with Australia being the junior partner hosting seven pool matches, two...
) |
1 (2011The 2011 Rugby World Cup was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The International Rugby Board selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South Africa at a meeting in Dublin on 17 November 2005...
) |
|
– |
– |
1 (2007The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 20 October. France won the hosting rights in 2003,...
) |
– |
|
– |
– |
– |
1 (1991 The 1991 Rugby World Cup was the second edition of the Rugby World Cup, and was jointly hosted by England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and France; at that time, the five European countries that participated in the Five Nations Championship making it the first Rugby World Cup to be staged in the...
) |
The following teams have reached the quarter-finals but never progressed beyond that stage: (five times) (twice) (twice) (once)
Success rate
| Team |
Appearances |
Won |
Win rate (Tournaments) |
Win rate (Matches) |
| South Africa |
5 |
2 |
40% |
86% |
| New Zealand |
7 |
2 |
29% |
88% |
| Australia |
7 |
2 |
29% |
85% |
| England |
7 |
1 |
14% |
73% |
Records and statistics
The record for most overall points accumulated in the final stages is held by English player
Jonny WilkinsonJonathan Peter "Jonny" Wilkinson OBE is an English rugby union player and member of the England national team. Wilkinson rose to acclaim from 2001 to 2003, before and during the 2003 Rugby World Cup and was acknowledged as one of the world’s best rugby players...
.
Grant FoxGrant James Fox is a former rugby union player from New Zealand. He was born in New Plymouth. He attended Auckland Grammar school....
of New Zealand holds the record for most points in one competition, with 126 in 1987;
Jason LeonardJason Leonard OBE , also known as "The Fun Bus", is an English former rugby union prop forward who held the world record for winning the most international caps until 2005, when it was surpassed by Australia's scrum-half George Gregan...
of England holds the record for most appearances with 22 between 1991 and 2003.
Simon CulhaneSimon Culhane is a rugby player who won 6 caps playing at fly-half for the New Zealand rugby union side . He made his international test debut at the age of 27 on 4 June 1995 during the 1995 Rugby World Cup. The match, against Japan was won 145-17 and is the largest winning margin for an All...
holds the record for most points in a match by one player, 45, as well as the record for most conversions in a match, 20. Marc Ellis holds the record for most tries in a match, scoring six. New Zealander
Jonah LomuJonah Tali Lomu, MNZM is a New Zealand rugby union player. He had sixty-three caps as an All Black after debuting in 1994. He is generally regarded as the first true global superstar of rugby union. He has had a huge impact on the game...
holds the records for overall tries in the final stages — 15 altogether from the 1995 and 1999 tournaments. Jonah Lomu and South African
Bryan HabanaBryan Gary Habana is a South African rugby union player who plays as a wing for the Western Province in the Currie Cup, the Stormers in Super 14, and the 2007 Rugby World Cup champions Springboks...
share the most tries in one competition, with 8. The record for most penalties in a match is 8, held by
Matt BurkeMatthew Burke is a retired Australian rugby union player. He grew up in Carlingford, New South Wales, and was schooled at St Gerard Majella Catholic Primary School, Carlingford and St. Joseph's College, Hunters Hill...
,
Gonzalo QuesadaGonzalo Quesada is an Argentine rugby player.-Biography:He was born May 2, 1974 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He won 39 caps playing at Fly-half for the Argentinian rugby union side between 1996 and 2003. He made his test debut at the age of 22 against the United States the 14 September 1996. He won...
,
Gavin HastingsAndrew Gavin Hastings, OBE is a former Scotland rugby union player. He is frequently considered one of the best, if not the best, rugby player to come out of Scotland. His nickname is "Big Gav".Hastings was born in Edinburgh...
and
Thierry LacroixThierry Lacroix is a former French rugby union footballer. He won 43 caps playing at fly-half for the French rugby union side. He made his international test debut at the age of 22 on 4 November 1989 as a replacement against Australia. He was part of the winning side in the 1993 Five Nations...
, and the record for most penalties in a tournament, 31, is held by Gonzalo Quesada. Most drop goals in a match (5) is held by South Africa's
Jannie de BeerJan Hendrik de Beer , nicknamed Jannie, is a South African former rugby union player. He played flyhalf for the South African national team, the Springboks. In all he represented the Springboks in 13 tests, scoring 183 points. He stands 1.82 meters tall, and weighs 87 kilograms...
. The most points scored in a game is 145 — by the All Blacks against
JapanThe Japan national rugby union team represent Japan in international rugby union competitions. Japan is traditionally the strongest rugby union power in Asia but has both enjoyed and endured mixed results against non-Asian teams over the years...
in 1995, with the widest margin being 142, held by Australia in a match against
NamibiaThe Namibian rugby union team, nicknamed the Welwitschias or Biltongboere, represents Namibia at rugby union. Although they are a tier-three nation in the International Rugby Board tier system, the team have participated in all three Rugby World Cup competitions since their first appearance in 1999...
in 2003.
A total of
16 players have been sent off during the tournaments with Welsh lock
Huw RichardsHuw David Richards is a former Welsh and Neath RFC rugby union player. He played in the 1987 Rugby World Cup as a lock and became the first player to receive a red card in a Rugby World Cup tournament.-Biography:...
being the first.
Printed sources
- Davies, Gerald (2004) The History of the Rugby World Cup (Sanctuary Publishing Ltd, (ISBN 1-86074-602-0)
- Farr-Jones, Nick
Nicholas Campbell Farr-Jones is a former Australian rugby union footballer. His position was scrum-half. He attended Newington College and St Andrew's College within the University of Sydney...
, (2003). Story of the Rugby World Cup, Australian Post CorporationAustralia Post is the trading name of the Australian Government-owned Australian Postal Corporation .-History:...
, (ISBN 0-642-36811-2)
External links
- IRB.com Official site of the International Rugby Board
The International Rugby Board is the governing body for the sport of rugby union. It was founded in 1886 as the International Rugby Football Board by the unions of Scotland, Wales and Ireland. England refused to join until 1890. The International Rugby Football Board changed its name to the...
.