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[2] It has been said that in 1968, the International Rugby Board made it known that it did not want its unions to be a part of such a competition that resembled a world cup. [2] The IRB went on to conduct a feasibility study – Australia and New Zealand joined forces to bid for the hosting of an inaugural World Cup. Only New Zealand, in 2015, has successfully defended their title in the World Cup. The 2019 tournament was hosted in Japan, with the Yokohoma Stadium holding the final, where South Africa beat England 32–12 to win their third World Cup. This also became the first Rugby World Cup to have all Northern Hemisphere competition knocked out in the Quarter Finals, with Argentina, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand progressing through to the Semi-Finals. For the first time, a qualifying tournament replaced the previously used invitation format. It was originally to be co-hosted with New Zealand, but disagreements over scheduling and signage at venues led to Australia going it alone. 2007 Rugby World Cup. England qualified for the final by defeating Scotland at Murrayfield, with Australia joining them by defeating New Zealand the day after. South Africa voted in favour of the tournament going ahead, though they knew they would not be competing due to the sports boycott at the time. The tournament featured one African nation, three American nations, one Asian nation, seven European nations and four Oceanic nations. France have been knocked out three times by both New Zealand and England, while the All Blacks have also eliminated Scotland three times. On 15 November 2017 France was announced as host of the 2023 Rugby World Cup. South Africa won the tournament, defeating New Zealand 15–12 in the final.

The tournament also saw the emergence of rugby's first global superstar, All Blacks winger Jonah Lomu. International competition prior to the World Cup, Learn how and when to remove this template message, Home Nations Championship/Five Nations Championship, National team appearances in the Rugby World Cup, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=History_of_the_Rugby_World_Cup&oldid=959229847, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 27 May 2020, at 18:56. Blowouts in scores in pool matches against minnow nations changed into a finals series dominated by defence. Australia defeated France in the final 35–12.

Australia won the final, defeating England 12–6, and became the first nation to win the cup away from home.

Nelson Mandela, wearing a Springbok jersey and matching cap, famously presented the Webb Ellis Cup to South African captain Francois Pienaar. Joel Stransky kicked a drop-goal in extra time to grab the victory for South Africa. France's shock 43–31 semifinal win over the All Blacks is regarded as one of the biggest upsets and also one of the best games in the history of the World Cup.

The 2015 tournament was hosted by England. For a more comprehensive table of the performance records of all the teams over the history of the World Cup, see National team appearances in the Rugby World Cup. The 1995 Rugby World Cup was hosted by South Africa, and was the first time that all matches would be played in just a single country. New Zealand became the first ever Rugby World Cup Champions, defeating France 29 points to 9 at Eden Park in Auckland. There are several stories that depict suggestions of staging a rugby union world cup before the 1980s. The stage at which the defending champions were knocked out has been: 1991 – SF – New Zealand knocked out by Australia; 1995 – QF – Australia knocked out by England; 1999 – SF – South Africa knocked out by Australia; 2003 – F – Australia knocked out by England; 2007 – F – England knocked out by South Africa; 2011 - QF - South Africa knocked out by Australia. This tournament is notable for the Pool of Death that occurred which saw Australia, England and Wales fight to get a place in the Quarter Finals. Bill McLaughlin, who was the president of the Australian Rugby Union in 1979, suggested the idea of staging a World Cup in 1988, as the event would coincide with Australia's bicentenary celebrations.

The 1987 Rugby World Cup was hosted by both Australia and New Zealand.

This world cup will also be remembered for the biggest upset ever when Japan beat South Africa 34 - 32 in the pool stages and came very close to making their first Quarter Finals. France was main host for the 2007 RWC.Some games were also held in Scotland and Wales.

It is known that originally, all four home nations were opposed to the idea, and the most vocal supporters were Australia, New Zealand and France. One notable omission was the Springboks who were not competing due to the international sports boycott.

France have defeated New Zealand 18-20 in the quarter-final of the 2007 Rugby World Cup at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales.. New Zealand led 13-3 … They are the only team never to have lost a pool match and to have always qualified in first place from every group. England have knocked out Australia a record four times, including in the 2003 final. It is one of the oldest international rugby tournaments, involving only European nations. It was also announced that ten French cities would be hosting games, with the … England won the tournament, defeating Australia in the final 20 points to 17. In total there were 16 nations in the competition. The 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. England became the second Host nation, after Wales in 1991, not to make it out of the Pools. The 1999 Rugby World Cup was hosted by Wales with matches played in England, France, Scotland and Ireland. Another meeting was held in June 1983, where Australia put forth a proposal that would see them host the first event – if it should happen.

It was announced in April 2003 that France had won the right to host the tournament. For the teams that made the knock-out stages (quarter-finals) of the World Cup, the following table shows which team knocked them out of the competition, unless they won. They therefore became the first nation to win the World Cup twice. This tournament was notable for Argentina becoming the first team from outside the Six Nations and Tri-Nations to reach the semifinals. Rugby union was played at the Summer Olympics on four occasions, 1900, 1908, 1920 and 1924.

Five have been won by New Zealand and two by France. It is believed that South Africa's decision to vote in favour of the event was the turning point in the voting. [citation needed]. It was the first time that South Africa participated in the tournament following the end of their international sports boycott due to the apartheid regime.

For the all-time table of national teams that have featured in the Rugby World Cup by a number of criteria including matches, wins, losses, draws, total points for, total points against, etc., see Rugby World Cup Overall Record. In total there were 16 nations in the competition. Seven places were automatically filled by the IRFB members, with invitations being sent out to fill remaining places.

The 1991 Rugby World Cup was hosted by Great Britain, Ireland and France, with the tournament final to be played at the home of English rugby, Twickenham. New Zealand became the first ever Rugby World Cup Champions, defeating France 29 points to 9 at Eden Park in Auckland.

The first Rugby World Cup was held in 1987, hosted by Australia and New Zealand who pushed for the tournament to be approved. These competitions did not involve full national sides, and usually only had three or four participating nations at any individual event. France played Australia in one of the semi-finals with New Zealand playing Wales in the other. [3] South Africa's vote saw England, followed by Wales, change to be in favour as well. The competition consisted of 48 matches over 44 days; 42 matches were … One of the earliest known pioneers was Harold Tolhurst, an Australian player who would later become a referee. France's wins knocked New Zealand out of the 1999 and 2007 tournaments at the semi-final and quarter-final stage … They ended up coming third in the tournament, which was the first time the top 3 slots were not dominated by either New Zealand, Australia, England, South Africa, France or Wales.

Apart from regular test matches and touring sides, tournaments that resembled a world cup format – albeit not of its scale, but in terms of international nations competing, are competitions such as the Summer Olympics and the Home Nations Championship/Five Nations Championship. This tournament was the first time that both Australia and New Zealand did not progress past the Quarter Finals. Only Romania and Italy have played in all 8 world cups without getting past the group stages. 32 matches were played from over a period of 22 May to 20 June. There were further changes to the rules of automatic qualification for this tournament, where only the top three places from 1995, along with the host nation, automatically qualified. [2], Similar ideas arose during the last years of the pre-WC era. The 2007 World Cup was held in France, with matches also played in Wales and Scotland. Since the first tournament, 7 others have been held at four-year intervals.[1]. The tournament was won by New Zealand, who defeated Australia 34–17 to become the first nation to successfully defend their World Champion title and the first nation to win the tournament three times.

Australia's loss in the quarter-finals in 1995, and South Africa's loss in the quarter-finals in 2011 are the worst performances by the defending champions. The following table shows the overall performance records of the teams from the Six Nations and The Rugby Championship, plus the teams that made the knock-out stages (the quarter-finals) in at least one of the World Cups played so far. Upon returning home, the English side was greeted by an estimated 750,000 people at a street parade celebrating their victory.[4]. This tournament was notable for the fact that France lost twice in the pool stages, to NZ and Tonga, and yet somehow managed to progress all the way to the Final to face off with NZ one more time. [2] New Zealand joined the campaign, putting forth their own proposal in March of the next year. France won the hosting rights in 2003, beating a bid from England. The All Blacks were mysteriously struck down with food poisoning just days before the final with many All Blacks still affected on the day of the final. This was the first time New Zealand had won the cup away from home. The New Zealand men's national rugby union team, known as the All Blacks, have played 53 matches so far in the nine Rugby World Cup tournaments from 1987 to 2019, with an additional match canceled and unplayed. England became the first northern hemisphere nation to win a Rugby World Cup. [2], A subsequent IRFB meeting was held in Paris in March 1985. The 2003 World Cup was hosted by Australia. They won the 1987, 2011 and 2015 tournaments. New Zealand and France have played seven Rugby World Cup games, more than any other pair of teams, including six play-off matches. With 21 seconds left before sudden death England's Jonny Wilkinson landed a drop goal to win the match. The tournament was won by South Africa, who defeated England 15–6 in the final to become World Champions for the second time.