1987 Rugby World Cup final

Last updated

1987 Rugby World Cup final
Event 1987 Rugby World Cup
Date20 June 1987
Venue Eden Park, Auckland
Referee Kerry Fitzgerald (Australia) [1]
Attendance48,035
1991

The 1987 Rugby World Cup final was the final match of the 1987 Rugby World Cup, the first Rugby World Cup played.

Contents

It was played at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand on 20 June 1987 between the hosts New Zealand and France. The referee of the match was the Australian Kerry Fitzgerald and the touch judges were Jim Fleming and Brian Anderson, both from Scotland.

New Zealand won the match 29–9 with three tries, one conversion, four penalties and a drop goal, becoming the first winners of the Rugby World Cup. [2]

This same matchup would be contested again at the 2011 final, with New Zealand again becoming the world champions.

Match

Summary

First half

In front of a capacity crowd at Eden Park, hosts New Zealand met France in the inaugural Rugby World Cup final. France seemed lacklustre following their amazing win over Australia in the semi-final. New Zealand played a mainly kicking game in the first half with Grant Fox kicking for territory and position. A Fox drop goal after 14 minutes settled home nerves. A try by the World Cup's star performer Michael Jones, followed just three minutes later. Jones' try was converted by Fox, a tense final was finely balanced at half time with New Zealand leading France 9–0.

Second half

France came out with renewed vigour after the break and a Didier Camberabero penalty four minutes into the half finally put France on the scoreboard. The France fightback was, however, short-lived and New Zealand forward power in the setpiece and open play was to the fore. Tries by David Kirk and John Kirwan together with the relentlessly accurate goal-kicking of Fox meant that going into the final moments New Zealand led 29–3.

A final surge near the whistle led to a France try through Pierre Berbizier. The try was converted as the last kick of the game by Didier Camberabero.

The final had hardly lived up to its billing, probably due to the exertions by France in their semi-final win. It was however fitting that tries from three stars of the tournament, Jones, Kirk and Kirwan, won the contest and gave New Zealand the Webb Ellis Cup.

Details

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1987 Rugby World Cup</span> 1st Rugby World Cup

The 1987 Rugby World Cup was the first Rugby World Cup. It was co-hosted by New Zealand and Australia – New Zealand hosted 21 matches while Australia hosted 11 matches. The tournament was won by New Zealand, who were the strong favourites and won all their matches comfortably. New Zealand defeated France 29–9 in the final at Eden Park in Auckland. The New Zealand team was captained by David Kirk and included such rugby greats as Sean Fitzpatrick, John Kirwan, Grant Fox and Michael Jones. Wales finished third, and Australia fourth, after conceding crucial tries in the dying seconds of both their semi-final against France and the third-place play-off against Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australia national rugby union team</span> Australia national rugby union team

The Australia national rugby union team, nicknamed the Wallabies, is the representative national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of Australia. The team first played at Sydney in 1899, winning their first test match against the touring British Isles team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Campese</span> Australian rugby union player

David Ian Campese, AM, also known as Campo, is a former Australian rugby union player (1982–1996), who was capped by the Wallabies 101 times, and played 85 Tests at wing and 16 at fullback.

Didier Camberabero, is a former French international rugby union player. He played as fly half.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2003 Rugby World Cup final</span> Final of the 5th Rugby World Cup

The 2003 Rugby World Cup Final was the final match of the 2003 Rugby World Cup, the fifth edition of the Rugby World Cup competition organised by the International Rugby Board (IRB) for national rugby union teams. The match was played at Stadium Australia in Sydney on 22 November 2003, and was contested by Australia and England. The 20-team competition consisted of a group stage, from which eight squads qualified for the knockout stage. En route to the final, Australia finished first in Pool A with four wins and no losses or draws before defeating Scotland in the quarter-final and New Zealand in the semi-final. England finished on top of Pool C and, like Australia, went undefeated with four victories and no draws before beating Wales in the quarter-final and France in the semi-final.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2007–08 Heineken Cup</span>

The 2007–08 Heineken Cup was the 13th edition of the Heineken Cup, the annual rugby union European club competition for clubs from the top six nations in European rugby.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of rugby union matches between France and New Zealand</span>

The National Rugby Union teams of France and New Zealand have been playing each other for over a century. The first encounter, during the historic 1905–1906 All Blacks tour of Europe and North America, which was also France's first Test, took place in Paris in January 1906 and was won by New Zealand 38–8. It was not until their third meeting, in 1954, that France secured their first win over New Zealand 3-0.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2007 Rugby World Cup final</span> Football match

The 2007 Rugby World Cup final was a rugby union match, played on Saturday, 20 October 2007 at the Stade de France, Saint-Denis, Paris, to determine the winner of the 2007 Rugby World Cup. South Africa beat England 15–6. Having also won the 1995 tournament, South Africa became the second country to win two World Cups, following Australia, who won in 1991 and 1999.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1995 Rugby World Cup final</span> Football match

The 1995 Rugby World Cup Final was the final match of the 1995 Rugby World Cup, played in South Africa. The match was played at Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg on 24 June 1995 between the host nation, South Africa, and New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2003 Rugby World Cup</span> 5th Rugby World Cup

The 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 Union and Rugby World Cup Limited. The pre-event favourites were England, regarded by many at the time as the best team in the world. New Zealand, France, South Africa and defending champions Australia were also expected to make strong showings, with New Zealand being second favourites after victory in the southern-hemisphere Tri-Nations championship.

The 2011 Rugby World Cup Final was a rugby union match between France and New Zealand, to determine the winner of the 2011 Rugby World Cup. The match took place on 23 October 2011 at Eden Park, in Auckland, New Zealand. New Zealand won the match 8–7, the smallest margin by which any Rugby World Cup final has been decided.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bernard Foley</span> Australian rugby player of Irish descent

Bernard Foley is an Australian rugby player of Irish descent. He plays professionally for the Australia national rugby team and the New South Wales Waratahs in Super Rugby. He can cover both fullback and fly-half as well as inside centre. Foley has earned the nickname "the iceman" after successful game winning penalty goals, 2 August 2014, 18 October 2015.

The 2013 Rugby League World Cup final was the conclusive game of the 2013 Rugby League World Cup tournament and was played between New Zealand and Australia on 30 November 2013 at Old Trafford, Manchester, England. Australia won the final by 34 points to 2 in front of a sell-out crowd, finishing the tournament undefeated. They reclaimed the cup from New Zealand, who had defeated them in the 2008 final. The Kangaroos won the Rugby League World Cup for the tenth time, and the first time since 2000. Their five-eighth, Johnathan Thurston was named man-of-the-match.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2015 Rugby World Cup final</span> Rugby union match

The 2015 Rugby World Cup final was a rugby union match to determine the winner of the 2015 Rugby World Cup, played between reigning champions New Zealand and their rivals Australia on 31 October 2015 at Twickenham Stadium in London. New Zealand beat Australia 34–17, winning the World Cup for a record third time, and becoming the first team to retain the Webb Ellis Cup. The 51 points scored in this final is the highest of all Rugby World Cup finals.

The 2017 Rugby League World Cup final was a rugby league match to determine the winner of the 2017 Rugby League World Cup, played between reigning champions Australia and their rivals England on 2 December 2017 at Brisbane Stadium in Brisbane, immediately after the final of the concurrent women's competition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1992 South Africa vs New Zealand rugby union match</span> South Africas first rugby test match since the end of apartheid

In 1992, the South Africa Springboks played a rugby union test match against the New Zealand All Blacks, which later became known as the Return Test. The match was played at Ellis Park Stadium in Johannesburg on 15 August 1992. It was named as the Return Test as it was South Africa's first test match since the International Rugby Football Board (IRFB) had banned them due to apartheid.

The 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup Final was a rugby union match to determine the winner of the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup, played between reigning champions England and New Zealand on 26 August 2017 at Kingspan Stadium in Belfast. New Zealand won the Rugby World Cup for a record fifth time, beating England 41–32.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2021 Men's Rugby League World Cup final</span>

The 2021 Rugby League World Cup final was the rugby league match to determine the winner of the 2021 Rugby League World Cup, played between Australia and Samoa on 19 November 2022 at Old Trafford in Manchester, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2021 Rugby World Cup final</span> Womens rugby union event in New Zealand

The 2021 Rugby World Cup final was the final match of the 2021 Rugby World Cup, the ninth edition of the women's Rugby World Cup and the seventh organised by World Rugby for women's national rugby union teams. The match was contested between two-time champions England, and hosts and five-time and defending champions New Zealand on 12 November 2022 at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand, postponed from the previous year. This was the fifth time that these two nations met in a Rugby World Cup final, following the 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2017 editions. New Zealand won the Rugby World Cup for a record sixth time, beating England 34–31. New Zealand captain Ruahei Demant was named the player of the match.

References

  1. "Jérôme Garcès to Referee Rugby World Cup 2019 Final".
  2. "1987: Kiwis see off France in final". BBC Sport. 24 September 2003. Retrieved 14 November 2009.