The Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams, the winners of which are recognised as the World champions of the sport.
The 1999 Rugby World Cup, was the fourth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial international rugby union championship, the first World Cup to be held in the sport's professional era.
The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition organised by the International Rugby Board. 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, beating a bid from England. The competition consisted of 48 matches over 44 days; 42 matches were played in 10 cities throughout France, as well as four in Cardiff, Wales, and two in Edinburgh, Scotland.
The 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.
The England men's national rugby union team represents the Rugby Football Union in men's international rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. England have won the championship on 29 occasions, winning the Grand Slam 14 times and the Triple Crown 26 times, making them the most successful outright winners in the tournament's history. They are currently the only team from the Northern Hemisphere to win the Rugby World Cup, having won the tournament in 2003, and have been runners-up on three further occasions.
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 the time, the five European countries who participated in the Five Nations Championship. This was the first Rugby World Cup to be staged in the northern hemisphere, with England the hosts of the final. Also for the first time, qualifying competitions were introduced as the number of entrants had increased from 16 nations four years before to a total of 33 countries. The eight quarter-finalists from 1987 qualified automatically with the remaining eight spots contested through qualifiers by 25 countries. This resulted in only one new side qualifying for the tournament, Western Samoa replacing Tonga. The same 16-team pool/knock-out format was used with just minor changes to the points system. South Africa was again not included because of sanctions imposed on the country by the IRB, due to the government's apartheid policies.
The Ireland national rugby union team is the men's representative national team for the island of Ireland in rugby union. The team represents both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Ireland competes in the annual Six Nations Championship and in the Rugby World Cup. Ireland is one of the four unions that make up the British & Irish Lions – players eligible to play for Ireland are also eligible for the Lions.
The Canada men's national rugby union team represents the Canada in men's international rugby union competitions. They are overseen by Rugby Canada the governing body of rugby union in Canada.
The Rugby World Cup host nation is selected by World Rugby at a meeting six years before each tournament. Each of the Rugby World Cups from 1987 to 2015 were hosted by countries that are considered the traditional powers in World Rugby. The first non Rugby Championship or Six Nations country to host a Rugby World Cup was Japan in 2019, after failed bids for the 2011 and 2015 tournaments.
David George Wilson is a former English rugby union player. A tighthead prop, he played for Newcastle Falcons and Bath and represented England at two World Cups.
The 2019 Rugby World Cup was the ninth edition of the Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's rugby union teams. It was hosted in Japan from 20 September to 2 November in 12 venues all across the country. The opening match was played at Ajinomoto Stadium in Chōfu, Tokyo, with the final match being held at International Stadium Yokohama in Yokohama. This was the first time that the tournament had taken place in Asia and outside the traditional Tier 1 rugby nations.
The Rugby World Cup is a rugby union tournament held every four years and contested by the men's national teams of the member unions of World Rugby. The Wales national rugby union team has participated in all ten Rugby World Cup tournaments. Up to and including 2015, hosting of the tournament alternated between traditional rugby heartlands in the southern hemisphere and those in Europe. Wales was the primary host in 1999, with Cardiff's Millennium Stadium built to coincide with the event, and the other three tournaments played in Europe have also used venues in Wales to some degree. Cardiff's Millennium Stadium and its predecessor, the Cardiff Arms Park, will have hosted a total 21 matches over a total of four World Cups. This is the largest number of World Cup games hosted by one venue.
The Ireland national rugby union team have played in all ten Rugby World Cup tournaments. They have reached the quarter-finals at all but two tournaments, but have yet to progress to the semi-finals. They have finished top of their pool on three occasions.
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 European Rugby Champions Cup is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a predominantly European league. Clubs qualify for the Champions Cup via their final positions in their respective national/regional leagues or via winning the second-tier Challenge Cup; those that do not qualify are instead eligible to compete in the second-tier Challenge Cup.
The 2021 Men's Rugby League World Cup qualification was the qualifying process which will decide the 8 teams that would join the 8 quarter-finalists from the 2017 World Cup including the hosts England, who received an automatic spot, at the 2021 Rugby League World Cup. The process commenced in June 2018, with the commencement of the 2018–19 Rugby League European Championship C tournament, which acted as the first round for European qualification.
Pool B of the 2023 Rugby World Cup began on 9 September 2023 and concluded on 8 October 2023. The pool included holders and world-number-two ranked side South Africa, fellow automatic qualifiers and world-number-one-ranked side Ireland, and world-number-five-ranked side Scotland. They are joined by Romania and Tonga. It was widely referred to as the "group of death." Ireland topped the group and South Africa placed second, thus allowing both teams to progress.
Pool D was one of four pools at the 2003 Rugby World Cup into which the 20 participating teams were divided. The pool included New Zealand and Wales, who both qualified automatically having reached the quarter-finals of the 1999 tournament, along with Italy, Canada and Tonga.
Pool B was one of four pools at the 2003 Rugby World Cup into which the 20 participating teams were divided. The pool included 1999 quarter-finalists France and Scotland, who both qualified automatically having reached the quarter-finals of the 1999 tournament, along with Fiji, the United States and Japan.
Pool C was one of four pools at the 2003 Rugby World Cup into which the 20 participating teams were divided. The pool included South Africa and England, who both qualified automatically having reached the quarter-finals of the 1999 tournament, along with Samoa, Georgia and Uruguay.
Australia 
Argentina 
Ireland 
Romania 
Namibia 
