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.
The Japan national rugby union team, often a.k.a “Cherry Blossoms”, or a.k.a “Sakura”, and more a.k.a “The Brave Blossoms” is traditionally the strongest rugby union power in Asia and has enjoyed and endured mixed results against non-Asian teams over the years. Rugby union in Japan is administered by the Japan Rugby Football Union (JRFU), which was founded in 1926. They compete annually in the Pacific Nations Cup and previously in the Asia Rugby Championship. They have also participated in every Rugby World Cup since the tournament began in 1987.
The 2011 Rugby World Cup, was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South Africa at a meeting in Dublin on 17 November 2005. The tournament was won by New Zealand, who defeated France 8–7 in the final. The defending champions, South Africa, were eliminated by Australia 11–9 in the quarter-finals. The result marked the third time that the tournament was won by the country that hosted the event.
Rugby World Cup records have been accumulating since the first Rugby World Cup tournament was held in 1987.
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.
Rugby union is the national sport of Tonga. Tonga are considered to be a tier 2 rugby nation by the International Rugby Board.
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.
Italy have competed in all the Rugby World Cup tournaments, having made their first appearance in the inaugural 1987 tournament. They have finished third in their pool at every tournament, except in 1999, the only tournament where they lost more than two games. Having never finished in the top two in their pool, they have never qualified to progress to the quarter-finals. They have won the most matches of those that have never made it to the quarter-finals.
Pool D of the 2011 Rugby World Cup began on 10 September 2011 and was completed on 2 October. The pool was composed of the current Rugby World Cup holders South Africa, as well as Wales, Samoa, Fiji and Namibia.
The knockout stage of the 2011 Rugby World Cup began on 8 October with a quarter-final between Ireland and Wales and concluded on 23 October with the final at Eden Park in Auckland.
Pool C of the 2015 Rugby World Cup began on 19 September and was completed on 11 October 2015. The pool was composed of New Zealand, Argentina and Tonga – who all qualified automatically for the tournament due to finishing in the top three positions in their pools in 2011 – along with the top European qualifier, Georgia, and the top African qualifier, Namibia.
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.
Pool B of the 2019 Rugby World Cup began on 21 September 2019. The pool included title holders New Zealand and third-placed team from 2015 South Africa, while Italy also joined the pool after finishing third in their pool in 2015. They were joined by the African qualifier, Namibia, and the repechage winner, Canada.
The men's tournament in the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens was held at Luzhniki stadium in Moscow. The tournament was held from 28 June to 30 June, with New Zealand beating England 33−0 at the final.
The 2019 Rugby World Cup was an international rugby union tournament which was held in Japan from 20 September until 2 November 2019. Twenty national teams competed, and each brought a 31-man squad containing no regulated number of players per-position to the tournament. The tournament was administered by World Rugby, to whom each team submitted their finalised squad by 8 September 2019. A player may be replaced for medical or compassionate reasons, but would be unable to return to the squad. Any replacement player has an enforced stand-down period of 48 hours before they can take the field.
This article documents the statistics of the 2019 Rugby World Cup which was held in Japan from 20 September to 2 November.
Siua Pututau Maile is a Tongan professional rugby union player who plays as a hooker for United Rugby Championship club Benetton and the Tonga national team.
The qualification process for the 2021 Rugby World Cup began on 9 August 2019 with 12 teams qualifying to the tournament which was to be held in New Zealand. The 2021 Rugby World Cup was postponed by one year in March 2021 to 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This article documents the statistics of the 2023 Rugby World Cup that was held in France from 8 September to 28 October.
