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.
New Zealand were the first team to qualify for the knockout stage, when they beat France 37–17 in their penultimate Pool A game. New Zealand and France re-encountered in the final, that was won by the local team 8–7. This was a rematch of the 1987 final, also in Eden Park and also won by New Zealand. This way, New Zealand got their second title, while France their third final.
For the first time in World Cup history, three teams that finished second in their respective pools qualified for the semi-finals, while South Africa became the second defending champions not to reach the semi-finals after Australia in 1995.
Furthermore, the bottom half of the bracket was entirely composed of the 2012 Rugby Championship teams and the other half was composed of the last four Six Nations champions since the last World Cup.
| Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||
| 8 October – Wellington | ||||||||||
 Ireland | 10 | |||||||||
| 15 October – Auckland | ||||||||||
 Wales | 22 | |||||||||
| Wales | 8 | |||||||||
| 8 October – Auckland | ||||||||||
 France | 9 | |||||||||
 England | 12 | |||||||||
| 23 October – Auckland | ||||||||||
| France | 19 | |||||||||
| France | 7 | |||||||||
| 9 October – Wellington | ||||||||||
 New Zealand | 8 | |||||||||
 South Africa | 9 | |||||||||
| 16 October – Auckland | ||||||||||
 Australia | 11 | |||||||||
| Australia | 6 | |||||||||
| 9 October – Auckland | ||||||||||
| New Zealand | 20 | Third place | ||||||||
| New Zealand | 33 | |||||||||
| 21 October – Auckland | ||||||||||
 Argentina | 10 | |||||||||
| Wales | 18 | |||||||||
| Australia | 21 | |||||||||
| 8 October 2011 18:00 NZDT (UTC+13) |
| Ireland | 10–22 | Wales |
| Try: Earls 45' c Con: O'Gara (1/1) Pen: O'Gara (1/1) 24' | Report [1] | Try: Williams 3' c Phillips 51' m J. Davies 64' c Con: Priestland (2/3) Pen: Halfpenny (1/1) 29' |
| Westpac Stadium, Wellington Attendance: 35,787 Referee: Craig Joubert (South Africa) |
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Man of the Match: Touch judges: |
| 8 October 2011 20:30 NZDT (UTC+13) |
| England | 12–19 | France |
| Try: Foden 55' c Cueto 77' m Con: Wilkinson (1/1) | Report [2] | Try: Clerc 22' m Médard 31' m Pen: Yachvili (2/3) 11', 16' Drop: Trinh-Duc (1/1) 73' |
| Eden Park, Auckland Attendance: 49,105 Referee: Steve Walsh (Australia) |
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Man of the Match: Touch judges: |
| 9 October 2011 18:00 NZDT (UTC+13) |
| South Africa | 9–11 | Australia |
| Pen: Steyn (2/4) 39', 56' Drop: Steyn (1/1) 60' | Report [3] | Try: Horwill 11' m Pen: O'Connor (2/2) 17', 72' |
| Westpac Stadium, Wellington Attendance: 34,914 Referee: Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand) |
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Man of the Match: Touch judges: |
| 9 October 2011 20:30 NZDT (UTC+13) |
| New Zealand | 33–10 | Argentina |
| Try: Read 69' m Thorn 79' c Con: Cruden (1/1) Pen: Weepu (7/7) 13', 26', 36', 40', 50', 59', 73' | Report [4] | Try: Farías Cabello 32' c Con: Contepomi (1/1) Pen: Bosch (1/1) 46' |
| Eden Park, Auckland Attendance: 57,192 Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales) |
Man of the Match: Touch judges: |
Notes
| 15 October 2011 21:00 NZDT (UTC+13) |
| Wales | 8–9 | France |
| Try: Phillips 58' m Pen: Hook (1/3) 8' | Report [6] | Pen: Parra (3/3) 22', 35', 51' |
| Eden Park, Auckland Attendance: 58,630 Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland) |
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Man of the Match: Touch judges: |
Notes
| 16 October 2011 21:00 NZDT (UTC+13) |
| Australia | 6–20 | New Zealand |
| Pen: O'Connor (1/1) 16' Drop: Cooper (1/1) 32' | Report [7] | Try: Nonu 6' m Pen: Weepu (4/7) 13', 38', 43', 73' Drop: Cruden (1/1) 22' |
| Eden Park, Auckland Attendance: 60,087 Referee: Craig Joubert (South Africa) |
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Man of the Match: Touch judges: |
| 21 October 2011 20:30 NZDT (UTC+13) |
| Wales | 18–21 | Australia |
| Try: Sh. Williams 50' m Halfpenny 80+' c Con: S. Jones (1/2) Pen: Hook (1/2) 20' S. Jones (1/1) 71' | Tracker | Try: Barnes 12' c McCalman 76' m Con: O'Connor (1/2) Pen: O'Connor (2/4) 54', 58' Drop: Barnes (1/1) 68' |
| Eden Park, Auckland Attendance: 53,014 Referee: Wayne Barnes (England) |
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 Wikimedia Commons has media related to 2011 Rugby World Cup Wales vs Australia .  Man of the Match: Touch judges: |
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| 23 October 2011 21:00 NZDT (UTC+13) |
| France | 7–8 | New Zealand |
| Try: Dusautoir 47' c Con: Trinh-Duc (1/1) | Report [8] | Try: Woodcock 15' m Pen: Donald (1/1) 46' |
| Eden Park, Auckland Attendance: 61,079 [9] Referee: Craig Joubert (South Africa) |
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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 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 France national rugby union team represents the French Rugby Federation in men's international rugby union matches. Colloquially known as Le XV de France, the team traditionally wears blue shirts with a Gallic rooster embroidered on the chest, white shorts and red socks in reference to the French national flag. Les Bleus mostly play home matches at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, near Paris. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship along with England, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. France have won the tournament on 26 occasions, winning the Grand Slam 10 times.
Eden Park is a sports venue in Auckland, New Zealand. It is located three kilometres southwest of the Auckland CBD, on the boundary between the suburbs of Mount Eden and Kingsland. The main stadium has a nominal capacity of 50,000, and is sometimes referred to as New Zealand's national stadium. The stadium is used primarily for rugby union in winter and cricket in summer, and has also hosted rugby league and association football matches, as well as concerts and cultural events. It is owned and operated by the Eden Park Trust Board, whose headquarters are located in the stadium.
Junior Malili "Mils" Muliaina is a former professional rugby union player who most recently played for San Francisco Rush in the US PRO Rugby competition. He played primarily as a fullback, though he has also played as a centre and on the wing.
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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.
The New Zealand women's rugby union team, called the Black Ferns, represents New Zealand in women's international rugby union, which is regarded as the country's national sport. The team has won six out of nine Women's Rugby World Cup tournaments.
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.
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Owen Thomas Franks is a New Zealand rugby player who currently plays for Crusaders in the Super Rugby competition. His usual position is tighthead prop.
Aaron Wiremu Cruden is a New Zealand rugby union player, who plays for Waikato and formerly Montpellier, Manawatu and New Zealand internationally. Cruden's usual position is fly-half.
Aaron Luke Smith is a New Zealand rugby union player. A scrum half, Smith plays for the Highlanders in Super Rugby where he is the club's all time leader in caps, and for Manawatu in the ITM Cup. He has won 124 caps for New Zealand and is their most-capped back.
The knockout stage of the 2015 Rugby World Cup began on 17 October with two quarter-finals and concluded on 31 October with the final at Twickenham Stadium in London with all matches played over the course of three consecutive weekends.
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 2021 Rugby World Cup was the ninth staging of the women's Rugby World Cup, as organised by World Rugby. It was held from 8 October to 12 November 2022 in Auckland and Whangārei, New Zealand. It was originally scheduled to be held in 2021, but was postponed by one year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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.
The knockout stage of the 2023 Rugby World Cup is the second and final stage of the competition, following the pool stage. Played from 14 to 28 October, the knockout stage will end with the final, held at Stade de France in Saint-Denis. The top two teams from each pool advanced to the knockout stage to compete in a single-elimination tournament. There will be 8 matches in the knockout stage, including a third-place play-off played between the two losing teams of the semi-finals.
