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The first Rugby Union World Cup was held in 1987, hosted by Australia and New Zealand who pushed for the tournament to be approved. Since the first tournament, 9 others have been held at four-year intervals. [1]
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.
Rugby union was played at the Summer Olympics on four occasions, 1900, 1908, 1920 and 1924. These competitions did not involve full national sides, and usually only had three or four participating nations at any individual event. The International Championship/Five Nations, now the Six Nations Championship, has been played since 1883. It is one of the oldest international rugby tournaments, involving only European nations.
There are several stories that depict suggestions of staging a rugby union world cup before the 1980s. One of the earliest known pioneers was Harold Tolhurst, an Australian player who would later become a referee. It has been said that Tolhurst brought up the idea of such a tournament as early as the late 1950s. [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]
Similar ideas arose during the last years of the pre-WC era. 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. [2]
In 1982, Neil Durden-Smith suggested that the world cup should be held in the United Kingdom in the mid-1980s. [2] The IRB discussed the proposal in March 1983, but the concept did not go ahead. 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. [2] New Zealand joined the campaign, putting forth their own proposal in March of the next year. [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. [2]
A subsequent IRFB meeting was held in Paris in March 1985. 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. It is believed that South Africa's decision to vote in favour of the event was the turning point in the voting. 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. [3] South Africa's vote saw England, followed by Wales, change to be in favour as well.[ citation needed ]
The 1987 Rugby World Cup was hosted by both Australia and New Zealand. 32 matches were played from over a period of 22 May to 20 June. The tournament featured one African nation, three American nations, one Asian nation, seven European nations and four Oceanic nations. One notable omission was the Springboks who were not competing due to the international sports boycott.
Seven places were automatically filled by the IRFB members, with invitations being sent out to fill remaining places. In total there were 16 nations in the competition. France played Australia in one of the semi-finals with New Zealand playing Wales in the other. New Zealand became the first ever Rugby World Cup Champions, defeating France 29-9 at Eden Park in Auckland.
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. For the first time, a qualifying tournament replaced the previously used invitation format. The qualifying tournament involved 32 teams. England qualified for the final by defeating Scotland at Murrayfield, with Australia joining them by defeating New Zealand the day after. Australia won the final, defeating England 12–6, and became the first nation to win the cup away from home.
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. 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. South Africa won the tournament, defeating New Zealand 15–12 in the final. Joel Stransky kicked a drop-goal in extra time to grab the victory for South Africa. 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. Nelson Mandela, wearing a Springbok jersey and matching cap, famously presented the Webb Ellis Cup to South African captain Francois Pienaar. The tournament also saw the emergence of rugby's first global superstar, All Blacks winger Jonah Lomu. He and Marc Ellis finished the tournament as the top try scorers.
The 1999 Rugby World Cup was hosted by Wales with matches played in England, France, Scotland and Ireland. 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. Sixty-five rugby nations participated in qualifying competitions for the 1999 tournament, and the participating nations increased from 16 to 20. 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. Australia defeated France in the final 35–12. They therefore became the first nation to win the World Cup twice.
The 2003 World Cup was hosted by Australia. It was originally to be co-hosted with New Zealand, but disagreements over scheduling and signage at venues led to Australia going it alone. England won the tournament, defeating Australia in the final 20 points to 17. With 21 seconds left before sudden death England's Jonny Wilkinson landed a drop goal to win the match. England became the first northern hemisphere nation to win a Rugby World Cup. Upon returning home, the English side was greeted by an estimated 750,000 people at a street parade celebrating their victory. [4]
The 2007 World Cup was held in France, with matches also played in Wales and Scotland. The tournament was won by South Africa, who defeated England 15–6 in the final to become World Champions for the second time. Blowouts in scores in pool matches against minnow nations changed into a finals series dominated by defence. This tournament was notable for Argentina becoming the first team from outside the Six Nations and Tri-Nations to reach the semifinals. 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. This tournament was the first time that both Australia and New Zealand did not progress past the quarter-finals.
The 2011 tournament was hosted by New Zealand: it saw a repeat of the 1987 World Cup finale standings, as Australia took on Wales in the Bronze final and won 21–18, while New Zealand, by defeating France 8–7 in the final, became the first nation to win on home soil twice. 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.
The 2015 tournament was hosted by England. 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. This was the first time New Zealand had won the cup away from home. This tournament is notable for the controversial Pool of Death that occurred which saw Australia, England and Wales fight to get a place in the quarter-finals; the pool draw taking place in December 2012. Going into the tournament, England, Wales and Australia were all ranked in the top five in the world rankings. England became the second Host nation, after Wales in 1991, not to make it out of the Pools. 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. This World Cup was also remembered for the biggest upset in Rugby history, when Japan beat South Africa 34 - 32 in the pool stages and came very close to making their first Quarter-finals.
The 2019 tournament was hosted in Japan, It was won by South Africa after they defeated England in the final. Some notable things that happened in this tournament were when Uruguay got their first RWC win since 2003, beating Fiji 30–27. Japan became the first quarter finalist from Asia, and the first Tier 2 nation to win a pool, with famous victories over Ireland (19-12) and Scotland (28-21). New Zealand lost their first RWC game since 2007 when England defeated them in the semi-finals 19–7.
On 15 November 2017 France was announced as host of the 2023 Rugby World Cup.The tournament was won by South Africa, who defeated New Zealand 12–11 to become the second nation to successfully defend their World Champion title and the first nation to win the tournament four times. This was the second time and only nation that South Africa had won the cup after they lost a match in pool stage.
| Year | Host | Final venue | Teams | Participants in Qualifying | Matches played | Winner | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Australia & New Zealand | Eden Park | 16 | Invitation | 32 |  New Zealand |  France |
| 1991 | England France Ireland Scotland Wales | Twickenham | 16 | 32 | 32 |  Australia |  England |
| 1995 | South Africa | Ellis Park | 16 | 52 | 32 |  South Africa | New Zealand |
| 1999 | Wales | Millennium Stadium | 20 | 65 | 41 | Australia (2) | France |
| 2003 | Australia | Telstra Stadium | 20 | 80 | 48 | England | Australia |
| 2007 | France | Stade de France | 20 | 91 | 48 | South Africa (2) | England |
| 2011 | New Zealand | Eden Park | 20 | 93 | 48 | New Zealand (2) | France |
| 2015 | England | Twickenham | 20 | 96 | 48 | New Zealand (3) | Australia |
| 2019 | Japan | Yokohoma Stadium | 20 | 93 | 45 | South Africa (3) | England |
| 2023 | France | Stade de France | 20 | TBD | 48 | South Africa (4) | New Zealand |
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. If they played in the tournament, the entries in the table show the stage at which they were knocked out, or whether they won the tournament. The second part of the table shows the number of times a team has reached that stage of the competition. 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. Only Italy have played in all 9 world cups without getting past the group stages. 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.
| Team | 1987 | 1991 | 1995 | 1999 | 2003 | 2007 | 2011 | 2015 | 2019 | 2023 | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Finals | Titles |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Africa (1) | DNP | DNP | W | SF | QF | W | QF | SF | W | W | 8 | 6 | 4 | 4 |
| New Zealand | W | SF | F | SF | SF | QF | W | W | SF | F | 10 | 9 | 5 | 3 |
| Australia | SF | W | QF | W | F | QF | SF | F | QF | Group | 9 | 6 | 4 | 2 |
| England | QF | F | SF | QF | W | F | QF | Group | F | SF | 9 | 6 | 4 | 1 |
| France | F | QF | SF | F | SF | SF | F | QF | QF | QF | 10 | 6 | 3 | 0 |
 Wales | SF | Group | Group | QF | QF | Group | SF | QF | SF | QF | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
 Argentina | Group | Group | Group | QF | Group | SF | QF | SF | Group | SF | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
 Scotland | QF | SF | QF | QF | QF | QF | Group | QF | Group | Group | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
 Ireland | QF | QF | QF | QF Play-Off | QF | Group | QF | QF | QF | QF | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
 Fiji (3) | QF | Group | DNQ | QF Play-Off | Group | QF | Group | Group | Group | QF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
 Samoa (2) | DNP | QF | QF | QF Play-Off | Group | Group | Group | Group | Group | Group | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
 Canada | Group | QF | Group | Group | Group | Group | Group | Group | Group | DNQ | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
 Japan | Group | Group | Group | Group | Group | Group | Group | Group | QF | Group | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Only New Zealand, in 2015, and South Africa, in 2023 have successfully defended their title in the World Cup. 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; 2019 - SF - New Zealand knocked out by England. 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.[ citation needed ]
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. England have knocked out Australia four times, including in the 2003 final. In the same time, England have been knocked out four times by South Africa, including in the 2007 final and the 2019 final. France have been knocked out three times by both New Zealand and England, while the All Blacks have also eliminated Scotland three times.
This table shows all teams to ever qualify for the final tournament, ranked by last participation.
| Team | 1987 | 1991 | 1995 | 1999 | 2003 | 2007 | 2011 | 2015 | 2019 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Zealand | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ |
| Australia | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ |
| England | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ |
| France | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ |
| Scotland | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ |
| Ireland | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ |
| Wales | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ |
| Japan | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ |
 Italy | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ |
| Argentina | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ |
| Samoa | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | |
| Fiji | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | |
 Tonga | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | |
| South Africa | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ||
 Namibia | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | |||
 Georgia | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ||||
 Uruguay | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | |||||
 Romania | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | |
 Portugal | ⏺ | ⏺ | ||||||||
 Chile | ⏺ | |||||||||
| Canada | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | |
 United States | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ||
 Russia | ⏺ | ⏺ | ||||||||
 Spain | ⏺ | |||||||||
 Ivory Coast | ⏺ | |||||||||
 Zimbabwe | ⏺ | ⏺ | ||||||||
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 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 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 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.
The Wales national rugby union team represents the Welsh Rugby Union in men's international rugby union. Its governing body, the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU), was established in 1881, the same year that Wales played their first international against England. The team plays its home matches at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, which replaced Cardiff Arms Park as the national stadium of Wales in 1999.
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 Fiji national rugby union team represents Fiji in men's international rugby union. Fiji competed in the Pacific Tri-Nations and now competes in its successor tournament Pacific Nations Cup. Fiji also regularly plays test matches during the June and November test windows. They have beaten the major rugby playing sides of Wales, Scotland, Australia, France, Italy, Argentina and England. The only major sides Fiji are yet to beat are New Zealand, South Africa and Ireland.
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.
The French national rugby union team first competed at the 1900 Summer Olympics.
The Rugby League World Cup is an international rugby league tournament contested by the top national men's representative teams. The tournament is administered by the International Rugby League and was first held in France in 1954, which was the first World Cup held for any form of rugby football.
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 knockout stage of the 2019 Rugby World Cup began on 19 October and concluded on 2 November with the final at the International Stadium Yokohama in Yokohama, Japan.
The 2019 Hong Kong Sevens was a rugby sevens tournament that took place at the Hong Kong Stadium between the 5–7 April 2019. It was the 44th edition of the Hong Kong Sevens, and the seventh tournament of the 2018–19 World Rugby Sevens Series. Sixteen teams competed in the main tournament, while a further twelve competed in a qualifier tournament with the winner getting core team status for the 2019–20 World Rugby Sevens Series.
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.
