Rugby World Cup
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- See Rugby League World Cup for the World Cup contested in rugby league.
The Rugby World Cup (often called the RWC or simply the World Cup) is the premier international rugby union contest in the world. The event is organised by the International Rugby Board (IRB), the sport's governing body, and is contested by the men's national rugby union teams of the IRB. It was first held jointly in Australia and New Zealand in 1987, and now held every four years. The prize is the William Webb Ellis Trophy which is named after the pupil of Rugby school credited with the game's invention.
The tournament is considered to be one of the top three international sporting events in the world, with the FIFA World Cup and the Summer Olympics being the biggest.[1] [2] The title of world champions is currently held by England, who won the 2003 tournament held in Australia.
History
Various individuals had brought up the idea of a Rugby World Cup on numerous occasions - as far back as the 1950s.[3] It is thought that the defining prospect of such a tournament was proposed in 1983, when the Australian Rugby Union and the New Zealand Rugby Football Union each independently wrote to the International Rugby Football Board seeking to conduct a World Cup tournament.[3] In 1985 the IRFB approved the inaugural Rugby Union World Cup to be jointly staged in Australia and New Zealand during May and June of 1987, though the proposition was met with much opposition, namely from the British and Irish members.[3] The vote was won through the support of South Africa, who proved to have the deciding vote. They voted in favor of the idea, though they knew they would not be allowed to participate, due to the international sports boycott due to the apartheid regime.
The inaugural tournament was contested in Australia and New Zealand between 16 countries. Seven of the 16 places were automatically filled by the IRFB members, whilst the remaining places were filled by invitation. New Zealand become first ever World Cup Champions, defeating France 29 to 9. The subsequent 1991 tournament was hosted by England, with matches being played in France, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. This tournament also saw the abolition of invitation qualification - with a qualifying tournament being brought that involved 35 countries. Australia won the second cup, defeating the hosts England 12 points to 6. The 1995 tournament was hosted by South Africa - the nation that originally tipped the vote that saw the first event take place. The tournament was the first that South Africa would actually play in, following the end of their international sports boycott due to the apartheid regime. The tournament had a fairytale ending, as South Africa were crowned champions over New Zealand, which concluded with President Nelson Mandela, wearing a Springbok jersey and matching baseball cap present the trophy to the South Africa's captain Francois Pienaar. The moment was seen as one of the most emotional in the sports history.[4]
The subsequent tournament of 1999 was hosted by Wales with matches being held in England, France, Scotland and Ireland. The tournament saw the inclusion of a repechage alongside specific reigonal qualifying places and an increase of 16 to 20 participating nations. Australia claimed their second title, defeating France in the final. The 2003 cup was hosted by two-time world champions Australia, though it was originally intended to be held jointly by Australia and New Zealand, but disagreements between the International Rugby Board and the NZRFU, over sponsorship, advertising and ticketing, saw the competition given in its entirety to Australia. England emereged as champions defeating Australia in extra time. England's win was unique in that it broke the Southern hemisphere's domination of the event. Such was the celebration of England, that an estimated 750,000 people gathered in central London to greet the team, making the day the largest sporting celebration of its kind that the United Kingdom had ever seen.[5] The 2007 competition will be held in France, with some games played in Wales and Scotland. The 2011 tournament was awarded to New Zealand in November 2005, ahead of bids from Japan and South Africa.
Trophy
The William Webb Ellis Cup is the prize presented to to winners of the Rugby World Cup, named after William Webb Ellis, who is often credited with creating the game of rugby football. The cup itself is also referred to as just, the Rugby World Cup. The cup itself was actually made in 1906 and was subsequently chosen as an appropriate trophy for use in the World Cup. The words International Rugby Board and below that, William Webb Ellis Cup are engraved on the face of the cup. It stands at 38 centimetres and is silver gilded in gold, and supported by two cast scroll handles, one handle has a head of a satyr, on the other there is head of a nymph. The colloquial name of the trophy is 'Bill' - a reference to William Webb Ellis. The cup is currently kept in the Museum of Rugby, London as England were the last winners of the competition.
Format
Qualification
Qualifying tournaments were introduced in the 1991 Rugby World Cup, where eight of the sixteen places were filled through a qualifying tournament involving 32 sides. The inaugural World Cup in 1987, did not involve any such qualifying process, instead, the sixteen places were automatically filled by the seven eligible IRFB member nations and the rest by invitation. The current format sees eight of the 20 available positions filled by automatic qualification. The quarter finalists of the previous event will automatically qualify for its successor. The remaining positions are filled by continental qualifying tournaments - three from Europe, three from the Americas, one from Africa and one from Asia.
Tournament
The current competition has twenty nations competiting in four pools, A through to D. The winner and runner-up of each pool qualifies for the finals leg of the tournament, which sees four qualifying games, the winner of each pool being put against a runner-up of an opposing pool. The winner of each qualifier goes on to the semi-finals, where the respective winners go on to the final. Losers of the semi-finals contest for third place.
Hosts
The first World Cup was submitted as a joint proposal by the Australian Rugby Union (ARU) and the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU). The then, International Rugby Football Board members voted on the proposal to stage the World Cup. Tournaments are now voted on by the IRB member nations, who decided what nation will host the World Cup. The voting procedure is managed by a team of independent auditors. The allocation of a tournament to a host nation is now made five or six years prior to the commencement of the particular event, as New Zealand were awarded the 2011 Rugby World Cup in late 2005.
Media coverage
The first World Cup, the 1987 tournament had a global cumulative world television audience of 300 million, its successor, the 1991 event in England, reached 1.75 billion. South Africa's 1995 tournament reached 2.67 billion, until the 1999 Welsh hosted event reached 3 billion.[6]
The 2003 Rugby World Cup had a global cumulative audience of 3.5 billion.[7] It was reported that the event was broadcast in 205 countries.[8]
Results
| Year | Host | Final | Third Place Match | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | Score | Runner-up | 3rd Place | Score | 4th Place | ||||
| 1987 Details |
Australia New Zealand |
 New Zealand |
29 - 9 |  France |
 Wales |
22 - 21 | Australia Australia | ||
| 1991 Details |
England | Australia Australia |
12 - 6 |  England |
New Zealand |
13 - 6 |  Scotand | ||
| 1995 Details |
South Africa | South Africa South Africa |
15 - 12 | New Zealand |
England |
19 - 9 | France | ||
| 1999 Details |
Wales | Australia Australia |
35 - 12 | France |
South Africa South Africa |
22 - 18 | New Zealand | ||
| 2003 Details |
Australia | England |
20 - 17 | Australia Australia |
New Zealand |
40 - 13 | France | ||
| 2007 Details |
France | ||||||||
| 2011 Details |
New Zealand | ||||||||
| 2015 Details |
|||||||||
Records and statistics
There have been many records set and broken since the first World Cup was held in 1987. The 1987 World Cup was evidence of an existing gulf between the top nations and the weaker sides. This was evidenced by the All Blacks scoring 74 points against Fiji and France putting on 13 tries against Zimbabwe. The most points that have ever been scored against a team was 145 - by New Zealand against Japan in the 1995 World Cup, with the widest margin being 142, held by Australia in a match against Namibia in 2003.
The emergence of Jonah Lomu in the 1995 World Cup, saw the New Zealander break several records including most overall tries in final stages 15 in the 1995 to 99 tournaments and most tries in one competition, eight in 1999. Several other records are held by prominent New Zealand players - inlcuding, most points in one competition, Grant Fox with 126 in 1987, most points in a match by a player, Simon Culhane with 45 in the record breaking match against Japan in 1995, he also holds the record for most conversions in a match, being 20. That match also saw Marc Ellis set a record for most tries in a match, six. The record for most appearances by an individual is also held by a New Zealander, Sean Fitzpatrick with 17 from the 1987 to 1995 tournaments. The most overall points accumulated in the final stages is held by Scottish player Gavin Hastings with 227 from the 1987 to 1995 tournaments.
References
- ^ "Scores at the Rugby World Cup" (PDF). amlinkevents.com. Retrieved April 25.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ "From the World Trade Organisation to the Rugby World Cup: how the Wallabies can help Australia exports". austrade.gov.au. Retrieved April 25.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ a b c "The History of RWC". worldcupweb.com. Retrieved 25 April.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ "Wilkinson's moment after meeting doubts head-on". rugbyheaven.com.au. Retrieved 3 May.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ "England honours World Cup stars". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 3 May.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ "Rugby World Cup 2003". sevencorporate.com.au. Retrieved April 25.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ "Visa International Renews Rugby World Cup Partnership". corporate.visa.com. Retrieved April 25.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ "Another Side of the Rugby World Cup". abc.net.au. Retrieved May 3.
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See also
External links
- Official
- Rugbworldcup.com
- France2007.fr
- France2007.fr Template:Fr
- IRB.com
- Rth07.com - Official travel and hospitality
- News and resources