Portal:Rugby World Cup
Portal maintenance status: (October 2018)
|
Introduction
The Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament was first held in 1987, when the tournament was co-hosted by New Zealand and Australia.
The winners are awarded the Webb Ellis Cup, named after William Webb Ellis, the Rugby School pupil who, according to a popular legend, invented rugby by picking up the ball during a football game. Four countries have won the trophy; New Zealand three times, Australia and South Africa each twice, and England once. New Zealand are the current champions, having defeated Australia in the final of the 2015 tournament in England.
Selected general articles
- The first Rugby World Cup was held in 1987, hosted by Australia and New Zealand who pushed for the tournament to be approved. Since the first tournament, 7 others have been held at four-year intervals. The 2015 tournament was won by New Zealand, the cup was held from 19 September 2015 till 31 October 2015. It was held in England and Wales. Read more...
The 2003 Rugby World Cup Final was the final match in the 2003 Rugby World Cup, the fifth Rugby World Cup. The match was played between England and Australia on 22 November 2003 at Telstra Stadium in Sydney in front of a crowd of 82,957.
England won 20–17 to win the Webb Ellis Cup for the first time, also becoming the first European side to win the cup. The scores were tied 14–14 at full time, and Jonny Wilkinson kicked a drop goal in the final minute of extra time to win the match. The final was the second to go to extra time. Read more...- The 2015 Rugby World Cup was the eighth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial rugby union world championship. The tournament was hosted by England from 18 September to 31 October. Of the 20 countries competing in the World Cup in 2011, there was only one change: Uruguay replaced Russia. This was the first World Cup with no new teams to the tournament.
Reigning champions New Zealand won the cup and defended their title by defeating Australia in the final 34–17; South Africa defeated Argentina to take third place. This was the first Rugby World Cup where no Northern Hemisphere team got beyond the quarter-finals. New Zealand were the first team to retain their title, and the first to win for a third time. Read more... - Rugby World Cup qualification is a process that determines which nations will compete at the Rugby World Cup.
Unlike previous tournaments (where eight teams, the quarter-finalists from the preceding World Cup, qualified automatically and twelve places were available through qualification) the 2011 World Cup will be contested by twelve automatic qualifiers / seeds (the teams who finished in the top three of the groups at the 2007 World Cup) and eight qualifiers. Read more...
The Webb Ellis Cup is the trophy awarded to the winner of the Rugby World Cup, the premier competition in men's international rugby union. The Cup is named after William Webb Ellis, who is often credited as the inventor of rugby football. The trophy is silver gilt and has been presented to the winner of the Rugby World Cup since the first competition in 1987. It has been held three times by New Zealand (1987, 2011 & 2015), twice by Australia (1991 & 1999) and South Africa (1995 & 2007), and once by England in 2003.
The 38 centimeter trophy weighs 4.5 kg, is gilded silver and is supported by two cast scroll handles. On one handle there is a head of a satyr, on the other there is the head of a nymph. On the face of the trophy, the words International Rugby Football Board and below that arch The Webb Ellis Cup are engraved. The Webb Ellis Cup is also referred to (incorrectly) as the "Webb Ellis Trophy" or colloquially as "Bill", a nickname coined by the 1991 Rugby World Cup winners, the Wallabies. Read more...- This all-time table compares national teams that have participated in the Rugby World Cup by a number of criteria including matches, wins, losses, draws, total points for, total points against, etc.
The table also shows –among other things– the accumulated points for every team that has ever participated in the tournament. This takes each game as if it were a World Cup pool-stage match, with each team awarded four points for a win, two points for a draw and none for a defeat. A team scoring four tries in one match scored a bonus point, as did a team that lost by fewer than eight points. Read more... - The 1987 Rugby World Cup was the first Rugby Union World Cup. New Zealand and Australia agreed to co-host the tournament. New Zealand hosted 20 matches – 17 pool stage matches, two quarter-finals and the final – while Australia hosted 12 matches – seven pool matches, two quarter-finals and both semi-finals. The event was won by co-hosts New Zealand who were the strong favourites, and won all their matches comfortably. France were losing finalists, and Wales surprise third-place winners: Australia, having been second favourites, finished fourth after conceding crucial tries in the dying seconds of both the semi-final against France and the third-place play-off against Wales.
Sixteen teams competed in the inaugural tournament. Seven of the 16 places were automatically filled by the International Rugby Football Board (IRFB) members – New Zealand, Australia, England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales and France. South Africa was unable to compete because of the international sporting boycott due to apartheid. There was no qualification process to fill the remaining nine spots. Instead invitations were sent out to Argentina, Fiji, Italy, Canada, Romania, Tonga, Japan, Zimbabwe and the United States. This left Western Samoa controversially excluded, despite their better playing standard than some of the teams invited. The USSR were to be invited but they refused the invitation on political grounds, allegedly due to the continued IRFB membership of South Africa. Read more... - The qualification process for the 2003 Rugby World Cup began during the pool stages of the 1999 tournament in Wales, during which the quarterfinalists were awarded automatic qualification for the 2003 event. A further twelve teams qualified through regional tournaments and the repechage process. Read more...
- The qualification process for the 2015 Rugby World Cup began during the pool stages of the 2011 tournament in New Zealand, during which the top three teams from each of the four pools were awarded automatic qualification for the 2015 event. A further eight teams qualified through regional tournaments and the repechage process. The tournament was held in England; it began on 18 September 2015 and finished on 31 October. Read more...
- For the 1991 Rugby World Cup, 16 nations participated in the finals tournament, half of which came through qualifying matches, and the other were granted automatic entry as they were quarter-finalists at the 1987 Rugby World Cup. The 25 teams taking part in regional qualifiers together with the 8 teams which qualified automatically brings to 33 the total number of teams participating in the 1991 Rugby World Cup. Read more...
- The 2027 Rugby World Cup is scheduled to be the eleventh Rugby World Cup.
If the Rugby World Cup expands from its current 20 teams for the 2023 tournament, it is likely that the 2027 tournament will keep this format. Read more...
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 tournament began with host nation Australia defeating Argentina 24–8 at Telstra Stadium in Sydney. Australia went on to defeat New Zealand 22–10 in the semifinal, to play England in the final. Along with a try to Jason Robinson, Jonny Wilkinson kicked four penalties and then a drop-goal in extra time to win the game 20–17 for England, who became the first northern hemisphere team to win the Webb Ellis Cup. Read more...- This article lists the official squads for the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France. Each of the 20 nations was required to confirm their 30-man squad by 14 August. United States player Thretton Palamo, aged 18 when the teams were named and 8 days past his 19th birthday when he made his only appearance in the competition, was the youngest to ever take part at a World Cup final stage. Read more...
- 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 that time, the five European countries that participated in the Five Nations Championship making it the first Rugby World Cup to be staged in the northern hemisphere, with England as the host of the championship game. Following on from the success of the inaugural 1987 Rugby World Cup, the 1991 World Cup received increased attention and was seen as a major global sporting event for the first time. 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 25 countries having to qualify for the remaining eight spots. This however 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.
The Pool stage of the tournament was nothing like four years earlier, with fewer one-sided matches and the early stages produced a major shock when Western Samoa, who were making their debut in the tournament, defeated 1987 semi-finalist Wales 16–13 in Cardiff, resulting in the elimination of Wales, who finished third in Pool 3, making it the first time that a host nation was knocked out of the competition in the pool stages. Also notable in pool play was that Canada finished second in their pool to qualify for the quarter-finals in what remains Canada's best performance in the Rugby World Cup. Fiji, as quarter-finalists four years ago, had expected to occupy that position, but after the upset loss to Canada and a hammering by France, they were to lose even their final match against the unfancied Romanian team. Earlier, the opening match had pitted the holders New Zealand against the hosts England: New Zealand overturned a narrow half-time deficit to win the match and the pool, both teams qualifying for the quarter-finals with easy victories in their other matches. Scotland beat Ireland to top their pool, again both teams qualifying. Read more...
Paul Williams performing the Siva Tau at the 2011 Rugby World Cup shortly before becoming the first of two players to be sent off in the 2011 competition.
A total of 17 red cards have been issued during Rugby World Cup tournaments since the first in 1987. Discipline at the 2003 event could be said to be the best out of all seven tournaments to date, at least in terms of red cards, as none were issued. Nine countries have seen at least one of their players dismissed, with Tonga and Canada both having lost three members of their team. The position with the most red cards is flanker, with five such players leaving the field. Two team captains have been dismissed by the referee. There has only been 1 red card to date for 2 yellow card offenses. Read more...- The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. 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 ten cities throughout France, as well as four in Cardiff, Wales, and two in Edinburgh, Scotland.
The eight quarter-finalists from 2003 were granted automatic qualification, while 12 other nations gained entry through the regional qualifying competitions that began in 2004 – of them, Portugal was the only World Cup debutant. The top three nations from each pool at the end of the pool stage qualified automatically for the 2011 World Cup. Read more... - This article presents the national team appearances in the Rugby World Cup. The article tracks the appearances, results, and debuts for all national teams that have participated in at least one Rugby World Cup. Read more...
- There were 20 places available for the 2007 Rugby World Cup held in France. The 86 teams taking part in regional qualifying competitions together with the 8 teams which have qualified automatically brings to 94 the total number of teams participating in the 2007 Rugby World Cup. Read more...
The 2011 Rugby World Cup Final was a rugby union match between France and New Zealand, to determine the winner of the 2011 Rugby World Cup. The match took place on 23 October 2011 at Eden Park, in Auckland, New Zealand. New Zealand won the match 8–7, the slimmest margin by which any Rugby World Cup final has been decided.
New Zealand were favourites, as they went into the final unbeaten and the French had lost two pool games, including one to New Zealand. The French team also experienced a player revolt against their coach Marc Lièvremont, confirmed after the tournament by veteran back-rower Imanol Harinordoquy. The match was a close-fought and tight contest with few line-breaks. Each side scored one try and the outcome was determined by kicks – the All Blacks kicked a penalty goal while the French managed only the conversion of their try. The result was the lowest score of any World Cup final. Read more...- This article lists the official squads for the 1991 Rugby World Cup that took place in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and France. Read more...
The 1999 Rugby World Cup Final, was the final match in the 1999 Rugby World Cup, played in Wales.
The match was played at Millennium Stadium, Cardiff on 6 November 1999 between Australia and France with 72,500 in attendance. Read more...- This article lists the official squads for the 1987 Rugby World Cup that took place in New Zealand and Australia from 22 May until 20 June 1987. The 1987 Rugby World Cup was the inaugural Rugby World Cup; the world championship for rugby union. Sixteen nations were invited to partake in the tournament, with the notable exception of South Africa; who were excluded from the tournament due to issues surrounding Apartheid.
Players marked (c) were named as captain for their national squad. All details, such as number of international caps and player age, are current as of the opening day of the tournament on 22 May 1987. Read more... - This article lists charts each team's try scorers from the first Rugby World Cup to date. The list does not include penalty tries.
Statistics correct after New Zealand vs Australia during the 2015 Rugby World Cup final. Read more... - The 2011 Rugby World Cup was an international rugby union tournament held in New Zealand from 9 September until 23 October 2011. This article lists the official squads for the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand. Each of the twenty nations was required to confirm its 30-man squad by 23 August; only players in these squads were eligible to take part in the tournament.
Under competition rules, replacements are made only for medical or compassionate reasons. To implement a replacement the team completes a form and sends it to Rugby World Cup along with a medical certificate where appropriate. Once signed off, the replacement is not allowed to play for 48 hours and the replacement is permanent. Read more...
The qualification process for the 2019 Rugby World Cup began during the pool stages of the 2015 tournament in England, during which the top three teams from each of the four pools were awarded automatic qualification for the 2019 event. A further eight teams will qualify through regional, cross-regional tournaments and the repechage process.
The qualifying matches began on 5 March 2016, when Jamaica defeated Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 48–0. Symbolically, the referee for the match was Nigel Owens, who had refereed the 2015 Rugby World Cup Final five months earlier. Read more...- The 1991 Rugby World Cup Final was the final match of the 1991 Rugby World Cup, the second edition of the rugby union competition, to decide the world champions. The match was played on 2 November 1991 at Twickenham Stadium, London, and was contested by the host nation England, and Australia (also known as the Wallabies). Australia won the match 12–6. Read more...
- This article lists the official squads for the 2003 Rugby World Cup in Australia. Read more...
- 2011 Rugby World Cup qualifying began at the 2007 tournament in France, where twelve teams (the first three in each of the four pools) earned a place in the finals of the tournament, this automatically qualified them for the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand.
After much speculation, it was confirmed on 30 November 2007 that 20 teams would contest the next edition of the tournament. The qualification system for the remaining eight places was region-based, with Europe and the Americas allocated two qualifying places, Africa, Asia and Oceania one place each, and the last place determined by a playoff. Read more...
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.
This match saw a new record for tries in a Rugby World Cup Final with the teams combining for five, surpassing the previous record of four scored in the 1987 final. It was only the second final between two teams from the Southern Hemisphere, the previous one being South Africa's win over New Zealand in 1995. Read more...- This article documents the statistics of the 2015 Rugby World Cup which took place in England from 18 September to 31 October. Read more...
- 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 World Cup was the first major sporting event to take place in South Africa following the end of apartheid. It was also the first World Cup in which South Africa was allowed to compete; the International Rugby Football Board (IRFB, now World Rugby) had only readmitted South Africa to international rugby in 1992, following negotiations to end apartheid. The World Cup would also be the last major event of rugby union's amateur era; two months after the tournament, the IRFB opened the sport to professionalism. Read more... - The 2023 Rugby World Cup, to be hosted by France, is scheduled to be the tenth Rugby World Cup, taking place in the year of the 200th anniversary of the 'invention' of the sport by William Webb Ellis. The final will take place at the Stade de France. Read more...
- The Rugby World Cup host nation is selected by World Rugby at a special meeting six years in advance of the tournament. The choice of host nation is a highly anticipated event. The original idea of hosting a Rugby World Cup was brought up by Australia when they floated the idea of hosting such an event for the centenary celebrations of rugby union in Australia.
The first non Rugby Championship or Six Nations country to host a Rugby World Cup will be Japan in 2019, after failed bids for the 2011 (awarded to New Zealand) and 2015 (awarded to England) tournaments. Read more... - "World in Union", with lyrics by Charlie Skarbek, is a theme song for the Rugby World Cup that attempts to capture the spirit of international friendship which pervades rugby union culture the world over.
The melody is "Thaxted" — the stately theme from the middle section of "Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity", a movement from Gustav Holst’s "The Planets", and was originally adapted for its use in the British/Anglican patriotic hymn, “I Vow to Thee My Country”. Read more...
The 1995 Rugby World Cup Final was the final match of the 1995 Rugby World Cup, played in South Africa. The match was played at Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg on 24 June 1995 between the host nation, South Africa, and New Zealand.
South Africa won the encounter by three points in their first Rugby World Cup Final, which was also the first to require extra time. Unusually, the points were scored by only one player from each team, with Andrew Mehrtens of New Zealand scoring all 12 of the All Blacks' points (three penalties and one drop goal) and Joel Stransky tallying all 15 points (three penalties and two drop goals) for the Springboks, including his famous dramatic drop goal in extra time, which sealed the victory and their first Rugby World Cup title. They won a second, in 2007, with a team that featured only one player from the 1995 squad, loosehead prop Os du Randt. Read more...- The 1995 Rugby World Cup was preceded by a qualifying campaign in which forty-five nations were entered. 16 teams participated in the finals tournament in South Africa, seven of which came through qualifying matches. Eight were granted automatic entry as they were quarter-finalists at the 1991 Rugby World Cup, and South Africa qualified automatically as hosts. Read more...
The Rugby World Cup is an international rugby union competition established in 1987. It is contested by the men's national teams of the member unions of the sport's governing body, World Rugby, and takes place every four years. The winners of the first final were New Zealand, who beat France 29–9. They are also the current champions, beating Australia 34–17 in the 2015 final in London. The next Rugby World Cup in 2019, will be hosted in Japan.
The Rugby World Cup final is the last match of the competition. The winning team is declared world champion and receives the Webb Ellis Cup. If the score is a draw after 80 minutes of regular play, an additional 20-minute period of play, called extra time, is added. If the score remains tied, an additional 10 minutes of sudden-death extra time are played, with the first team to score points immediately declared the winner. If no team is able to break the tie during extra time, the winner is ultimately decided by a penalty shootout. Two of the eight finals contested have gone to extra time: South Africa's victory against New Zealand in the 1995 final, and England's triumph against Australia in the 2003 final. Read more...
Did you know...
- ... that a host venue for the 2019 Rugby World Cup will be built in Kamaishi, which suffered major damage during the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami?
- ... that Cerys Hale was selected for the Wales women's national rugby union team squad for the 2014 World Cup, while still at university?
- ... that James Robson has been to six Rugby World Cups with the Scotland team and on six British and Irish Lions tours?
- ... that former international Ruth O'Reilly wrote an article criticising the IRFU for a lack of support for women's rugby during the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup held in Ireland?
- ... that injury denied Lorne Crerar a full international cap as a player, but 20 years later he took part in two Rugby World Cup Finals as a judicial officer?
Need help?
Do you have a question about Rugby World Cup that you can't find the answer to?
Consider asking it at the Wikipedia reference desk.
Selected images
Gavin Hastings is one of four players to have kicked a record eight penalties in a single World Cup match.
Subcategories
- Select [►] to view subcategories
Topics
| Tournaments | |
|---|---|
| Qualifying | |
| Finals | |
| Squads | |
| Statistics | |
| Overview | |
| Overall records | |
Associated Wikimedia
The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:
Wikibooks
Books
Commons
Media
Wikinews
News
Wikiquote
Quotations
Wikisource
Texts
Wikiversity
Learning resources
Wiktionary
Definitions
Wikidata
Database
- What are portals?
- List of portals
