The Rugby World Cup founded in 1987, is a men’s rugby association competition challenged at regular intervals between the top worldwide groups. RWC was co-facilitated by New Zealand and Australia and controlled by World Rugby, the game’s worldwide administering body.
The principal Rugby Union World Cup was held in 1987, facilitated by Australia and New Zealand who pushed for the competition to be endorsed. Since the principal competition, 8 others have been held at four-year spans. Aside from customary test coordinates and visiting sides, competitions that looked like a world cup design – yet not of its scale, but rather as far as global countries contending, are contests like the Summer Olympics and the Home Nations Championship/Five Nations Championship.
At the Summer Olympics in 1900, 1908, 1920, and 1924, rugby union was contested on four occasions. Since 1883, the International Championship/Five Nations, currently known as the Six Nations Championship, has been held. Only European nations compete in one of the oldest international rugby events.
Several accounts mention the possibility of hosting a rugby union world cup before the 1980s. Harold Tolhurst, an Australian player, was one of the first known pioneers. Tolhurst is claimed to have proposed the idea for such a tournament in the late 1950s. It is not a novel notion to hold a Rugby World Cup in Australia. During the final years of the pre-World Cup period, similar ideas surfaced. Bill McLaughlin, the Australian Rugby Union’s president in 1979, proposed the notion in 1988 while serving as head of the sport’s governing body.
The concept of staging a Rugby World Cup was initially opposed by all four home nations. The choice of South Africa to vote in favor was a watershed moment in the voting process. England, Wales, and France switched their votes to support the tournament’s continuation.
Both Australia and New Zealand hosted the 1987 Rugby World Cup. Between the 22nd and the 20th of June, 32 matches were played. One African nation, three American nations, one Asian nation, seven European nations, and four Oceanic nations competed in the competition. The Springboks, who were not competing owing to international sports, were one noticeable absentee.
Seven spots were consequently filled by the IRFB individuals, with solicitations being conveyed to fill the remaining spots. In absolute, there were 16 countries in the opposition. France played Australia in one of the semi-finals with New Zealand playing Wales in the other. New Zealand turned into the very first Rugby World Cup Champions, overcoming France 29-9
The United Kingdom, Ireland, and France hosted the 1991 Rugby World Cup. A qualification tournament replaced the previously utilized invitation format for the first time. The 32-team qualifying tournament marked the start of a new era in international rugby. At Twickenham, Australia defeated England 12-6 in the Rugby League World Cup final, becoming the first country to win the event away from home. England advanced to the final by defeating Scotland at Murrayfield the day before, while Australia defeated New Zealand the day before.
The 1995 Rugby World Cup became held in South Africa. It became the primary time that everyone fits could perform in a single country. Nelson Mandela famously offered the Webb Ellis Cup to South Africa’s Francois Pienaar. The match additionally noticed the emergence of rugby’s first worldwide superstar, All Blacks winger Jonah Lomu.
65 rugby countries took an interest in ridges qualifying contests for the competition. France’s shock 43-31 elimination round prevail upon the All Blacks is viewed as perhaps the greatest surprise. Australia crushed France in the last 35-12 to win the World Cup for the subsequent time.
CEO: Alan Gilpin
Director of Rugby: Phil Davies
Chairman: Bill Beaumont
Vice-Chairman: Bernard Laporte
Australia hosted the 2003 Rugby World Cup. England won the championship with a 20-17 victory over Australia in the final. England won thanks to Jonny Wilkinson’s drop goal with 21 seconds left before sudden death. An estimated 750,000 people cheered the English team as they marched down the street to celebrate their victory. France hosted the 2007 World Cup. South Africa won the championship by defeating England 15-6 in the final. Argentina made history by being the first team from outside of the Six Nations and Tri-Nations to get to the semifinals. Both Australia and New Zealand failed to advance past the Quarter Finals in this event for the first time.
In the Bronze final, Australia defeated Wales 21-18, while New Zealand defeated France 8-7. It was the first time a country had won the World Cup finals on home grounds twice. New Zealand won the championship by defeating Australia 34-17. This was New Zealand’s first time winning the tournament outside of their native nation. Australia, England, and Wales competed in the Pool of Death for a spot in the Quarter Finals.
All Northern Hemisphere teams were eliminated in the quarterfinals for the first time in Rugby World Cup history. Japan defeated South Africa 34-32 in the tournament’s biggest upset in Rugby history. England became the second Host country to fail to advance past the Pool stages. The 2023 Rugby World Cup will be held in France, which was announced on November 15, 2017.
The 10th type of the quadrennial worldwide title for men’s rugby association, the Rugby World Cup, will be held in France in 2023. The RWC competition will happen in 9 places around the country from September to October 28, 2023. The RWC is set to happen in France in 2023. The quadrennial big showdown for men’s rugby association groups will be held for the 10th time.
With three Rugby World Cup championships each, New Zealand and South Africa are the most successful, with Australia (two) and England (one) being the only other sides to win the Webb Ellis Cup. In 2011 and 2015, the All Blacks became the only team to successfully defend the Webb Ellis Cup, earning back-to-back titles. In 2019, France became the 13th nation to reach a Rugby World Cup quarter-final on home soil, while Japan became the 13th nation to reach a Rugby World Cup quarter-final on home soil.
| Team | Champions | Runners-up | Third | Fourth | Quarter-finals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Zealand | 3 – 1987, 2011, 2015 | 1 – 1995 | 3 – 1991, 2003, 2019 | 1 – 1999 | 1 – 2007 |
| South Africa | 3 – 1995, 2007, 2019 | 2 – 2003, 2015 | 2 – 1999, 2015 | 2 – 2003, 2011 | |
| Australia | 2 – 1991, 1999 | 3 – 1991, 2007, 2019 | 1 – 2011 | 1 – 1987 | 3 – 1995, 2007, 2019 |
| England | 1 – 2003 | 3 – 1987, 1999, 2011 | 1 – 1995 | 3 – 1987, 1999, 2011 | |
| France | 1 – 1995 | 2 – 2003, 2007 | 3 – 1991, 2015, 2019 | ||
| Wales | 1 – 1987 | 2 – 2011, 2019 | 3 – 1999, 2003, 2015 | ||
| Argentina | 1 – 2007 | 1 – 2015 | 2 – 1999, 2011 | ||
| Scotland | 1 – 1991 | 6 – 1987, 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2015 |
The greatest men’s rugby World Cup performers of all time.
| Player | Try-Scorer |
|---|---|
| Jonah Lomu | 15 tries scorer’s |
| Bryan Habana | 15 tries scorer’s |
| Drew Mitchell | 14 tries scorer’s |
| Doug Howlett | 13 tries scorer’s |
| Adam Ashley-Cooper | 12 tries scorer’s |
| Player | Point Score |
|---|---|
| Jonny Wilkinson | 277 point scores |
| Gavin Hastings | 277 point scores |
| Michael Lynagh | 195 point scores |
| Dan Carter | 191 point scores |
| Grant Fox | 170 point scores |
| Player | Conversions |
|---|---|
| Dan Carter | 58 Conversions |
| Gavin Hastings | 39 Conversions |
| Grant Fox | 37 Conversions |
| Michael Lynagh | 36 Conversions |
| Jonny Wilkinson | 28 Conversions |
| Player | Drop Goals |
|---|---|
| Jonny Wilkinson | 14 drop goals |
| Jannie de Beer | 6 drop goals |
| Gareth Rees | 5 drop goals |
| Rob Andrew | 5 drop goals |
| Juan Martín Hernandez | 4 drop goals |
There are 20 teams in the competition, with 40 pool matches. In the quarter-finals, the winners of each pool face the runner-up from another pool, with the winners continuing to the semi-finals and the losers meeting in the bronze final. The ladies’ occasion highlights 12 groups brought into three pools of four (A, B, and C) and already the three pool champs and best second-place have advanced to the semi-finals after the 18 pool matches.
However, RWC 2021 will see the arrival of a quarter-last stage with the main two groups in each pool and the best two third-set sides advancing to the knockout stage. These groups will be cultivated to decide the quarter-last coordinate ups with the victors advancing to the semi-finals. The two semi-last champs will challenge the last, while the losing groups meet in the bronze last.
A men’s Rugby World Cup consists of 48 matches contested over seven weeks and a women’s Rugby World Cup consists of 26 matches, with the inclusion of a quarter-final stage increasing the tournament’s length from 23 to 35 days in 2022. World Rugby announced on November 30, 2020, that the women’s edition of the Rugby World Cup will grow from 12 to 16 teams starting in 2025, demonstrating the governing body’s commitment to the global growth of the women’s game.