Since its inception in 1987, the Rugby World Cup has been the grandest stage of the oval ball game, the ultimate prize of a rugby player’s career. This spectacle is scheduled to get underway in England, commencing on the 18th of September 2015 with the final to be held at Twickenham in London.
The fiesta will be on course to break quite a few records while the stage is set for an extremely memorable World Cup. This segment will focus on team and tournament records throughout the 28 year journey of the Webb Ellis Trophy.
Appearances
So far, 23 Sovereign states have taken part at least once in the World Cup. New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, The United Kingdom (England, Scotland and Wales), France, Argentina, Ireland, Fiji, Samoa, Canada, Italy, Tonga, Romania, USA, Georgia, Uruguay, Japan, Namibia, Russia, Zimbabwe, Portugal, Spain and Ivory Coast have fielded players at least once in the big event. Moreover, 12 teams (counting England, Wales and Scotland as separate sides) have appeared in every single edition. Ivory Coast (1995), Spain (1999), Portugal (2007) and Russia (2011) have appeared in only one tournament.
Since 1987, each tournament had at least one debut country making its appearance in the RWC while 2015 will be the first tournament not to feature any debutant. Leaving the inaugural 1987 tournament aside, South Africa remains as the only team to win the RWC in its debut appearance (1995).
Winners, Tournament Performance
Only four countries have won the RWC. New Zealand (1987, 2011), Australia (1991, 1999), South Africa (1995, 2007) have won twice each while England (2003) carries a solitary title. England is also the only side from the northern hemisphere to win the World Cup. France have made it to three finals (1987, 1999, 2011) finishing on the losing side and are yet to win it. Ireland holds the record for appearing in 5 quarterfinals but not being able to progress beyond that.
No team has successfully defended their title, the closest being Australia (2003) and England (2011) ending as runners-up. The worst result by a defending champion goes to Australia and South Africa as both ended up being eliminated from the quarterfinals in 1995 and 2011 respectively.
Team Records
In 1995, New Zealand broke the record for most points in a single match when they scored 145 against Japan (145-17). However the highest winning margin goes to Australia with their 142-0 trouncing of Namibia in 2003. In the same game, Australia scored the most number of tries by a team in a single game (22).
RWC finals haven’t been high scoring affairs, as the 1999 Australia’s 35-12 win over France remains the highest score and the winning margin in a final.
There had been only 3 stalemates in RWC history. France drew 20-20 with Scotland in 1987 while Canada and Japan were on equal terms in two occasions, 12-12 and 23-23 in 2007 and 2011 respectively.
Ten encounters have ended with one side failing to score a single point. In those 10 games, Namibia have conceded the most (0-142 vs Australia, 2003) while Canada has held on to the least margin (0-20 vs South Africa, 1995) despite being unable to score.
Three matches have been repeated in the same tournament. In 2007, Argentina beat France in the opening game before defeating them again in the third place play off. In the same event, South Africa beat England in the group stage before winning again in the final. New Zealand defeated the French 37-17 in the group stage in 2011 before going on to repeat the same in the final (8-7).
England is the only team to reach the final after having lost a game in the same tournament (1991, 2007) while France are the only team to reach the finals after losing two games (2011). All World Cup winning teams have been unbeaten throughout their victorious tournaments.
Argentina and New Zealand have been involved in most opening games in a tournament. The All Blacks featured in the opening games of the 1987, 1991 and 2011 editions while the Pumas appeared in the opening matches of the 1999, 2003 and 2007 tournaments. However, all 3 opening games played by Argentina entails the unique distinction of them been involved without being the host nation.
Hosts
In 1995, South Africa became the first nation to host the World Cup in its entirety while Wales (1999) remains the only non-sovereign state to host a RWC.
Only New Zealand (1987, 2011) and South Africa (1995) have won the RWC as host nations. England (1991) and Australia (2003) have ended as runners-up when hosting. Wales holds the worst result by a host nation in a tournament when they failed to qualify beyond the group stage in 1991 despite being joint hosts.
The 2007 World Cup hosted by France carries the record for the highest average attendance per game (47,150) while the 2003 final at Telstra Stadium, Sydney remains the highest attended RWC final (82,957) in history.
To date, Eden Park in Auckland is the only stadium to host a RWC final twice (1987, 2011). Having hosted matches in 1991, 1999, 2003 and 2007 Cardiff, Edinburgh, Paris and Toulouse are the only 4 cities to have taken part in most Rugby World Cups.
