The bronze medal match is sometimes viewed as the unwanted fixture at Rugby World Cups, with battered and bruised teams eyeing their flights home and the chance to enjoy some well-deserved rest and recuperation rather than worrying about one last match.
At their best, though, they are thrilling contests between two sides who know they have nothing to lose and the chance to ensure that their final memory of the tournament is a happy one.
It also allows coaches the opportunity to give up-and-coming players a chance to show their ability on a big stage, but without the usual pressure.
RUGBY WORLD CUP 1987, AUSTRALIA 21-22 WALES
This match went right to the death in front of 29,000 at Rotorua International Stadium when Wales full-back Paul Thorburn converted Adrian Hadley’s try.
It was a match that promised little from the start as both teams had dragged themselves across the Tasman Sea after semi-final defeats. Australia had lost to France after a last-second try denied them a place in the final, while Wales had to pick themselves up after a thorough dusting by New Zealand.
Matthew Burke and Peter Grigg gave the Aussies the early advantage, before Welsh back-rowers Paul Moriarty and Gareth Roberts sparked a Welsh comeback to set up a thrilling finish.
While the Australians may have left disappointed, their team contained the likes of Simon Poidevin, Michael Lynagh and David Campese, who would all finish victorious four years later in England.
For Wales, third place in 1987 was as good as it got and remains their best RWC result.
RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007, FRANCE 10-34 ARGENTINA
Twenty years on, France 2007 began with a bang as the unheralded Argentina played party poopers in the biggest way possible by beating France 17-12 in Paris in the tournament opener.
Both made it to the semi-finals and lost, meaning that they would play for bronze in the great Parisian rugby citadel, Parc des Princes.
By half-time the match was going firmly in Los Pumas’ favour thanks to tries from Felipe Contepomi and Omar Hasan Jalil, which put them 17-3 ahead.
After the break the South Americans continued where they left off and tries from full-back Ignacio Corleto, wing Federico Martin Aramburu and Contepomi’s second cancelled Clement Poitrenaud’s late effort.
It meant that team, led by Agustin Pichot (main picture), finished France 2007 with a flourish and left the rest of the rugby world in no doubt that they deserved a place at the sport’s top table.
RUGBY WORLD CUP 2011, WALES 18-21 AUSTRALIA
Australia and Wales repeated their heroics from 24-years earlier, this time at Eden Park in Auckland and this time with Australia the victors.
The teams matched each other with two tries, one conversion and two penalties apiece as they sought to move the ball wide whenever the chance arose.
The difference came with Berrick Barnes’ drop goal 13 minutes from time, which kept Wales at arm’s length.
Like their 1987 forebears the Australian team featured several players who have helped them to this year’s final: David Pocock, Will Genia, Adam Ashley-Cooper and Kurtley Beale all featured in the team.
The last word went to young full-back Leigh Halfpenny, who scored a try with the final play of the match. That score went alongside Shane Williams’s effort, who had scored a typical poacher’s try – a just way for the twinkled toed wing to bow out after three RWC appearances.
