Rugby World Cup

The Rugby World Cup is the world's premier Rugby Union competition - a tournament played played every four years between the best international teams and which decides the World Champions and the holders of the Webb Ellis Cup. The competition was first staged in 1987 and has taken place on six subsequent occasions, most recently in 2011.

The most recent tournament took place in New Zealand, with 20 teams competing from 9th September 2011 through to the final, which took place in Eden Park, Auckland on 23rd October 2011. In the final, New Zealand's All Blacks beat France 8 - 7, in a closely fought match, which saw them regain the title for the first time since the inaugural tournament.

## Origin[edit]

The decision to establish a Rugby World Cup tournament was made by the International Rugby Football Board (now the IRB) in 1985, following a joint proposal by New Zealand and Australia, with a vote of 6-2 in favour of running such a competition. The opposing votes came from Ireland and Scotland, who feared that the competition would affect the then entirely amatuer status of the game.[1]

## Results[edit]

Year  | Main Host  | Additional host(s)  | Winning team  | Runner up  | Final score

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1987  | New Zealand  | Australia  | New Zealand  | France  | 29 - 9
1991  | England  | Ireland, Scotland, Wales and France  | Australia  | England  | 12 - 6
1995  | South Africa  | \-  | South Africa  | New Zealand  | 15 - 12 (aet)
1999  | Wales  | England, France, Scotland and Ireland  | Australia  | France  | 35 - 12
2003  | Australia  | \-  | England  | Australia  | 20 - 17 (aet)
2007  | France  | Wales and Scotland  | South Africa  | England  | 15 - 6
2011  | New Zealand  | \-  | New Zealand  | France  | 8 - 7

## Notes[edit]

1. ↑ [Butler] (03 September 2011). Rugby World Cup: How 1987 changed the face of rugby union (en) (html). guardian.co.uk. Retrieved on 2011-09-03.