1987 rugby World Cup - wikipedia 1987 rugby World Cup 1987 Rugby World Cup Tournament details Host nations New Zealand Australia Dates 22 May -- 20 June 1987 No. of nations 16 Final positions Champions New Zealand Runner - up France Third - place Wales Tournament statistics Matches played 32 Top scorer ( s ) Grant Fox ( 126 ) Most tries Craig Green John Kirwan ( 6 tries each ) 1991 → 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. Australia as the junior partner 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 members -- New Zealand, Australia, England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales and France. South Africa was unable to compete because of the international sports 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. The tournament witnessed a number of one - sided matches, with the seven traditional IRFB members proving too strong for the other teams. Half of the 24 matches across the four pools saw one team score 40 or more points. New Zealand defeated France 29 -- 9 in the final at Eden Park in Auckland. The New Zealand team was captained by David Kirk, and included such rugby greats as Sean Fitzpatrick, John Kirwan, Grant Fox and Michael Jones. The tournament was seen as a major success and proved that the event was here to stay. It also led to many countries joining the International Rugby Football Board which in turn led the IRFB to become the true authority for the running of international rugby union. Contents 1 Participating nations 2 Venues 3 Squads 4 Pools and format 5 Pool stage 5.1 Pool 1 5.2 Pool 2 5.3 Pool 3 5.4 Pool 4 6 Knock - out stage 6.1 Quarter - finals 6.2 Semi-finals 6.3 Third - place play - off 6.4 Final 7 Broadcasters 8 Notes 9 References 10 External links Participating nations There was no qualification for the inaugural World Cup so the tournament comprised the seven then - members of the IRFB, with the remaining nine places filled by teams invited by the IRFB. IRFB Member Nations Invited Nations England France Ireland Australia New Zealand Scotland Wales Zimbabwe Argentina Canada United States Japan Italy Romania Fiji Tonga South Africa was excluded due to its pro apartheid policies. Soviet Union were to be invited but declined. Western Samoa was not invited despite having a better record than some of the other invited nations. Venues Auckland Wellington Christchurch Dunedin Eden Park Athletic Park Lancaster Park Carisbrook Capacity : 48,000 Capacity : 39,000 Capacity : 36,500 Capacity : 35,000 Rotorua Napier Hamilton Brisbane Rotorua International Stadium McLean Park Rugby Park Ballymore Stadium Capacity : 35,000 Capacity : 30,000 Capacity : 30,000 Capacity : 24,000 Sydney Invercargill Palmerston North Concord Oval Rugby Park Stadium Showgrounds Oval Capacity : 20,000 Capacity : 30,000 Capacity : 20,000 Squads Main article : 1987 Rugby World Cup squads Pools and format Pool 1 Pool 2 Pool 3 Pool 4 Australia England Japan United States Canada Ireland Tonga Wales Argentina Fiji Italy New Zealand France Romania Scotland Zimbabwe Pool 1 was played in Australia Pool 2 was played with five matches held in New Zealand and one in Australia Pool 3 was played in New Zealand Pool 4 was played in New Zealand The inaugural World Cup was contested by 16 different nations. There was no qualifying tournament to determine the participants, and instead the 16 nations were invited by the International Rugby Football Board to compete. The simple 16 team pool / knock - out format was used with the sixteen nations divided into four pools of four nations, with each nation playing their other pool opponents once, every nation playing three times during the pool stages. Nations were awarded 2 points for a win, 1 for a draw and zero for a loss : teams finishing level on points were separated by tries scored, rather than total points difference ( had it been otherwise, Argentina would have taken second place in Group C ahead of Fiji, although France would still have won Group D. ) The top two nations of every pool advanced to the quarter finals. The runners - up of each pool faced the winners of a different pool in the quarter finals. The winners moved on to the semi finals, with the winners then moving onto the final, and the losers of the semi finals contesting a third / fourth place play off. Points System The points system that was used in the pool stage was : 2 points for a win 1 point for a draw 0 points for playing A total of 32 matches ( 24 Pool Stage & 8 Knock - out ) were played throughout the tournament over 29 days from Friday 22 May 1987 to Saturday 20 June 1987. Pool stage Pool 1 Team PF PA tries Pts Australia 0 0 108 41 18 6 England 0 100 32 15 United States 0 39 99 5 Japan 0 0 48 123 7 0 23 May 1987 Australia 19 -- 6 England Tries : Campese Poidevin Con : Lynagh Pen : Lynagh ( 3 ) Try : Harrison Con : Webb Concord Oval, Sydney Attendance : 17,896 Referee : Keith Lawrence ( New Zealand ) 24 May 1987 Japan 18 -- 21 United States Tries : Taumoefolau ( 2 ) Yoshinaga Pen : Yoshinaga Kutsuki Tries : Nelson Purcell Lambert Con : Nelson ( 3 ) Pen : Nelson Ballymore, Brisbane Attendance : 4,000 Referee : Guy Maurette ( France ) 30 May 1987 England 60 -- 7 Japan Tries : Harrison ( 3 ) Underwood ( 2 ) Salmon Richards Redman Rees Simms Con : Webb ( 7 ) Pen : Webb ( 2 ) Try : Miyamoto Pen : Matsuo Concord Oval, Sydney Attendance : 4,893 Referee : René Hourquet ( France ) 31 May 1987 Australia 47 -- 12 United States Tries : Leeds ( 2 ) Penalty try Campese Smith Slack Papworth Codey Con : Lynagh ( 6 ) Pen : Lynagh Try : Nelson Con : Nelson Pen : Nelson Drop : Horton Ballymore, Brisbane Attendance : 10,855 Referee : Brian Anderson ( Scotland ) 3 June 1987 England 34 -- 6 United States Tries : Winterbottom ( 2 ) Harrison Dooley Con : Webb ( 3 ) Pen : Webb ( 4 ) Try : Purcell Con : Nelson Concord Oval, Sydney Attendance : 8,785 Referee : Kerry Fitzgerald ( Australia ) 3 June 1987 Australia 42 -- 23 Japan Tries : Slack ( 2 ) Burke ( 2 ) Tuynman Grigg Hartill Campese Con : Lynagh ( 5 ) Tries : Kutsuki ( 2 ) Fujita Con : Okidoi Pen : Okidoi ( 2 ) Drop : Okidoi Concord Oval, Sydney Attendance : 8,785 Referee : Jim Fleming ( Scotland ) Pool 2 Team PF PA Tries Pts Wales 0 0 82 31 13 6 Ireland 0 84 41 11 Canada 0 65 90 7 Tonga 0 0 29 98 0 24 May 1987 Canada 37 -- 4 Tonga Tries : Palmer ( 2 ) Vaesen ( 2 ) Stuart Frame Penalty try Con : Wyatt ( 2 ) Gareth Rees Pen : Rees Try : Valu McLean Park, Napier Attendance : 7,000 Referee : Clive Norling ( Wales ) 25 May 1987 Ireland 6 -- 13 Wales Pen : Kiernan ( 2 ) Try : Ring Pen : Thorburn Drop : Davies ( 2 ) Athletic Park, Wellington Attendance : 15,000 Referee : Kerry Fitzgerald ( Australia ) 29 May 1987 Tonga 16 -- 29 Wales Tries : Fielea Fifita Con : Liava'a Pen : Liava'a Amone Tries : Webbe ( 3 ) Hadley Con : Thorburn ( 2 ) Pen : Thorburn ( 2 ) Drop : Davies Showgrounds Oval, Palmerston North Attendance : 19,000 Referee : David Bishop ( New Zealand ) 30 May 1987 Canada 19 -- 46 Ireland Try : Cardinal Pen : Rees ( 3 ) Wyatt Drop : Rees Tries : Crossan ( 2 ) Bradley Spillane Ringland MacNeill Con : Kiernan ( 5 ) Pen : Kiernan ( 2 ) Drop : Ward Kiernan Carisbrook, Dunedin Attendance : 9,000 Referee : Fred Howard ( England ) 3 June 1987 Canada 9 -- 40 Wales Pen : Rees ( 3 ) Tries : Evans ( 4 ) Devereux Bowen Hadley Phillips Con : Thorburn ( 4 ) Rugby Park, Invercargill Attendance : 14,000 Referee : David Bishop ( New Zealand ) 3 June 1987 Ireland 32 -- 9 Tonga Tries : Mullin ( 3 ) MacNeill ( 2 ) Con : Ward ( 3 ) Pen : Ward ( 2 ) Pen : Amone ( 3 ) Ballymore, Brisbane Attendance : 4,000 Referee : Guy Maurette ( France ) Pool 3 Team PF PA tries Pts New Zealand 0 0 190 34 30 6 Fiji 0 56 101 6 Italy 0 40 110 5 Argentina 0 49 90 Fiji qualified for the highest number of tries ( Fiji 6, Italy 5, Argentina 4 ) 22 May 1987 New Zealand 70 -- 6 Italy Tries : Kirwan ( 2 ) Kirk ( 2 ) Green ( 2 ) Penalty try Jones Taylor McDowall Stanley Whetton Con : Fox ( 8 ) Pen : Fox ( 2 ) Pen : Collodo Drop : Collodo Eden Park, Auckland Attendance : 20,000 Referee : Bob Fordham ( Australia ) 24 May 1987 Argentina 9 -- 28 Fiji Try : Penalty try Con : Porta Pen : Porta Tries : Gale Naivilawasa Nalaga Savai Con : Koroduadua ( 2 ) Rokowailoa Pen : Koroduadua ( 2 ) Rugby Park, Hamilton Attendance : 13,000 Referee : Jim Fleming ( Scotland ) 27 May 1987 New Zealand 74 -- 13 Fiji Tries : Gallagher ( 4 ) Green ( 4 ) Kirk Kirwan Penalty try Whetton Con : Fox ( 10 ) Pen : Fox ( 2 ) Try : Cama Pen : Koroduadua ( 3 ) Lancaster Park, Christchurch Attendance : 25,000 Referee : Derek Bevan ( Wales ) 28 May 1987 Argentina 25 -- 16 Italy Tries : Lanza Gómez Con : Porta Pen : Porta ( 5 ) Tries : Innocenti Cuttitta Con : Collodo Pen : Collodo ( 2 ) Lancaster Park, Christchurch Attendance : 2,000 Referee : Roger Quittenton ( England ) 31 May 1987 Fiji 15 -- 18 Italy Try : Naivilawasa Con : Koroduadua Pen : Koroduadua ( 2 ) Drop : Qoro Tries : Cuttitta Cucchiella Mascioletti Pen : Collodo Drop : Collodo Carisbrook, Dunedin Attendance : 13,000 Referee : Keith Lawrence ( New Zealand ) 1 June 1987 New Zealand 46 -- 15 Argentina Tries : Kirk Brooke Stanley Earl Crowley Whetton Con : Fox ( 2 ) Pen : Fox ( 6 ) Try : Lanza Con : Porta Pen : Porta ( 3 ) Athletic Park, Wellington Attendance : 30,000 Referee : Roger Quittenton ( England ) Pool 4 Team PF PA tries Pts France 0 145 44 25 5 Scotland 0 135 69 22 5 Romania 0 61 130 5 Zimbabwe 0 0 53 151 5 0 France qualify as pool winner having scored three tries while Scotland scored two in their drawn match 20 all. 23 May 1987 Romania 21 -- 20 Zimbabwe Tries : Paraschiv Toader Hodorca Pen : Alexandru ( 3 ) Tries : Tsimba ( 2 ) Neill Con : Ferreira Pen : Ferreira ( 2 ) Eden Park, Auckland Attendance : 4,500 Referee : Stephen Hilditch ( Ireland ) 23 May 1987 France 20 -- 20 Scotland Tries : Sella Berbizier Blanco Con : Blanco Pen : Blanco ( 2 ) Tries : White Duncan Pen : Hastings ( 4 ) Lancaster Park, Christchurch Attendance : 18,000 Referee : Fred Howard ( England ) 28 May 1987 France 55 -- 12 Romania Tries : Lagisquet ( 2 ) Charvet ( 2 ) Sella Andrieu Camberabero Erbani Laporte Con : Laporte ( 8 ) Pen : Laporte Pen : Bezuscu ( 4 ) Athletic Park, Wellington Attendance : 7,000 Referee : Bob Fordham ( Australia ) 30 May 1987 Scotland 60 -- 21 Zimbabwe Tries : Tait ( 2 ) Tukalo ( 2 ) Duncan ( 2 ) Paxton ( 2 ) Oliver Hastings Jeffrey Con : Hastings ( 8 ) Try : Buitendag Con : Grobler Pen : Grobler ( 5 ) Athletic Park, Wellington Attendance : 12,000 Referee : David Burnett ( Ireland ) 2 June 1987 Romania 28 -- 55 Scotland Tries : Murariu ( 2 ) Toader Con : Alexandru Ion Pen : Alexandru ( 3 ) Ion Tries : Jeffrey ( 3 ) Tait ( 2 ) Hastings ( 2 ) Duncan Tukalo Con : Hastings ( 8 ) Pen : Hastings Carisbrook, Dunedin Attendance : 14,000 Referee : Stephen Hilditch ( Ireland ) 2 June 1987 France 70 -- 12 Zimbabwe Tries : Modin ( 3 ) Camberabero ( 3 ) Charvet ( 2 ) Rodriguez ( 2 ) Dubroca Estève Laporte Con : Camberabero ( 9 ) Try : Kaulbach Con : Grobler Pen : Grobler ( 2 ) Eden Park, Auckland Attendance : 3,000 Referee : Derek Bevan ( Wales ) Knock - out stage Quarter - finals Semi-finals Final 6 June -- Lancaster Park, Christchurch New Zealand 30 14 June -- Ballymore, Brisbane Scotland 3 New Zealand 49 8 June -- Ballymore, Brisbane Wales 6 Wales 16 20 June -- Eden Park, Auckland England 3 New Zealand 29 7 June -- Eden Park, Auckland France 9 France 31 13 June -- Concord Oval, Sydney Fiji 16 France 30 Third place 7 June -- Concord Oval, Sydney Australia 24 Australia 33 Wales 22 Ireland 15 Australia 21 18 June -- Rotorua International Stadium, Rotorua Quarter - finals 6 June 1987 New Zealand 30 -- 3 Scotland Tries : Whetton Gallagher Con : Fox ( 2 ) Pen : Fox ( 6 ) Pen : Hastings Lancaster Park, Christchurch Attendance : 30,000 Referee : David Burnett ( Ireland ) 7 June 1987 Australia 33 -- 15 Ireland Tries : Burke ( 2 ) McIntyre Smith Con : Lynagh ( 4 ) Pen : Lynagh ( 3 ) Tries : MacNeill Kiernan Con : Kiernan ( 2 ) Pen : Kiernan Concord Oval, Sydney Attendance : 14,356 Referee : Brian Anderson ( Scotland ) 7 June 1987 Fiji 16 -- 31 France Tries : Qoro Damu Con : Koroduadua Pen : Koroduadua ( 2 ) Tries : Rodriguez ( 2 ) Lorieux Lagisquet Con : Laporte ( 3 ) Pen : Laporte ( 2 ) Drop : Laporte Eden Park, Auckland Attendance : 17,000 Referee : Clive Norling ( Wales ) 8 June 1987 England 3 -- 16 Wales Pen : Webb Tries : Roberts Jones Devereux Con : Thorburn ( 2 ) Ballymore, Brisbane Attendance : 15,000 Referee : René Hourquet ( France ) Semi-finals 13 June 1987 Australia 24 -- 30 France Tries : Campese Codey Con : Lynagh ( 2 ) Pen : Lynagh ( 3 ) Drop : Lynagh Report Tries : Lorieux Sella Lagisquet Blanco Con : Camberabero ( 4 ) Pen : Camberabero ( 2 ) Concord Oval, Sydney Attendance : 17,768 Referee : Brian Anderson ( Scotland ) 14 June 1987 New Zealand 49 -- 6 Wales Tries : Kirwan ( 2 ) Shelford ( 2 ) Drake Whetton Stanley Brooke - Cowden Con : Fox ( 7 ) Pen : Fox Report Try : Devereux Con : Thorburn Ballymore, Brisbane Attendance : 22,576 Referee : Kerry Fitzgerald ( Australia ) Third - place play - off 18 June 1987 Australia 21 -- 22 Wales Tries : Burke Grigg Con : Lynagh ( 2 ) Pen : Lynagh ( 2 ) Drop : Lynagh Report Tries : Roberts Moriarty Hadley Con : Thorburn ( 2 ) Pen : Thorburn ( 2 ) Rotorua International Stadium, Rotorua Attendance : 29,000 Referee : Fred Howard ( England ) Final Main article : 1987 Rugby World Cup Final 20 June 1987 New Zealand 29 - 9 France Tries : Jones Kirk Kirwan Con : Fox Pen : Fox ( 4 ) Drop : Fox Report Try : Berbizier Con : Camberabero Pen : Camberabero Eden Park, Auckland Attendance : 48,035 Referee : Kerry Fitzgerald ( Australia ) Broadcasters The event was broadcast in Australia by ABC and in the United Kingdom by the BBC. Notes References Jump up ^ Alexander Fedorets. `` Russians target 2011 World Cup ''. The M&G Online. External links Official Rugby World Cup Site Full Results and Statistics at ESPN Origins of the 1987 World Cup Rugby World Cup Tournaments Australia / New Zealand 1987 England / France / Ireland / Scotland / Wales 1991 South Africa 1995 Wales 1999 Australia 2003 France 2007 New Zealand 2011 England 2015 Japan 2019 France 2023 2027 2031 Qualifying 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023 Finals 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023 Squads 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023 Overview History Hosts Qualification Final Trophy Theme song Statistics Records and statistics Hat - tricks Try scorers Red cards Team appearances Overall record Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1987_Rugby_World_Cup&oldid=815106517 '' Categories : Rugby World Cup tournaments 1987 Rugby World Cup 1987 in Australian rugby union 1987 in New Zealand rugby union International rugby union competitions hosted by Australia International rugby union competitions hosted by New Zealand May 1987 sports events June 1987 sports events Hidden categories : All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from March 2015 Articles with unsourced statements from September 2015 Use dmy dates from October 2011 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Afrikaans Català Deutsch Español Euskara Français Gaeilge Galego Italiano ქართული Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk Polski Português Română Русский Slovenčina Српски / srpski Svenska 11 more Edit links This page was last edited on 12 December 2017, at 20 : 30. 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Question: where was the 1987 rugby world cup held
Answer: New Zealand