page_title: History of the Rugby World Cup
section_title: 1990s
hierarchical_section_title: History of the Rugby World Cup / 1990s
caption_attribution_description: West Stand, Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales. Photo made in May 2005 by Stan Zurek.
context_page_description: The first Rugby World Cup was held in 1987, hosted by Australia and New Zealand who pushed for the tournament to be approved. Since the first tournament, 7 others have been held at four-year intervals.
context_section_description: The 1991 Rugby World Cup was hosted by Great Britain, Ireland and France, with the tournament final to be played at the home of English rugby, Twickenham. For the first time, a qualifying tournament replaced the previously used invitation format. The qualifying tournament involved 32 teams. England qualified for the final by defeating Scotland at Murrayfield, with Australia joining them by defeating New Zealand the day after. Australia won the final, defeating England 12–6, and became the first nation to win the cup away from home.
  The 1995 Rugby World Cup was hosted by South Africa, and was the first time that all matches would be played in just a single country. It was the first time that South Africa participated in the tournament following the end of their international sports boycott due to the apartheid regime. South Africa won the tournament, defeating New Zealand 15–12 in the final. Joel Stransky kicked a drop-goal in extra time to grab the victory for South Africa. The All Blacks were mysteriously struck down with food poisoning just days before the final with many All Blacks still affected on the day of the final. Nelson Mandela, wearing a Springbok jersey and matching cap, famously presented the Webb Ellis Cup to South African captain Francois Pienaar. The tournament also saw the emergence of rugby's first global superstar, All Blacks winger Jonah Lomu. He and Marc Ellis finished the tournament as the top try scorers.
  The 1999 Rugby World Cup was hosted by Wales with matches played in England, France, Scotland and Ireland. There were further changes to the rules of automatic qualification for this tournament, where only the top three places from 1995, along with the host nation, automatically qualified. Sixty-five rugby nations participated in qualifying competitions for the 1999 tournament, and the participating nations increased from 16 to 20. France's shock 43–31 semifinal win over the All Blacks is regarded as one of the biggest upsets and also one of the best games in the history of the World Cup. Australia defeated France in the final 35–12. They therefore became the first nation to win the World Cup twice.
caption: Millennium Stadium
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