Rugby Football History All Blacks Barbarians Canada British & Irish Lions Ireland Scotland Springboks USA Wales Wallabies Rugby World Cup (RWC) is administered by Rugby World Cup Limited (RWCL), a subsidiary of the International Rugby Board (IRB). The IRB is a non-profit making organisation. All revenue generated through its activity is placed back in the game of Rugby. Rugby World Cup is the primary source of revenue for the funding of Rugby development worldwide. Ninety-five percent of all money distributed by the IRB worldwide for development comes from RWC revenue. These funds underpin the IRB's strategic investments programme including High Performance funding and development grants. The first RWC was held in New Zealand and Australia in 1987. The six tournaments to date are: How it all began The IRB held their annual board meeting on 20-21st March 1985 at the French Railways HQ in Paris. Each member nation had a single vote and the motion was carried 6 (Australia, England, France, New Zealand, South Africa, Wales) to 2 (Ireland and Scotland).

It would be staged jointly by Australia and New Zealand from the 22nd May to the 20th June 1987. This gave the two host nations approx. two years to prepare. Read the full story It may also interest you to know that Rugby League's World Cup was first held in 1954. Read more World Cup Finals Estimated £80 million net surplus boost to the Game. Loss of NZ $31.3 million, NZ $8 million lower than forecast The Famous Whistle The first game of every world cup to date has been started by the same whistle. The whistle is nearly 100 years old and bears an inscription saying it was used by Gil Evans in the Test match between New Zealand and England in December 1905, a match the All Blacks won 15-0. This piece of rugby history is also believed to have been used by Albert E. Freethy in the final of the 1924 Olympics in Paris when the United States beat hosts France 17-13 at the Colombes Stadium - the last time the sport of rugby union featured in the Games.

A year later Freethy blew the whistle to dismiss Cyril Brownlie in the Test between New Zealand and England at Twickenham in January 1925, making him the first player to be sent off in an international match. The whistle has been housed in the New Zealand Rugby Museum in Palmerston North since 16 April 1969 when they held their inaugural function, having been given by Stan Dean, who for many years was the chairman of the NZRFU and manager of the 1924/25 All Blacks. The forgotten story of the first-ever rugby ‘World Cup’ - France 24 The forgotten story of the first-ever rugby ‘World Cup’ Text by Stéphanie TROUILLARD Latest update : 2015-09-19 In 1919, in the aftermath of WWI, a group of international rugby teams gathered in Britain for the King’s Cup, a tournament unprecedented in its time but little remembered today.

On October 31, the two finalists of the 2015 Rugby World Cup will take to the hallowed turf of Twickenham for what will be the finale of, officially at least, the 8th edition of a tournament that began in 1987. But on the same pitch on April 19, 1919 – some 96 years ago – military teams representing New Zealand and Great Britain faced off in the final of what, for all intents and purposes, was a World Cup in all but name: the King’s Cup . Along with the two finalists, military teams from Canada, Australia and South Africa took part, as well as an RAF side made up of players from various nations. It was a gathering of international rugby talent that had never been seen before. “Never before had so many rugby players from all the rugby nations of the world been in the same place,” says Stephen Cooper, author of “ After the Final Whistle ”, a book on the tournament and rugby during the First World War. Before the conflict, there had been few international tournaments because of the distances involved and the cost of travel, says Cooper.

The war’s heavy toll on rugby But bringing these teams together after the Great War was also a remarkable feat. The First World War had changed the face of the world and that included sport, and rugby. Nearly 140 internationals had paid the ultimate price between 1914-18. Scotland alone lost 31 members of its international squad, the most of any rugby-playing nation. “It's acknowledged that some 10 percent of all British combatants were killed. However, anecdotal evidence from photographs and teams that have researched their members suggests that rugby paid a higher price, with between 30-35 percent (of players) being killed,” says Cooper. He puts this high rate of slaughter down to the typical background of rugby players and the spirit the sport had instilled in them. A British First World War poster encourages men to follow the example of rugby players by enlisting in the armed forces. © Library of Congress “Rugby players were fit, physically strong, accustomed to teamwork and discipline and often educated members of the middle-class.

They were natural leaders as officers and when the regular army was all but wiped out in 1914 they found themselves in early command at the front.” But rugby was not completely forgotten about in the trenches. Playing the occasional game helped soldiers stay fit and distract them from the horrors of war. “After the mutinies in the French army, it was realised that sport and rugby had a role to play in troop morale,” says Cooper. Matches were organised just a few miles back from the front. One saw the England captain Ronnie Poulton-Palmer, the scorer of four tries in a match against France in 1914 shortly before the outbreak of war, play his last ever match among a group of fellow internationals at Pont de Nieppe in northern France. Just one month later, he was killed by a sniper in Ploegsteert, Belgium. Political value After the war ended, survivors from the four corners of the British Empire found themselves stuck in Europe for several months as they waited to be transported home. It was the perfect opportunity to hold a major international sports tournament and celebrate a military victory at the same time: the King’s Cup was born.

“King George V knew the political value of sport as a statement and was very keen to celebrate the achievements of the Empire’s troops as well as make a statement about keeping the Empire together in sporting and political union,” says Cooper. For the Commonwealth countries, meanwhile, the King’s Cup was ”the first sporting expression of [their] new nationhood, playing on equal or superior terms to the British”. The fact that the British team was officially billed as “the Mother Country” added to the distinctly Empire-centric feel of the tournament, as did the fact that there was one notable absentee among the teams taking part – France. The country had been participating in the Five Nations tournament since 1910, though had yet to emerge as a major force in world rugby and had only won one international before the start of the war. Nevertheless, France’s omission also had something to do with politics, says Cooper. “The British Army organisers thought of this as a Military and Dominions event and probably simply did not include France.” But that oversight was rectified at the end of the tournament, with the victor going on to have a showdown with France, also at Twickenham. King George V meets the French rugby team after their match against New Zealand at Twickenham.

© Frederic Humbert Collection ‘Extraordinary physical prowess’ The tournament consisted of round-robin format, with the two top ranked teams taking each other on in the final. A total of 15 games were held at various locations in England, Wales and Scotland, with each drawing thousands of fans eager for a chance to enjoy a sporting spectacle after the long, hard years of the war, as well as show their appreciation for the soldiers who had fought for the Empire. New Zealand and Great Britain came out on top, setting up a momentous final pitting the colonial master against its antipodean dominion. It was a closely fought contest but in the end the “Mother Country” was vanquished 9-3. The victorious Kiwis were handed the cup by King George V himself. They went on to defeat the French 20-3 at Twickenham and then again in the return match in Paris in May that year, winning 16-10. The French newspaper La Vie au Grand Air proclaimed the incredible show of force put on by the New Zealand side in their triumphs of that year.

“From an animal point of view, this superiority of the English colonials, if I dare say it, was seen during the war, when under the khaki outfits of the Anzacs (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps), their uniformly beautiful muscle structure and their extraordinary physical prowess revealed itself,” it declared. But despite the success of the competition, no other tournament would bring together the best international teams from the northern and southern hemispheres until the birth of the modern rugby world cup in 1987, with the sport remaining amateur for decades to come. “Only a major world crisis like the war would provide a reason to have all the nations conveniently in one place. As an amateur sport, it would have been impossible for players to have given up 3-4 months of work to travel to play again,” says Cooper. “I also suspect that the British rugby authorities feared that the major superpowers like South Africa and New Zealand would win too easily, as they had proved in their tours, but I cannot prove that!” When rugby did finally get around to hosting another global tournament in 1987, it was, fittingly, once again New Zealand that were crowned world champions, 68 years after their King’s Cup triumph.

Date created : 2015-09-18 1987 Australia & New Zealand Rugby World Cup Home > Events > Rugby > World Cup > Host Countries > Australia & NZ 1987 Rugby World Cup The 1987 event was the first ever World Cup for Rugby. It was hosted jointly by Australia and New Zealand from 22 May to the 20 June 1987. Sixteen teams participated in 1987 Rugby World Cup. The teams were Australia, England, United States of America, Japan, Wales, Ireland, Canada, Tonga, New Zealand, Fiji, Argentina, Italy, France, Scotland, Romania and Zimbabwe. The final was played at Eden Park, Auckland: and was won by New Zealand, beating France 29-9 Total attendance at the 1987 games was 600,000. The 1987 tournament showed the gulf in ability between the top nations and the weaker sides. This was highlighted by the All Blacks scoring 74 points against Fiji and France putting on 13 tries against Zimbabwe.

Share: Origins of international rugby - 1987 Rugby World Cup | NZHistory, New Zealand history online Page 2 – Origins of international rugby Friendly rivalry The first regular international rugby was the annual England versus Scotland match that kicked off in 1871. The other Home Countries – Ireland and Wales – soon joined in. The first round-robin among all four teams, in 1884, was won by England. Two years later the British unions appointed themselves as the International Rugby Football Board (IRFB). These were men on a mission to keep ‘their’ game amateur and middle-class. Professionalism had taken over association football (soccer), which had captured the British masses. This, the IRFB declared, must not be allowed to happen to rugby – any form of payment for playing the game would destroy it. Less than 10 years later, though, a northern union broke away from the (English) Rugby Union. This new body let working men be compensated for the time they took off work to play the game. A rival code, rugby league, had been born. Traditional rugby men were bitter. Players who ‘went north’ – converted to league – were barred for life from any further contact with the union game.

In the late 19th century rugby caught on across the English Channel. Its biggest French booster was Pierre de Frédy, Baron de Coubertin. He was keen to perk up the nation’s manhood in the aftermath of the disastrous Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71. Rewarding intelligence yet requiring brutality, rugby was seen as perfect training for the anticipated military rematch. Rugby at the Olympics In 1900 Baron de Coubertin gratified two of his obsessions at once by getting rugby into the modern Olympics. France won the first tournament, played in Paris. Rugby survived in the Olympics while Baron de Coubertin remained president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Only two or three countries, sometimes represented by regional teams, entered each of the four Olympic Games at which it was played. The current Olympic rugby champions are the United States, whose 1924 team was dominated by players from California’s elite Stanford University. Attempts to return rugby to the Olympics began in the 1980s.

They finally succeeded in 2009 when rugby sevens for both men and women was added to the programme for the 2016 summer Olympics. The Five Nations Tournament is born When the Olympic champions, France, played the touring All Black Originals on New Year’s Day 1906, they were soundly beaten 38–8. (Captain Dave Gallaher apparently told his team to let the French score a couple of tries.) England then decided to play France, and the other home unions followed suit. France joined an expanded Five Nations Tournament in 1910. This was played annually except during the world wars. Like the earlier contest among the home unions, officially it did not exist. These matches were, in theory, unrelated, friendly fixtures, and a champion was crowned only by the press. France – for whom winning was everything – was banned from top-level rugby throughout the 1930s. There were two main reasons: revulsion at especially thuggish play in one test against Wales, and the widespread French practice, dubbed ‘shamateurism’, of giving star club players highly paid jobs with few actual duties. In response, the French fostered rugby elsewhere in Europe.

Their main opponent in the 1930s was Germany. Ominously for adherents of Baron de Coubertin, the Germans improved rapidly, winning a match in 1938. New Zealand and South Africa Beyond the Five Nations Tournament, international rugby was a network of bilateral rivalries. The game had spread with British settlers in the late 19th century. New Zealand’s rapid progress was clearly demonstrated during northern hemisphere tours by a Native side in 1888–89 , the All Black Originals in 1905–06 and the Invincibles in 1924–25. Italy national rugby union team | Rugby Union | Fandom powered by Wikia Italy national rugby union team 242pages on Azzurri (the Blues), The Gladiators of Rome Ground For the rugby sevens side, see Italian national rugby union team (sevens) The Italy national rugby union team represent the nation of Italy in the sport of rugby union . The team are also known as the Azzurri (Blues) and "The Gladiators of Rome".

Italy have been playing international rugby since the late 1920s, and today are considered one of the best rugby nations in Europe and compete annually in the Six Nations Championship with England , France , Ireland , Scotland and Wales . Italy really came to prominence following 2000 when they became a part of the Five Nations , making it the Six Nations. Italy have also competed at every Rugby World Cup since the first tournament in 1987 . Their best result thus far has been in 2003 where they managed two wins during the pool stages. Italy achieved their best result thus far in the Six Nations in the 2007 competition , with wins over Scotland and Wales. Italy are grouped in Pool C of the 2007 Rugby World Cup , with Scotland, the All Blacks , Romania and Portugal . Their current head coach is Nick Mallett . Contents Edit Forms of football involving both hands and feet have long been played in Italy from Roman times to the medieval era. It is normally said that Rugby union was first introduced into Italy by French students at Milan University in 1911 but it has been established that British communities brought rugby to Genoa between 1890 and 1895.

It remains stronger in the North of Italy than elsewhere. The first documented rugby union match played in Italy was a demonstration game played in 1910 in Turin between Racing Club París and Servette of Geneva. The society that organised the game didn't have a long life and dissolved after this first game but the game became known in Milan. The first match played by an Italian team was a year later US Milanese against Voiron of France. On July 25 of the same year the "Propaganda Committee" was formed which in 1928 became the Federazione Italiana Rugby (FIR). There was a further game in 1928 when Ambrosiana Milano beat R.C.T. Bucharest 15-3. The first Italian championship , won by Ambrosiana Milano, took place in 1929, with 6 of the 16 teams that existed in Italy. In May of the same year Italy played their first international losing 9-0 against Spain in Barcelona.

After the formation of FIRA in 1934, which brought together the national teams of Italy, France, Spain, Czechoslovakia, Romania and Germany rugby union spreads through Italy, especially the cities of Milan, Rome, Turin, Bologna, Padua, Naples, Genoa, Brescia, Treviso, Rovigo and Parma. France was the first of the Championship countries to play Italy at senior level and the inaugural match took place in 1937, France winning 43-5. Post 1945 Edit World War Two interrupted Italian rugby union. After World War Two, there was a desire to return to normal and Italian rugby union entered a new dimension thanks to the help of Allied troops in Italy. But Italy followed the French model until the 70s. Very soon Veneto ( Rovigo , Padua and Treviso ) came to assume a prominent position in the Italian rugby union scene earning the name "Republic of the Italian rugby union". Parma and L'Aquila were also main centres for rugby union.

In the 70s and 80s rugby union made enormous progress thanks to great foreign players (John Kirwan, Botha, Campese, Lynagh) and coaches (Saby, Bish, Greenwood, Nelie Smith) in the Italian championship . Even foreign coaches were and continue to be chosen for the national team, like Bertrande Fourcade and Georges Costes. In 1973 the national team went on a tour of South Africa, coached by ex-Springbok prop Amos Du Ploony. Tours of England and Scotland followed, even games against Australia and New Zealand, the masters of their day. Since 1980 Italy has been chasing the dream of playing in the 5 Nations. Consistently good results against nations that now play in the European Nations Cup (Romania, Spain, Georgia etc), and the occasional win against the major nations such as France, Scotland, Wales or Ireland meant that they were often talked about as strong candidates. The Azzurri took part in the first ever Rugby World Cup match against New Zealand on 22 May 1987.

The match proved a one sided affair with New Zealand convincing 70-6 winners against a young Italian side. John Kirwan, later to become the Italian national coach, scored one of the tournament’s greatest ever tries for the All Blacks . Italy did, however, manage to beat Fiji and finished third in their pool; failing to make the finals. At the 1991 World Cup, Italy were grouped in a tough pool with the likes of England and the All Blacks. They lost both of these games but beat the USA. At 1995 World Cup in South Africa, Italy came close to beating England; losing 20-27 but managed to beat Argentina. They finished third in their pool again below England and Western Samoa, but above Argentina The Italians then built a very formidable side in the 1990s and recorded a lot of victories over Five nations opposition. In 1996, a deal between British Sky Broadcasting and the Rugby Football Union meant that England home games were exclusively shown on Sky. England were threatened with being expelled from the five nations to be replaced by Italy. This threat was never carried out as a deal was worked out.

Italy recorded two consecutive victories over Ireland in 1997 on January 4 37-29 at Lansdowne Road and on December 20 37-22 in Bologna . On March 22, 1997 they recorded their first and so far only win over France 40-32 (in Grenoble ). In January 1998 Scotland were the victims with Italy winning 25-21 (in Treviso ); in the same year in the Rugby World Cup Qualifiers, they lost 23-15 against England at Huddersfield, but they argued for a try by Alessandro Troncon disallowed by the referee. At the 1999 World Cup, Italy were drawn with New Zealand for the third time and lost again. They didn't win a single pool match and went home before the knock-out stage. Six Nations File:Federazione Italiana Rugby.jpg Italy finally joined the Six Nations Championship in 2000 but their admission coincided with the departure of some of their best players. Nevertheless they won their opening game against the reigning champions Scotland 34-20.

Since then they have struggled to compete against the other nations and their participation was called into question, however they answered their critics by playing a more disciplined game. The 2001 and 2002 tournaments were particularly disappointing as they did not win a single game. Coach Brad Johnstone was sacked in 2002 after an alleged show of 'player power'. John Kirwan was then appointed coach. Italy won two pool games at the 2003 World Cup, defeating both Canada and Tonga, but lost to the All Blacks and Wales. They managed to get their second win in 2003 30-22 against Wales and Italy avoided the wooden spoon. They followed up by winning two games at the World Cup, another first, though the tournament was ultimately disappointing as the Welsh gained revenge with a 27-15 success that meant that Italy were the only Six Nations country not to advance to the knock-out stage. Their third win came against Scotland in 2004. With many of their top players also involved in European club competition, the overall standard of play is improving constantly but it is likely to be a long time before Italy win their first Six Nations Championship .

More and more Italians are coming to watch rugby union games and whereas before most of the fans at the Stadio Flaminio were away fans, now Italy has a good home crowd. One cause for optimism in Italian rugby is that their star players tend to be young and are likely to improve with time. Moreover, the budget of F.I.R. has grown impressively: currently €21 million is available. Italy, along with other nations, had made good use of IRB rules which allowed them to select foreign born players if they had Italian ancestry or had lived in Italy for a qualifying period of 3 years. From 2004 they announced that they would only pick three such 'non-Italians' per team in order to develop their own domestic players. In 2005 Italy finished bottom of the table again and failed to win a single game. Kirwan was sacked and replaced with Pierre Berbizier . Italy then went on a tour of Argentina where they surprised many by beating the Pumas 30-29 and drawing the series 1-1 (the only 2005 victory of a northern hemisphere team visiting a southern hemisphere team).

However the Pumas had their revenge when they visited Genoa and beat Italy 39-22. In the 2006 Six Nations Championship the Italian team performed strongly against every team, leading against both England and France in the first half, but lost their first three games. They did, however, get a creditable 18-18 draw away to Wales, their first ever away point in the tournament, and were unlucky not to draw with Scotland in Rome in the final game, losing 10-13 courtesy of a late Scottish penalty. 2007 File:Italian kickoff.jpg In the 2007 Six Nations Championship, Italy started poorly, losing to France 3-39, and planned to play against a resurgent England at Twickenham. However, Italy's performance improved considerably, holding England to a hollow victory of 20-7, which included a debatable try. Italy's Alessandro Troncon also became man of the match.

Italy followed on with a stunning start to their match at Murrayfield against Scotland, with Mauro Bergamasco scoring a try off a charged-down kick in the first minute, and Andrea Scanavacca and Kaine Robertson scoring intercept tries within the next five minutes; Scotland's shocking start gifted Italy a 21-0 lead after 7 minutes. The Azzurri went on to a 37-17 victory, their first ever away win in the Six Nations. Italy's next match was against Wales. In a close match, Italy's Mauro Bergamasco touched a try down in the last two minutes to give a winning score of 23-20, their second victory over Wales, first consecutive victory in the Six Nations and their highest position ever in the Six Nations. However the match was not without controversy, as a last minute penalty over the line by Wales was later deemed out of time by Chris White. Wales were told by White there was "10 seconds" remaining but as Wales kicked to touch, under the instruction of the TMO, White blew the whistle for full time.

The domestic interest in rugby reached new heights with Italy's new success front page media coverage and the sport being held up as a model of fair play. [1] Media and public interest in the national team was very high during the sides new found success. [1] Despite losing their last game to Ireland, the headline on page one of the national sport newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport read "To lose like this is beautiful," and 10,000 fans later greeted the national team at Rome's Piazza del Popolo . [1] At the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France, Italy were in pool C, which also included New Zealand, Portugal, Romania and Scotland. Italy lost their opening game against the All Blacks, and then won against Romania and then Portugal, and in the final pool game, lost to Scotland. Strip Italy play in blue jerseys; as of 2007, the strip is manufactured by Kappa and the Italian bank Cariparma & Piacenza is the shirt sponsor. Record Edit Since entering the Six Nations Championship in 2000, Italy have yet to win the tournament.

Italy got off to a positive start to the Six Nations in their first year ; defeating Scotland in their first match of competition. Italy finished fifth in the 2003 competition above Wales. The following year Italy managed to finish fifth again, above Scotland in the final standings. In the 2007 Six Nations Italy defeated Scotland at Murrayfield for their first win away from home ( Rome ) in the competition. Two weeks later Italy defeated Wales for the second time in the history of the tournament in Rome: it was the first time the team won two games in the championship, and finished in 4th place. The winner of the Italy-France game is also awarded the Giuseppe Garibaldi Trophy . Edit Italy have competed at every Rugby World Cup since the competitions inception in 1987 . Italy finished third in their pool at their first World Cup, defeating Fiji , but not making the finals. They did not make the finals in 1991 , grouped in a tough pool with the likes of England and the All Blacks . At the 1995 World Cup in South Africa , they finished behind England and Western Samoa , but above Argentina in their pool.

In 1999 they did not make the finals, with their All Blacks and Tonga . Italy won two pool games at the 2003 World Cup , defeating both Canada and Tonga, but lost to the All Blacks and Wales. Italy played the Rugby World Cup 2007 in Pool C, against New Zealand, Scotland, Romania and again Portugal (beaten 83-0 in the qualifiers) and had a very good chance of making the quarter finals and even the semi finals for the first time. However, Italy were undone by indiscipline in the crucial group match against Scotland in St. Etienne. Chris Paterson kicked all of Scotland's point in a 18-16 victory, despite Italy crossing the line for the game's only try. Bortulussi missed a match-winning kick in an even contest that Scotland arguably deserved to win in the end.

Players Portugal national rugby union team | Rugby Union | Fandom powered by Wikia Portugal national rugby union team 242pages on New Zealand 108 - 13 Template:Ru-rt ( 2007-09-15 ) World Cup Appearances 1 (First in 2007 ) Best result No games won, one bonus point </div></div> The Portugal national rugby union team, nicknamed "Os Lobos," Portuguese for "the wolves", is a third tier rugby union side representing Portugal . They first played in 1935 and now compete in the European Nations Cup . Rugby union in Portugal is administered by the Federação Portuguesa de Rugby . Portugal qualified for their first Rugby World Cup in 2007. Portugal was in Pool C along with the All Blacks (New Zealand), Italy , Romania and Scotland . Portugal have experienced unprecedented success in recent years. They were surprise winners of the 2003-4 European Nations Cup and have continued to record impressive results, although they could only finish third in the 2005-6 event.

The IRB Sevens World Series circuit has allowed the Portuguese players to demonstrate their competence to the wider rugby world. In 2006-7 Portugal will compete at every IRB sevens event for the first time. They have become an established power in the abbreviated form of the game. Contents Edit Portugal played their first ever rugby international in April of 1935 against Spain . Portugal lost the game by one point, 5 to 6. They played Spain again the following year with Spain winning 16 to 9. Portugal had more regular competition from the mid-1960s, and won their first game in 1966, defeating Spain 9 to 3. Portugal played Italy for the first time in 1967, losing 6-3. They also had their first match against Romania soon after and lost by 40 points. They defeated Belgium in 1968, and also played Morocco for the first time. Portugal were the best side until Ireland beat them 132-0 in the Algarve (Portugal). The first game of 1970s turned out to be a draw against the Netherlands .

Portugal managed to draw with Italy (nil all) in 1972 and following that, defeated them 9-6 in 1973. After a number of mixed results throughout the early 1970s, Portugal won five matches in a row from 1979 through to 1981. They played Morocco, who won the encounter. After a 1983 draw against Spain, Portugal managed a seven game winning streak from 1984 to 1985, including wins over Belgium, Denmark , Morocco, Czechoslovakia, Poland and Zimbabwe . The first Rugby World Cup was held in 1987, though it was by invitation, thus there was no qualifying tournament. 1990s Edit From 1989 to 1990, the 1991 World Cup qualifiers were held for the European nations. Portugal started in Round 2b in October of 1989. They defeated Czechoslovakia 15 to 13 in Ricant to advance to Round 2c. However here they were defeated by the Netherlands 32 to 3 and eliminated from qualifying.

Portugal again participated in the 1995 World Cup qualifying competition for European teams, starting in Round 1. They were pooled in the West Group, and defeated Belgium and Switzerland , but lost to Spain, advancing into Round 2. Here Wales defeated them, and they lost to Spain. Portugal began play in Pool 3 of Round B in the European qualifying competition for the 1999 Rugby World Cup . Portugal won all their group matches except for the one against Spain, but still finished second in the group, which took them into Pool 3 of Round C. All games were held in Edinburgh, Scotland. Portugal lost 85-11 to Scotland , and 21-17 to Spain. Both nations went through to the World Cup and Portugal went into repechage. Here Portugal lost a home and away series to Uruguay . 2000s Edit In 2002 Portugal began playing for a place in the 2003 Rugby World Cup in Pool A of Round 3 of the European qualifying tournament . They were grouped with Spain and Poland. Each nation only won one game, though on for and against Portugal finished second to Spain. Portugal were knocked out of competition.

In 2003-04 Portugal won the European Nations Cup, losing only one match to win their first championship. In 2004 Professor Tomaz Morais, coach of the Portuguese national team at both sevens and fifteen aside, was nominated for the IRB's coach of the year award. This was a remarkable achievement for a coach from a third tier rugby nation. Morais has been credited with much of Portugal's progress in recent years. In 2006 it was announced that Portugal would receive a grant from the IRB to help develop their rugby to Tier 2 standard. Few details have been released thus far regarding how the money will be spent but it is hoped it will ensure that Portuguese rugby will be able to move onto the next level. In 2006 the inaugural IRB Nations Cup was hosted in Lisbon. The tournament featured Portugal, Russia , Argentina A and Italy A . It is anticipated that this will become an annual event and another medium through which the Portuguese team can develop their skills.

2007 World Cup qualifying Edit Portugal began their qualification campaign for the 2007 Rugby World Cup (hosted by France ) in 2004, as part of the European Nations Cup Division 1 2004-06 tournament. They won their first match, defeating Ukraine 6-36 away. They then went onto defeat Georgia 18 to 14 in Lisbon in their second match, and then won their third match against the Czech Republic , and went onto defeated Russia as well, but then lost to Romania. Portugal then drew with Russia 19-all, and then lost to Georgia. After a loss to Romania and a win against the Czech Republic, Portugal finished third overall in the standings, and qualified for Round 5. Round 5 was played in October of 2006 as a three match series between Italy, Russia and Portugal. Both Portugal and Russia lost heavily in their matches against Italy, who easily qualified for the finals. Second place came down to the final match of the round in Lisbon. Portugal won the match 26 to 23 to make it to Round 6.

Round 6 was a home and away series against the Round 5 Pool B winners, Georgia. Portugal lost the first match, but drew 11-all in the second meeting. Georgia went through to the finals, and Portugal entered the repechage round where they defeated Morocco 26-20 on aggregate. The team then faced Uruguay for the last position in the finals. The first leg of the two-match Repechage series was played in Lisbon. Portugal won 12 points to 5, taking a seven point lead into the final game in Montevideo. Portugal lost 18 points to 12, however, on aggregate, they won by just a single point, 24 to 23, sending them to their first ever World Cup. They will be playing in Pool C, alongside favourites the All Blacks , Italy, Romania and Scotland. Having qualified for their first World Cup, several players were subsequently arrested in the ensuing celebrations as a result of an altercation with local police. No charges were laid and the players involved were allowed to leave Uruguay. 2007 Rugby World Cup Edit In the 2007 Rugby world cup, Portugal were anticipated to be crushed by their fellow nations.

Nevertheless, Portugal played competitively, highlights include preventing Italy getting a bonus point as compared to losing by over 70 points before the tournament, scoring a try against the All Blacks and coming within a try of beating Romania before losing 14-10. The Portugal team were celebrated for their commitment and passion, and for being the only amateur team to make it to the World Cup. Record The boys of 91: why the first England side in Rugby World Cup final are still hurting | Sport | The Guardian England rugby union team The boys of 91: why the first England side in Rugby World Cup final are still hurting Beaten by the All Blacks in their opening game, Geoff Cooke’s side decided on a more pragmatic style which took them past France in a tumultuous quarter-final in Paris and Scotland in a semi reeking of revenge at Murrayfield. But it was a case of so near, yet so far in the Twickenham final against Australia after a change of tactics England’s Paul Ackford dives full length at Australia’s opposing lock, John Eales, during the 1991 Rugby World Cup final.

Photograph: Action Images Wednesday 16 September 2015 17.58 EDT Last modified on Monday 10 October 2016 21.46 EDT Close The build-up England went into the World Cup as grand slam champions having pipped France 21-19 in their final game at Twickenham in the Five Nations; the silverware was won after three years of hard work following the disappointment of the 1987 World Cup. But their illusions of grandeur had been shattered on their summer tour when they were defeated 40-15 in Sydney by Australia, It was then the players’ real work began … Peter Winterbottom, England’s openside flanker: It was the biggest wake-up call we ever got. I think we all came back to the UK and trained like mad for the next couple of months. We were told [by head coach Geoff Cooke] that if we didn’t pass the fitness test we wouldn’t be selected for the World Cup. I trained like a madman and actually it was the best thing that happened. I got myself an athletics coach who helped me get through it.

I must have trained every day for a few months and I was fit as a fiddle by the time we started. We got put on our backsides in Australia and everybody came back and gave it a go. I remember vividly Jason Leonard was one of my training partners down on the athletics track in Tooting Bec and the two of us flogged each other. Mike Teague, England No8: That defeat was key to our World Cup preparations. We got quite a kick up the arse, we went there [Australia] expecting to get a good result and we didn’t. Geoff Cooke and Roger Uttley are never given enough credit. They said “if you want to win the World Cup you have to be at another level”. I believe the minimum then, for the forwards, was 14/2 on the bleep test and you had to reach those targets and for one or two of the boys it was not easy. Simon Halliday, England wing: We were together a lot that year. We had five weeks in the summer in Australia and Fiji, a week back at work and then seven weeks in camp.

They had a rule where you were not allowed to consort or spend time with wives and girlfriends: a number of players were based in the north and their partners were not funded to fly down. The manager said that in recognition of that no one can see their wives … so a few of us snuck off to London a couple of times. Pool stages England’s buildup was low-key in the amateur era but things changed once the tournament began. PW: You didn’t really feel any hype before the tournament started. Once it was up and running it was getting a lot of coverage but it’s nothing like it is now. One thing that you did realise was that a lot of non-rugby people were able to look at the game and understand what it is. We used to get cab drivers going “you’re the rugby boys and we’re all behind you” and you can bet your arse this bloke had not seen a game of rugby in his life. MT: It was the start of that changeover, and Brian Moore would put it more eloquently than me, from being amateur to professional, which was all part of bringing rugby towards competing with soccer.

It’s never going to be as big as our national game but it’s giving it a run for its money. There’s a lot more interest in rugby than pre-1991. England v New Zealand, 3 October Twickenham Geoff Cooke’s side did not have an easy start to their campaign, facing New Zealand at Twickenham, and the champions won 18-12 courtesy of a Michael Jones try, a Grant Fox conversion and four penalties … Roger Uttley, England coach assisting Cooke: The fact that we had to play New Zealand in the first match was a bit of a handicap. With players like Michael Jones on the flank and ‘Inga the Winger’ [Va’aiga Tuigamala] at the time, it was a very good New Zealand side. We only lost by a score but it did mean we came out of the group in second, which meant we had to go to Paris. SH: We lost the opening game having spent a lot of time discussing how we were going to confront the haka. Were we going to face them down and glare at them? Were we going to gather in a circle and put our tracksuits on?

There was a lot of debate and we almost over-psyched ourselves up. They were not a great All Blacks side and Australia were to beat them in the semi-finals. I did not play in that match: we were nervous and disappointing. Italy and the USA followed and they were not difficult matches. Pinterest The All Blacks perform the haka against England. Photograph: Getty Images PW: The New Zealand defeat focused our minds and we really knuckled down. Sometimes you have to really think about how the team should be playing. You go into a tournament with a preconceived idea of how you will play and where you will get success and then suddenly things change. You’ve got to be very honest about what you’re going to do. And we did that. We were sitting down over a few drinks and decided we really had to do something or we’re not going to do so well in this World Cup. As it worked out losing to New Zealand was not the worst thing that happened. We decided to be a bit more pragmatic about how we were playing.

Pool stage results 3 October: England 12-18 New Zealand 8 October: England 36-6 Italy 11 October: England 37-9 United States Road to the quarter-final RU: We went for a bit of a rest in Jersey. The players enjoyed themselves. Geoff and I got presented with an enormous bar bill, Peter Winterbottom had quite a lot to do with it, I believe, but because we were winning that was brushed under the carpet. It was a great weekend. That pack of forwards were all characters. There was a little bit of us and them between backs and forwards but they all got on very well. SH: The four-day break was pretty riotous – with partners in the one concession.

Then we flew to France and Brian Moore said: “No one wants to go back to work on Monday so for fuck’s sake we have got to win this one.” Rob Andrew, England fly-half: One or two of the players had taken unpaid leave, I was fortunate enough not to have to but one of the driving forces in the quarter-final against France in Paris was that if we lost we would be back at work on Monday but if we won, we would have another two weeks in the tournament. Quarter-final - France v England, 19 October, Parc des Princes In the Five Nations, England’s power and physicality had overcome three fine tries by France and having beaten them in Paris the previous year, the English believed they could use their strength to unsettle the home side’s main attacking threat, Serge Blanco … RU: We had sorted the guys out and left them in the changing room and we came out of the tunnel and went up into the stand, and in those days Geoff and I sat there along with the subs on the bench. The lads stayed on the pitch at half-time so we were there for the duration of the game and there were no comms or anything like that.

The French sat on the bench in front of us. They were turning around and shaking hands at the start, it was all very entente cordiale, but as the game went on inevitably tensions began to increase. People got very excited, [Daniel] Dubroca [the France coach], who was a good guy, got very excited with the referee, David Bishop. Pinterest Brian Moore celebrates victory against France at the end of their quarter-final at Parc des Princes in Paris on 19th October, 1991. Photograph: Chris Smith/Popperfoto/Popperfoto/Getty Images MT: The France quarter-final was the greatest game of rugby I ever played in. I’ve never experienced an atmosphere like it at Twickenham or anywhere in the world. We were very lucky that Pierre Villepreux came into the squad and did some coaching with us and I think his knowledge, coupled with Roger and Geoff, stood us in good stead. It was incredible, listening to him before the game, his heart was split in two. He wanted the French to win on the one hand but he wanted his message and the way that he had coached us to play out and be effective – it was a fantastic insight.

We were not in the match in the first half and I really did think we were going to struggle to win the match but we had great team spirit and we pulled together and pulled it off. England struggled in the first half but as the second wore on the French became more frustrated, tempers flared and one tackle by Mickey Skinner on Marc Cécillon, catapulting the France No8 backwards after he picked up from the base of a scrum relieved the pressure in the 22 and turned the momentum in England’s favour. PW: It was one of those games that you just felt, certainly in the second half, that if we conceded it will cost us the match. They had some very talented players but on the day they didn’t really get the chance to use them. We beat them in 1990 over there and we beat them at Twickenham in 1991 so we had the psychological edge on them. We had a bit of an aggressive pack so we knew that if we could intimidate them, they would go off their game. And that’s what we did. Brian [Moore] would usually lead the pre-match talk and hype and that really got under the skin of the French, it certainly affected them.

By the time of the quarter-final they were frothing at the mouth. We knew that would work but I just made sure I was standing behind Wade Dooley when it all kicked off. RU: The game completely hinged on Skinner’s tackle [on Cécillon]; if they had scored then I think we’d have been dead and buried. But we came back, scored a great try, pushed Serge Blanco over the line and buried him. Result: France 10-19 England Road to the semi-final PW: We’d all been on rugby tours before and it was like a tour at home really. We didn’t have much time at home. We had a few games of golf, a few good nights out – probably more than these guys will have now – and we did a lot more training than we’d normally do. I remember a game of golf up in Scotland when Jason Leonard and Jeff Probyn had no etiquette whatsoever. We’d be on the green and suddenly the balls would be raining down where we were standing. Leonard was just 150 yards back down the fairway whacking away.

It was a beautiful golf course, Gullane, near Muirfield, and as we were putting the balls just came flying on to the green. The semi-final - Scotland v England, 26 October, Murrayfield The previous year Scotland had seized the grand slam from England on the same ground. The visitors’ determination to avoid a repeat meant they focused on their strengths, attritional 10-man rugby. Even so the game is remembered for one of the most remarkable missed penalties in history by the normally unflappable Gavin Hastings. SH: When we played Scotland there in 1990 it was the year of the poll tax and the first time they started singing Flower of Scotland. They were very aggressive that day and they were going for the grand slam as well. I remember Scott Hastings being verbally very rough on the pitch and they were in our faces. PW: Scotland were a good side. They had the likes of JJ (John Jeffrey), Gavin, Craig Chalmers – they had a number of really top-quality players so they were never going to be an easy side to roll over. One point was going to be enough and we got ourselves through to the final.

In 1990 we played such good rugby but in 1991 we tightened things up. It was just about winning and not playing with the expansiveness that we had done. There was no doubt that at Murrayfield there was a big score to settle. We felt we’d let ourselves down in 1990 and we wanted to make up for it. Hastings had put Scotland 6-0 up with two penalties which, after a series of misses, the England full-back, Jonathan Webb, levelled. With half an hour left Rob Andrew dropped a goal. Four minutes later, Hastings was crunched by Skinner and a penalty was awarded to Scotland. SH: I heard on the radio the other day that he had been concussed just before. I had not been aware of that. Apparently he came round and was told he was taking the kick and he replied ‘What am I supposed to do?’. He then missed it . It sounds a very charitable version 24 years on. Pinterest John Webb tries to hold off the tackle of Scotland’s John Allen during the World Cup semi-final at Murrayfield.

Photograph: Simon Bruty/Getty Images PW: Gavin missing the kick in front of the posts was not near the end of the game. There was a lot of rugby to be played after that but I think we just about deserved it. When you’re in those kind of pressure situations sides do tend to take less risks than you would usually do. It was a fairly uncompromising performance really. MT: I think looking back on it that [the World Cup semi-final] was the better game to win and I think it will echo in Gavin’s memory missing that kick in front of the posts. It was tough game, a battle between the forwards, but I loved games like that. I think it was more charged than the other matches against Scotland because of what had happened before. And everyone wants to beat the English, but when you get that in your mind you can’t go wrong – you’re hated wherever you play in a white shirt with a red rose. Result: Scotland 6-9 England The final – Australia v England, 2 November, Twickenham Australia had beaten the All Blacks in their semi-final, and in English minds before the game was their heavy defeat in the summer and the increasing criticism of their style of play.

RU: We received an awful lot of stick for being dull and boring. By the time we got to the final we were so sick of it that Will and the lads thought: “we can actually try and do something here.” And we very nearly did. But if we had been a little bit more pragmatic we may have seen a different result. RA: We would all say that if you had one wish in your rugby career, ‘can we play that one again?’. On another day with a different moment here and there we might well have won. We were capable of winning it, but you do not get it back. That is the beauty of World Cups. PW: The dressing room was incredibly quiet before the game. I can’t remember anyone ranting, it was very calm, very controlled. We just got on with it. We knew what we had to do. We did take the conscious decision that we would not beat the Australian forwards to the extent that we had done with some of the other packs. The feeling was that we would have to play a more expansive game. As it turned out we won so much ball that day that we could have won three games on the amount of possession we had.

Pinterest John Eales wins a line-out ball during the World Cup final at Twickenham. Photograph: Russell Cheyne/Getty Images SH: The conventional wisdom is that we were conned into playing a different style in the final against Australia , that David Campese goaded us in the press about how to play. The reality is that we had gone to Australia in the summer and played very, very well out wide. When we looked at the video as we worked out how to beat them in the final, Jonathan Webb and Jeremy Guscott had beaten them on the outside a lot and we decided that we would do the same thing. It was preconceived and we talked about it all week. Those who say we changed our tactics, we did to a degree because that was the way we decided we should attack them. The issue was that on the day we did not mix it up which was down to the back row and the half-backs. It was not the captain changing the tactics: we all bought into it and I am not in that category of people who said it was disgusting and I threw my medal in the river and I can’t believe we did it. Really? I was in that changing room and we all agreed.

You go up as one and you go down as one. England dominated possession in the first half but Australia’s defence held firm. Australia opened the scoring through Michael Lynagh’s penalty on 27 minutes. Three minutes later they crossed for a score from the prop Tony Daly and England had to chase the game. PW: Quite a few of the players have since said that we should not have run the ball as much and we should have looked for field position and Rob should have kicked it more. Maybe they are right but I don’t necessarily agree with it. The game basically swung because of a loose pass in their 22 when Tim Horan collected it, kicked down the other end and won a lineout five yards from our line, from which they scored. That was the only difference between the two sides. Had we played a more forward-orientated game, who is to say we would have won? It’s unfair to blame Will [Carling] for the decision [to be more expansive]. It was a conscious decision by the senior players, the management – everyone was involved. On 65 minutes Lynagh slotted another penalty to make it 12-3 to Australia and then came another turning point.

England had an overlap and as Winterbottom looked to put Rory Underwood away, David Campese slapped down the ball. PW: With Horan and Little in the centres they had some very solid players. We had a couple of chances but didn’t take them. There was the knock-on. Had the ball got to Rory Underwood, it’s very likely he would have scored. RU: We were sat in the stands helpless, it was very difficult to get any information on the pitch so we were knackered really and left with that dreaded epithet ‘if only’. We might have scored a try but games hang on those small incidents. It was tragic for the players, they had worked so hard and we had achieved a lot to get to the final in England but couldn’t get past Australia. All credit to them, though – they played like England and we tried to play like Australia and on the day it went in favour of them. Result: Australia 12-6 England The aftermath PW: Watching Nick Farr-Jones going up to collect the trophy from the Queen is absolutely the lowlight of my career. I’ve never been so emotional after a game. It was devastating.

We had put so much into it and got so close and when you don’t actually get over the line it’s pretty hard to take. I think there was dinner afterwards in the Royal Lancaster hotel which is where we were staying but I couldn’t go, I just went to the pub. There was a handful of us that thought ‘I’ve got no interest in going in there’ so we just went to the pub and had a few drinks and drowned the sorrows. RU: I can’t even remember where the dinner was afterwards. The lads would have gone off and done their own things and it would have been quite possible that they disappeared off into the London night. But on the day it’s all about quality of performance and on the day Australia outdid us so I have no complaints. When Geoff and I set off, the objective was to get to the final. We had been living with this goal for so long by the time we got to the final, from a personal perspective, I didn’t reset my targets and say let’s win it. If I look back personally, that is one thing I regret. SH: It was 12 weeks together and it was a surreal experience when we lost the final and went back to work on the Monday.

I was working in a bank at the time [UBS] and my boss took me into a room and said I needed to go away for two weeks to get over it. I said I had been away for 12 and would quite like to get back to work. No, he replied, you need to take a holiday. MT: I’ve never watched the final, it still upsets me to this day to think about it but there were the decision-makers and on that day the wrong decisions were made. I don’t think there was any debrief, everyone was so bitterly disappointed. There was nothing to be said other than that we had messed up, fallen at the last fence. It was in our hands to have won it but the wrong decisions were made and the wrong style of play was adopted. Play to your strengths, do not get conned into playing the way Australia and New Zealand play. You cannot do that, you have to play your own particular brand of rugby. It was a case of hard luck, you did your best lads, but as we all know in sport, that doesn’t really cut it. If you are a team of winners it hurts and nothing hurt more than that. Where are they now? 15.

Jonathan Webb – 33 caps, 1987-1993 England’s kicker in the 1991 World Cup final, Webb retired in 1993 for personal and professional reasons to focus on his career as an orthopaedic surgeon. In 1997, he was awarded a Research Fellowship by the British Association of Surgery for the knee and worked during the 2000 Summer Olympics. The 52-year-old now runs his own clinic in Bristol. 14. Simon Halliday – 23 caps, 1986-1992 A talented cricketer and rugby union player, Halliday published the book “City Centre” in 2013, which won the 2014 British Sports Book award in the “Rugby” category. In April 2015, he became the first independent chairman of the governing body of the European Rugby Champions Cup. 13. Will Carling – 72 caps, 1988-1997 England’s World Cup 1991 captain became a TV pundit with the sport and also worked as a motivational speaker.

In 2001, he founded Will Carling Management Ltd, a corporate hospitality company. 12. Jeremy Guscott – 73 caps, 1989-1999 The 50-year--old is most recognisable for his full-time work with the BBC on all England test matches, but also has a column within The Rugby Paper. In his early days post-retirement, Guscott co-presented two series of Gladiators and worked as a fashion model. 11. Rory Underwood – 85 caps, 1984-1996 Underwood’s career in the RAF finished shortly after his playing days. He set up UPH, a management and teamwork training company, in May 1999 and also holds a new company, Wingman Limited, as well as sitting on the board of Leicester. 10. Rob Andrew – 71 caps, 1985-1997 Andrew’s career was curtailed by injury in 1999, playing for Newcastle Falcons where he remained as director of rugby until 2006.

The RFU appointed Andrew as their director of elite rugby, but a tumultuous tenure until 2011 saw his role change to professional rugby director. 9. Richard Hill – 29 caps, 1984-1991 Nicknamed “Duracell”, Hill took up assistant posts at Gloucester and Harlequins before his 2002 appointment as head coach of Newport RFC. A year later, the 54-year-old joined Bristol and spent six seasons at the Memorial Stadium, achieving promotion to the top flight of English rugby. Hill was most recently relieved of his duties at Worcester Warriors in 2013. 1. Jason Leonard – 114 caps, 1990-2004 Most capped England player of all time, Leonard has a construction business and is an after-dinner speaker. He. was elected Rugby Football Union president in June 2015. 2. Brian Moore – 64 caps, 1987-1995 Media work has taken up most of Moore’s time following his retirement, as a Telegraph columnist and co-commentator for the BBC.

The legendary hooker studied law at Nottingham University, subsequently becoming a qualified solicitor. He is also a trained manicurist. Yes, really. 3. Jeff Probyn – 37 caps, 1988-1993 Former antique furniture restorer and RFU council member, he is an after dinner speaker and writes a column for the Rugby Paper. 4. Wade Dooley – 57 caps, 1985-1993 Dooley retired after the Lions tour in 1993 and remained in Lancashire, working as a police officer in Blackpool. In 2008, he was appointed an RFU citing officer for the Aviva Premiership and Championship. Has a qualification in landscape gardening, owned his own business, and now runs a tea-shop in Lytham. 5. Paul Ackford – 25 caps, 1988-1991 A former Metropolitan Police inspector, Ackford worked as a Daily Telegraph columnist and offered some frank and outright views on players and the game. The former lock now writes a column The Times newspaper. 6.

Mickey Skinner – 21 caps, 1988-1992 Skinner’s tackle on Marc Cécillon during the 1991 tournament is still remembered to the present day and launched the flanker onto the same circuit as Probyn and Leonard. Now largely away from the after-dinner thoughts, Skinner lives near Sevenoaks, Kent, and works as a computer programmer for a company assigned to the Metropolitan Police. 7. Peter Winterbottom – 58 caps, 1982-1993 Winterbottom carved out a career in finance, working as a money broker for BGC Partners and interdealer Creditex. However, the former openside flanker quit the City to start Full Contact, an agency contact point for business interests in rugby, and is involved with cycling charity Ride of the Lions. 8. Mike Teague – 27 caps, 1985-1993 “Iron Mike”, as christened by his teammates, is the owner of two pubs in Gloucestershire, both named “Teague’s Bar”. The 54-year-old is also a director of Teague Construction.

Australia’s XV Marty Roebuck; Bob Egerton, Jason Little, Tim Horan, David Campese; Michael Lynagh, Nick Farr-Jones (capt); Tony Daly, Phil Kearns, Ewen McKenzie; John Eales, Rod McCall; Willie Ofahengaue, Simon Poidevin, Troy Coker The 1987 Rugby World Cup - 1987 Rugby World Cup | NZHistory, New Zealand history online The 1987 Rugby World Cup 1987 Rugby World Cup Page 1 – Introduction David Kirk kisses the Webb Ellis Cup, 1987 (detail) Although international rugby has been played for well over a century, the Rugby World Cup is a relatively recent phenomenon. The first tournament took place in May and June 1987, with games played in both New Zealand and Australia. The final was held at Eden Park, Auckland, on 20 June, with the home team beating France 29–9 to become the inaugural holders of the Webb Ellis Cup . In a country where rugby became a surrogate for religion, hosting and then winning the first Rugby World Cup was a big deal.

For much of the 20th century the All Blacks vied with South Africa’s Springboks for the unofficial title of the best team in international rugby. Without a world cup to bring the top teams together in a single competition, such claims were difficult to prove. When the All Blacks triumphed in 1987, the Springboks were absent because of the country’s apartheid policy. The All Blacks’ failure to repeat this success at subsequent World Cup tournaments weighed increasingly heavily on several generations of New Zealand fans. Photographs of captain David Kirk holding the Webb Ellis Cup aloft in 1987 became one of our most famous – and frustrating – sporting images. The 2011 tournament was the first since 1987 to be hosted by New Zealand (this time without Australia). The same four teams made the semi-finals - New Zealand, Australia, Wales and France - and once again New Zealand and France squared off in the final at Eden Park. After a much closer game than most people expected, the All Blacks prevailed 8-7 in the lowest-scoring final in the tournament's history.

In 2015 the All Blacks threw off the burden of 1987 entirely when they became both the first team to win back-to-back World Cups and the first to taste victory three times. Richie McCaw is the only captain to have triumphantly hoisted the Webb Ellis Cup twice. This final, at London’s Twickenham, was the highest-scoring so far, with New Zealand beating Australia 34–17. How the first Rugby World Cup came about is less well known. This fascinating story highlights the struggle between the amateur ideal and creeping professionalism, tensions between the British rugby unions and their southern hemisphere counterparts, and international protests over sporting contacts with South Africa. The story begins with a look at the 19th-century origins of international rugby. The 1987 Rugby World Cup Rugby Union World Cup History, New Zealand : World Cup Rugby Union History, NZ 2011 RWC | Dates & Games | Facts | History | News | Teams | Tickets | Your Rights Prior to the Rugby World Cup, there were only regional international rugby union competitions.

One of the largest and oldest is the Six Nations Championship, which started in 1883 as the "Home Nations" championship, a tournament between England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. It became the Five Nations in 1910, when France joined the tournament. France did not participate from 1931 to 1939, during which period it reverted back to a Home Nations championship. In 2000, Italy joined the competition, which became the Six Nations. In the southern hemisphere, the equivalent competition is the Tri Nations series held between Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. Rugby union was also played at the Summer Olympics, first appearing at the 1900 Paris games and subsequently at London in 1908, Antwerp in 1920, and Paris again in 1924. France won the first gold medal, then Australasia, with the last two being won by the United States. However rugby union was soon removed from the Summer Olympic program. The idea of a Rugby World Cup had been suggested on numerous occasions going back to the 1950s, but met with opposition from most unions in the IRFB.

The idea resurfaced in the early 1980s, with the Australian Rugby Union (ARU) and the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) independently writing to the IRFB seeking to conduct a World Cup tournament. In 1985, Australia, New Zealand and France were in favour of a world cup and, despite knowing that the international sports boycott on their apartheid regime would prevent their participation, the South African delegates also voted in favour, which was vital in tying the vote 8-8. When one English delegate followed by a Welsh delegate switched sides, by 10 votes to 6 the IRFB finally approved the inaugural cup, jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand in May and June 1987. The inaugural tournament was contested in Australia and New Zealand between sixteen nations. The All Blacks (New Zealand) became the first ever champions, defeating France twenty-nine points to nine. The subsequent 1991 tournament was hosted by England, with matches also being played throughout the rest of Britain, Ireland and France. This tournament also saw the abolition of invitation qualification—with a qualifying tournament being introduced which involved thirty-five nations. Australia won the second tournament, defeating England, twelve points to six.

The 1995 tournament was hosted by South Africa, which had originally tied the vote that eventually saw the first event take place. The tournament was the first that South Africa would actually play in, following the end of the international sports boycott. The tournament had a fairytale ending, as South Africa were crowned champions over the All Blacks, which concluded with then President Nelson Mandela, wearing a Springbok jersey and matching baseball cap, presenting the trophy to the South Africa's captain Francois Pienaar. The tournament in 1999 was hosted by Wales with matches also being held throughout the rest of the United Kingdom, Ireland and France. The tournament included a repecharge system, alongside specific regional qualifying places, and an increase from sixteen to twenty participating nations. Australia claimed their second title, defeating France in the final. The 2003 event was hosted by Australia; although it was originally intended to be held jointly with New Zealand. England emerged as champions defeating Australia in extra time. England's win was unique in that it broke the Southern hemisphere's domination of the event.

Such was the celebration of England's victory, that an estimated 750,000 people gathered in central London to greet the team, making the day the largest sporting celebration of its kind ever in the United Kingdom. The 2007 competition was hosted by France, with matches also being held in Wales and Scotland. South Africa claimed their second title by defeating defending champions England fifteen points to six. The 2011 tournament was awarded to New Zealand in November 2005, ahead of bids from Japan and South Africa. Rugby World Cup Results

Question: In May 1987 the first ever Rugby Union World Cup was won by which nation?
Answer: New Zealand