Rugby World Cup

The Men's Rugby World Cup is a rugby union tournament held every four years. The best international teams compete, and the winners are called world champions of the sport.

The tournament is run by World Rugby, the sport's international governing body. The winners receive the Webb Ellis Cup, named after William Webb Ellis. A popular legend says he invented rugby by picking up the ball during a football game and running with it.

The first tournament was held in 1987 and was hosted by New Zealand and Australia. Four countries have won the trophy. South Africa has won four times, New Zealand three times, Australia twice, and England once. South Africa is the current champion. It beat New Zealand in the final of the 2023 tournament.

From 1987 to 1995, sixteen teams took part. In 1999, the tournament grew to twenty teams. Japan hosted the 2019 Rugby World Cup, and France hosted the 2023 Rugby World Cup. The tournament will grow again to twenty-four teams when it is held in Australia in 2027. Starting in (/wiki/2021_Rugby_World_Cup), the women's equivalent tournament was officially renamed the Rugby World Cup to promote equality with the men's tournament. However, the 2021 event was the only one to use this name. After the 2023 World Cup, World Rugby announced that all future tournaments would include "Men's" or "Women's" in their titles. The first event to use this rule was the 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup. The 2027 Men's Rugby World Cup will be the first men's event to include "Men's" in its title.

Format

Under the current format, 24 teams take part in each Rugby World Cup. Twelve teams qualified automatically for the 2027 edition by finishing in the top three of their 2023 pool. The other 12 places were shared out by region. The last place is decided by an intercontinental play-off.

The tournament lasts six weeks, in October and November. Teams are seeded using the World Rankings and split into pools of four. In the pool stage, each team plays every other team in its pool once. A bonus points system is used. The top two teams from each pool, plus the four best third-placed teams, move on to the knockout stage. If a knockout match is tied, it goes to extra time. If it is still level, it goes to sudden death. The knockout stage ends with the Rugby World Cup Final and a bronze medal match.

History

Main article: History of the Rugby World Cup

Before the Rugby World Cup, there was no truly global rugby union competition, but there were other tournaments. One of the oldest is the yearly Six Nations Championship. It started in 1883 as the Home Nations Championship, between England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. France joined in 1910, and Italy joined in 2000, when the competition became the Six Nations. Rugby union was also played at the Summer Olympic Games, including the 1900 Paris games, London in 1908, Antwerp in 1920, and Paris again in 1924. It stopped being part of the Olympics after 1924. People suggested a world cup many times from the 1950s, but most unions in the International Rugby Football Board were against it. In the early 1980s, the Australian Rugby Union and the New Zealand Rugby Union each proposed a world cup. In 1985, a proposal was accepted. The inaugural World Cup was held in 1987 in Australia and New Zealand, and New Zealand won the final against France. The 1991 tournament was hosted by England, and Australia won the second tournament by beating England in the final. In 1992, South Africa hosted New Zealand in a test match, after the end of apartheid. South Africa then hosted the 1995 Rugby World Cup. It won the final against New Zealand after extra time. Then-President Nelson Mandela wore a Springbok jersey as he handed the trophy to captain Francois Pienaar.

The 1999 tournament was hosted by Wales, and Australia won its second title. The tournament used a repechage system, and the number of teams grew from sixteen to twenty. The 2003 event was hosted by Australia, and England won the final in extra time. This ended the southern hemisphere's long run of wins in the tournament. Many people gathered in central London to celebrate. Teams also qualified through continental tournaments.

The 2007 competition was hosted by France, and South Africa beat England to win its second title. Argentina surprised many people by beating France, Ireland and Scotland to finish first in the Pool of death and third overall. In 2005, New Zealand was chosen to host the 2011 tournament, ahead of Japan and South Africa. It won the 2011 final against France by 8–7.

The 2015 tournament was hosted by England. Japan beat South Africa, who were expected to win, in the opening weekend. This was the biggest upset in Rugby World Cup history. New Zealand won the final against Australia. Japan later hosted the 2019 World Cup. It was the first tournament held outside the traditional rugby countries. South Africa won its third trophy by beating England. Starting in 2021, the men's and women's tournaments both use the "Rugby World Cup" name. The 2022 women's tournament in New Zealand was delayed by COVID-19 issues. France hosted the 2023 World Cup. South Africa won it by beating New Zealand 12–11, becoming the first nation to win the tournament four times.

Trophy

Main article: Webb Ellis Cup

The winners of the Rugby World Cup receive the Webb Ellis Cup. It is named after William Webb Ellis. The trophy is also called simply the Rugby World Cup. It was chosen in 1987 for the competition. It was made in 1906 by Garrard's Crown Jewellers. Between tournaments, Thomas Lyte cares for the trophy. He repairs it and engraves the winner's name on its base.

The cup is thirty-eight centimetres tall. It is silver with a gold covering. Two curled handles hold it up. One handle has the head of a satyr, and the other has the head of a nymph. In Australia, people often call the trophy "Bill," after William Webb Ellis.

Selection of hosts

Rugby World Cup Ltd (RWCL) runs the tournaments. World Rugby owns RWCL. World Rugby Council members vote in secret to choose the host country. Independent auditors manage the vote. The host is usually picked five or six years before the competition.

Sometimes more than one nation hosts the tournament. For example, the 1987 tournament was hosted by Australia and New Zealand together. World Rugby says the final must be played in a venue that holds at least 60,000 spectators. Some host nations build or improve stadiums for the event. Millennium Stadium was built for the 1999 tournament. Eden Park was upgraded for 2011.

The first host from outside the traditional rugby nations of SANZAAR or the Six Nations was Japan, for the 2019 Rugby World Cup. France hosted the 2023 tournament. The next tournament outside the traditional nations will be in 2031, in the United States.

Tournament growth

Organizers of the Rugby World Cup and the Global Sports Impact say the tournament is the third largest sporting event in the world. Only the FIFA World Cup and the Olympics are bigger. Other sources question whether this is accurate. Reports from World Rugby and its business partners often point to growing television audiences. The audience grew from 300 million people for the first tournament in 1987 to 4 billion in 2007. The 4 billion figure was widely doubted, because the total global television audience is estimated to be about 4.2 billion. Independent reviews have also questioned how these growth estimates were made. Most of the 2007 final's average audience of 33 million came from Australasia, South Africa, the British Isles and France. Interest in traditional rugby nations is clear, though. The 2003 final between Australia and England became the most watched rugby union match in Australian television history. The 2023 tournament became the most viewed rugby event of all time.

The host union keeps the money from ticket sales. World Rugby, through RWCL, receives money from broadcasting rights, sponsorship and tournament fees.

See also: List of sports attendance figures

Results

See also: National team appearances in the Rugby World Cup

Twenty-six nations have played in the Rugby World Cup, not counting qualifying tournaments. Only New Zealand (in 1987 and 2011) and South Africa (in 1995) have both hosted and won the tournament. England hosted in 1991 and Australia hosted in 2003, and both finished as runners-up. France finished fourth when it hosted in 2007. Wales (1999) and Japan (2019) reached the quarter-finals. Wales was the first host nation to leave the tournament in the pool stages, in 1991. England was the first host nation to host the tournament alone and also leave in the pool stages, in 2015. Of the twenty-five nations that have played in at least one tournament, ten have never missed one.

As of the 2027 World Cup, 27 nations have qualified to compete across 11 tournaments.

Records and statistics

Main articles: Records and statistics of the Rugby World Cup, List of Rugby World Cup try scorers, and List of Rugby World Cup hat-tricks

English player Jonny Wilkinson has scored the most points in World Cup history, with 277. New Zealand's Grant Fox scored the most points in a single tournament, with 126 in 1987. Sam Whitelock of New Zealand has played the most World Cup matches, with 26 between 2011 and 2023. All Black Simon Culhane holds two records. He scored the most points by one player in a match, with 45. He also made the most conversions in a match, with 20. All Black Marc Ellis scored the most tries in one match, six. He scored them against Japan in 1995.

New Zealand's Jonah Lomu is the youngest player to play in a final. He was 20 years and 43 days old in the 1995 final. Lomu and South African Bryan Habana share the record for the most tries in World Cup history, with 15 each. Lomu (in 1999) and Habana (in 2007) also share the record for the most tries in one tournament, with 8. They share it with All Black Julian Savea (in 2015) and Will Jordan (in 2023). South Africa's Jannie de Beer kicked five drop goals against England in 1999. This is a record for one player in a World Cup match. The record for the most penalties in a match is 8. It is held by Australian Matt Burke, Argentinian Gonzalo Quesada, Scotland's Gavin Hastings, and France's Thierry Lacroix. Quesada also holds the record for the most penalties in one tournament, with 31.

The most points scored in one game is 145. The All Blacks scored them against Japan in 1995. The biggest winning margin is 142. Australia won by that much in a match against Namibia in 2003. A total of 25 players have been sent off (given a red card) in the tournament. Welsh lock Huw Richards was the first. He was sent off while playing against New Zealand in 1987. No player has been given a red card more than once.