The Rugby World Cup is the most prestigious trophy in rugby, with the competition being the number one trophy that all fans want to win. So let’s take a look at the history of the tournament.
Who won the first Rugby World Cup? New Zealand are the first team to win the Rugby World Cup. They beat France 29-9 in the very first Rugby World Cup Final at Eden Park in New Zealand, 1987.
Despite the game of rugby being over 150 years old, the Rugby World Cup has only been around for 36 years, so the tournament is still young compared to its football counterpart. The first Rugby World Cup was in 1987 and New Zealand headed into the tournament with high expectations.
They had beaten some of the world’s biggest team’s comfortably over the prior years and with the tournament being hosted in New Zealand, there were big expectations for the All Blacks.
Having cruised through the group stages, New Zealand made things look very easy on their way to the final. A favourable draw meant they cruised past Scotland in the Quarter-final before demolishing Wales in the Semi-final.
They advanced to the final where they would face a French side who had upset Australia in the quarter-final. It was not really a competition at any point of the game. New Zealand were an incredibly strong side at the time and dominated France throughout the game for an incredible result.
This made New Zealand the first Rugby World Cup champions, which is something no one can ever take away. A very impressive achievement in the very first Rugby World Cup.
Where was the first Rugby World Cup held?
The very first Rugby World Cup was hosted in Australia and New Zealand. There was a lot of different nations who wanted to host the very first Rugby World Cup as it was a huge moment for the sport.
But it eventually ended up being a combination of Australia and New Zealand hosting the first Rugby World Cup. You would have to say that New Zealand were the primary host of the tournament considering the final and the third place playoff was hosted in New Zealand. There were also more games held in New Zealand than Australia.
In New Zealand, games took place in cities like Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin. In Australia, games were hosted in Brisbane and Sydney. Australia were the exclusive hosts of the semi-final games as well. Eden Park in Auckland was the stadium which hosted the first Rugby World Cup final.
When did the first Rugby World Cup start?
The first Rugby World Cup was hosted in 1987 and the first game of the tournament was on the 22nd of May 1987. As has been the case with many different international tournaments in different sports, the hosts were involved in the first game of the tournament.
On the 22nd of May 1987, New Zealand hosted the very first Rugby World Cup game when they played against Italy. As you might expect, the very first Rugby World Cup game was a walkover for New Zealand as they defeated Italy 70-6. In that game, the All Blacks had eight different try scorers.
New Zealand legends like John Kirwan and Craig Green were on the score sheet that day, with Italy only able to reply with a single penalty and a drop goal. It was certainly a disappointing day for Italy, but one that everyone expected.
Who won the last Rugby World Cup?
At the time of writing, South Africa are the current Rugby World Cup champions. The last Rugby World Cup was in 2019 and it was held in Japan. There were a few different teams who came into the competition with big expectations although no one really knew who the definitive favourite was.
South Africa would finish the competition as champions. They started their tournament as poorly as possible, losing 23-13 to New Zealand. The Springboks were able to bounce back pretty impressively as they dominated their next three games to advance to the Quarter-final.
South Africa had a difficult test ahead against home side Japan, four years after Japan had defeated South Africa at the world cup in one of the most incredible results in rugby history.
The game was pretty close between the two sides until the final 20 minutes. After an hour of play, the Springboks lead was just eight points and there was still hope that Japan could do the unthinkable and reach the World Cup semi-final in front of their home fans.
But South Africa pulled away in the final twenty minutes through tries from Makazole Mapimpi and Faf de Klerk led to South Africa extending the lead long beyond reach of the Japanese team.
The Semi-final was a much closer affair as Wales proved to be a much closer. A 65th minute try from Josh Adams let Leigh Halfpenny tie the game with his conversion. South Africa were able to get back into a good position and Handre Pollard slotted his fourth penalty of the game to win the game.
This sent South Africa to the final where it was a repeat of the 2007 Rugby World Cup Final between England and South Africa. The game was close in the first half until South Africa were able to break away with two late tries in the final twenty minutes. This gave South Africa their third World Cup trophy.
Where is the next Rugby World Cup going to be held?
The next Rugby World cup takes place in the Autumn of 2023 and it will be hosted in France. There were six different nations that responded when World Rugby asked who wanted to host the Rugby World Cup, with France eventually winning the rights to host the tournament.
The tournament will be hosted in different cities around France including Paris, Marseille and Lyon. The competition will be hosted all around France and the biggest games will take place at the Stade de France in Paris.