The Rugby World Cup is a tournament that brings people together from across the globe. Information on all matches and where to watch them is compiled in the Rugby World Cup Schedules. It includes the latest results, time and dates for kick-off, and the most recent standings for different countries.
As adrenaline to hunt for the 2020 rugby world cup trophy spikes high for different countries, fans also tag along. They follow every minute of action from the comfort of their homes. Those who make it to the real action soak up their time into the game to anticipate the outcomes. Like all other sports, this tournament has a history too.
History of Rugby World Cup
The history of rugby dawns back to a school pupil who is said to have invented the game. The pupil, William Webb Willis, picked up the ball during a football game. While this might be true, breaking the rule of the game birthed a new one-Rugby. As a result, the Rugby World Cup was founded in 1987.
The First Game
The International Rugby Board organized rugby world cup schedules for the first game competition in 1987. New Zealand and Australia co-hosted it. Australia hosted 12 matches- 2 quarter-finals, 7 pool matches, and semi-finals. New Zealand hosted 20 matches-17 pool matches, 2 quarter-finals, and the final match. Australia won against England 12-6 and claimed the William Webb Wellis award.
The game gained more popularity since the first tournament. In the world cup rugby schedules, thirty-two more matches were played between 22 May and 20 June 1997. Many nations participated in it- from Africa, America, Asia, to oceanic countries. Â In total, the nations in the competition summed up to sixteen.
Rugby World Cup Winners after 1987
In a nutshell, every tournament has its share of controversies and good stuff. One would expect anything, from excellent tries on the field to shocking results. In this case, the Rugby World Cup series gets more interesting. Several countries that have taken part in the competitions did not disappoint. Below is an assortment of matches served up after 1987:
Rugby World Cup 1991
England climbed further up, despite losing the rugby opening match to New Zealand. The English players played their way to the quarter-finals by beating France and Scotland. As a reward, they got to play in the finals against Australia. However, the glory didn’t last for long, though. In less than fifteen minutes to the end, a controversial incident occurred. England took a penalty and did not score another point. The event led to Australia taking the lead championship for the first time. Subsequently, Australia beat England 12-6.
Rugby world cup 1995
The 1995 tournament was incredibly significant in its way. South Africans got a chance to return to international competition. It happened after the IRFB included them again in 1992 after the end of apartheid. The South African team beat New Zealand 15-12. In the finals, their team player, Stransky, dropped the last goal for the African nation.
Rugby World Cup 1999
In the 1999 edition in Wales, Australia smashed France 35-12. In brief, many people say it is among the most unforgettable world cup tournaments. France played against the All Blacks team of New Zealand and fell behind just after halftime. However, they quickly took to their feet and scored well against them. The event made them to their second world cup final with a 43-31 score.
All went well until the Australians gave the French players sublime rugby attacks in the finals. They were unable to recover from the attacks and lost to the Australian team.
Rugby World Cup 2003
The 2003 world cup was held in Australia. The English players were fans’ favorite. It is because they beat Australia and New Zealand home and away in the previous tournament. Well, that didn’t change in 2003. England took the win against Australia, with 20 points to 17 in the finals. Johny Wilkinson made the winning goal twenty-one seconds to the end of the match. Thanks to him, the players found themselves at the the top of other matches. The winning marked England as the first nation in the north to take the Rugby World Cup home.
Rugby World Cup 2007
The tournament took place in France. Other matches also played in Scotland and Wales. In the finals, South Africa played against England. The African country demolished the latter with a 15-6 score. The event marked them as World Champions for the second time.
Argentina also took part in the tournament, For them, the whole event was notable when became position three in the finals. They shifted the top three spots, which were always dominated by France, Wales, New Zealand, South Africa, England, and Australia. Unfortunately, the 2007 tournament was the first that New Zealand and Australia did not see the Quarter Finals.
Rugby World Cup 2011
Similar to 1987, the tournament was hosted by New Zealand once again. In the bronze final, Australia took on Wales with a 21-18 points score. New Zealand won against France in the finals with an 8-7 count. It was a moment for them since it marked them as the first hosting nation to win twice. As for France, the game was also notable for them. Despite losing twice to New Zealand and Tonga in the pool stages, all was not lost. They progressed to the finals to play with New Zealand again.
Rugby World Cup 2015
The tournament took place on the home soil of England. Australia and New Zealand made the game to the finals in 2015. In the same winning spirit, New Zealand defended their championship title with a score of 34-17-a win sealed by Beauden Barrett. It was their first time to win the rugby cup on foreign soil. This success marked them the first nation to win the rugby tournament three times.
In this same tournament, the Pool of Death is also notable. It saw Wales, England, and Australia fight to get to the Quarter Finals. Coincidentally, all these countries are from the Northern Hemisphere. On the contrary, England did not make it out of the pool. The event made them the second nation not to do so, Wales taking the first fall in 1991. The tournament had South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, and Argentina progress to the semi-finals.
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Another point of remembrance for this tournament is the biggest upset ever for Japan. The latter beat South Africa 34-32 points in the pool stages but did not progress to the Quarter Finals.
Rugby World Cup 2019
Rugby World Cup 2019 was the ninth iteration of the editions of the Rugby World Cup. The rugby world cup schedule in 2019 featured 20 teams. Ideally, it had all the fun, madness, and controversies one could imagine. The tournament was held in Japan in twelve venues across the country. The finals took place in the Yokohama Stadium. South Africa shut down England with a 32-12 score and claimed their third World Cup.
All the above events followed Rugby World Cup Schedules. The same would also apply for the rugby world cup 2020 and many more tournaments to come. Also, the schedule brings together an in-depth analysis of the latest news and exclusives of events of the rugby world tournament.
Similarly, the rugby world cup schedules also feature bonus points. These points are significant in pool matches. In essence, the distinctive bonus points system entails;
- 4 points for a win
- 2 points for a draw
- 0 points for a loss
- 1 bonus point for 4 tries scores or more
- 1 bonus point for a 7 points loss or less
You’ve seen that Rugby World tournaments take place on several continents on the globe. Similar to other sports, specific criteria have to be followed to ensure the success of the game. As such, selection focuses on two main approaches. They include::
Standards for 2020 Rugby World Cup Hosts
World Rugby is a body that is responsible for selecting nations to host the Cup. The requirements that the body uses look at:
The Stadium
The World Rugby meeting takes place six years before each tournament to determine the country that has the necessary facilities. For instance, stadiums should have the capacity to hold 15000 people or more. Therefore, the ideal stadium for the finals should have a more substantial capacity of 60,000. Other features of an ideal stadium also include the right pitch size and floodlighting properties.
The hosts
How flexible are the 2020 rugby world cup hosts to generate significant revenue? How far would they spread the geographic reach of the sport? Well, the decision-making team takes the answers to the above questions into account. In essence, a tournament that would be successful would require placement in new developing markets. In the end, this would significantly assist its strategic growth.
Also, World Rugby ensures that a continent doesn’t host the game twice. This strategic event management ensures the success of the competitions in every event. The same criteria would be used to determine the 2020 rugby world cup host.
More about the World Rugby
Wrapping it up, the World Rugby sport’s governing body also organizes the World Rugby Under 20 (U20) Championship. Ideally, t is an international rugby union competition that is contested by junior men under the age of 20 in 12 national teams. World Rugby announced Spain to host the 13th edition of the World Rugby U20 in 2020. The event would take place in September for the first time in Spain. The winner of the Trophy would be promoted to the World Rugby U20 Championship in 2021. As an added plus, the winner would also replace the last team in the 2020 edition in Italy next June.