 | |
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host nations |  New Zealand Australia |
| Dates | 22 May – 20 June (30 days) |
| No. of nations | 16 |
| Final positions | |
Champions  | New Zealand (1st title) |
Runner-up  |  France |
Third place  |  Wales |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 32 |
| Attendance | 478,449 (14,952 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Grant Fox (126) |
| Most tries | Craig Green John Kirwan (6 tries each) |
1991 → | |
The 1987 Rugby World Cup was the first Rugby World Cup. It was co-hosted by New Zealand and Australia – New Zealand hosted 21 matches (17 pool stage matches, two quarter-finals, the third-place play-off and the final) while Australia hosted 11 matches (seven pool matches, two quarter-finals and both semi-finals). The tournament was won by New Zealand, who were the strong favourites and won all their matches comfortably. New Zealand defeated France 29–9 in the final at Eden Park in Auckland. The New Zealand team was captained by David Kirk and included such rugby greats as Sean Fitzpatrick, John Kirwan, Grant Fox and Michael Jones. Wales finished third, and Australia fourth, after conceding crucial tries in the dying seconds of both their semi-final against France and the third-place play-off against Wales.
Seven of the sixteen participating teams were the International Rugby Football Board (IRFB) members – New Zealand, Australia, England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales and France. South Africa was unable to compete because of the international sporting boycott due to apartheid. Invitations were given to Argentina, Fiji, Italy, Canada, Romania, Tonga, Japan, Zimbabwe and the United States. This left Western Samoa controversially excluded, despite their better playing standard than some of the teams invited. The USSR were to be invited but they declined the invitation on political grounds, allegedly due to the continued IRFB membership of South Africa.[1] There was no qualification process for the tournament.
The tournament witnessed a number of one-sided matches, with the seven IRFB members proving too strong for the other teams. Half of the 24 matches across the four pools saw one team score 40 or more points. The tournament was seen as a major success and proved that the event was viable in the long term.
- ^ Fedorets, Alexander (31 July 2007). "Russians target 2011 World Cup". The M&G Online.