1987 Rugby World Cup

Rugby World Cup

datefrom = 1987-05-22
dateto = 1987-06-20
jointhost1 = New Zealand
jointhost2 = Australia
nations = 16
champion = New Zealand
runnerup = France
matches = 32
attendance = 604500
apm = 18750
top scorer = flagicon|NZL Grant Fox (126)
most tries = flagicon|NZL Craig Green (6)
flagicon|NZL John Kirwan (6)
preceded by =
succeeded by = 1991 Rugby World CupThe First Rugby World Cup was hosted by New Zealand and Australia in 1987 and was won by New Zealand. Seven of the 16 places were automatically filled by the International Rugby Football Board members – New Zealand, Australia, England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales and France – with South Africa unable to compete because of the international sports boycott due to apartheid. There was no qualification process to fill the remaining nine spots. Instead invitations were sent out 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 refused the invitation on political grounds, allegedly due to the continued IRB membership of South Africa.

On the whole the tournament witnessed fairly one-sided matches, the seven IRB 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. It is therefore no surprise that five of the seven highest-scoring Rugby World Cup matches were witnessed during this tournament, a statistic that is echoed in the ‘most points by an individual’ and ‘most tries by a team’ statistics. New Zealand won the final against France at Eden Park in Auckland 29–9. The New Zealand team was captained by David Kirk, substituting for the injured Andy Dalton, and included such rugby greats as Sean Fitzpatrick, John Kirwan, Grant Fox and Michael Jones.

tadiums

Australia

Format

The World Cup was contested by 16 different nations, in total, playing 32 matches over the duration of the tournament. There was no qualifying tournament to determine the participants, and instead the 16 nations were invited by the International Rugby Football Board to compete. The 16 nations were divided into four pools of four nations, with each nation playing their other pool opponents once, every nation playing three times during the group stages. Nations were awarded 2 points for a win, 1 for a draw and zero for a loss, the top two nations of every pool advanced to the quarter finals. The runners-up of each pool faced the winners of a different pool in the quarter finals. The winners moved on to the semi finals, with the winners then moving onto the final, and the losers of the semi finals contesting a third/fourth place play off.

Pool stage

Pool 1

rugbybox
date = 1987-05-22
home = ru-rt|NZL
score = 70 – 6
away = ru|ITA
homescore = Tries: Kirwan (2)
Kirk (2)
Green (2)
Penalty try
Jones
Taylor
McDowell
Stanley
Whetton
Con: Fox (8)
Pen: Fox (2)
awayscore = Pen: Collodo
Drop: Collodo
stadium = Eden Park, Auckland
attendance = 20,000
referee = Bob Fordham flagicon|AUS ----rugbybox
date = 1987-05-24
home = ru-rt|ARG
score = 9 – 28
away = ru|FIJ
homescore = Try: Penalty try
Con: Porta
Pen: Porta
awayscore = Tries: Gale
Naivilawasa
Nalaga
Savai
Con: Koroduadua (2)
Rokowailoa
Pen: Koroduadua (2)
stadium = Waikato Stadium, Hamilton
attendance =
referee = Jim Fleming flagicon|SCO ----rugbybox
date = 1987-05-27
home = ru-rt|NZL
score = 74 – 13
away = ru|FIJ
homescore = Tries: Gallagher (4)
Green (4)
Kirk
Kirwan
Penalty try
Whetton
Con: Fox (10)
Pen: Fox (2)
awayscore = Try: Cama
Pen: Koroduadua (3)
stadium = Lancaster Park, Christchurch
attendance = 26,000
referee = Derek Bevan flagicon|WAL ----rugbybox
date = 1987-05-28
home = ru-rt|ARG
score = 25 – 16
away = ru|ITA
homescore = Tries: Lanza
Gómez
Con: Porta
Pen:Porta (5)
awayscore = Tries: Innocenti
Cuttitta
Con: Collodo
Pen: Collodo (2)
stadium = Lancaster Park, Christchurch
attendance =
referee = Roger Quittenton flagicon|ENG ----rugbybox
date = 1987-05-31
home = ru-rt|FIJ
score = 15 – 18
away = ru|ITA
homescore = Try: Naivilawasa
Con: Koroduadua
Pen: Koroduadua (2)
Drop: Quro
awayscore = Tries: Cuttitta
Cucchiella
Mascioletti
Pen: Collodo
Drop: Collodo
stadium = Carisbrook, Dunedin
attendance =
referee = Keith Lawrence flagicon|NZL ----rugbybox
date = 1987-06-01
home = ru-rt|NZL
score = 46 – 15
away = ru|ARG
homescore = Tries: Kirk
Brooke
Stanley
Earl
Crowley
Whetton
Con: Fox (2)
Pen: Fox (6)
awayscore = Try: Lanza
Con: Porta
Pen: Porta (3)
stadium = Athletic Park, Wellington
attendance = 35,000
referee = Roger Quittenton flagicon|ENG

Pool 4

rugbybox
date = 1987-05-23
home = ru-rt|ROU|1965
score = 21 – 20
away = ru|ZIM
homescore = Tries: Paraschiv
Toader
Hodorca
Pen: Alexandru (3)
awayscore = Tries: Tsimba (2)
Neill
Con: Ferreira
Pen: Ferreira (2)
stadium = Eden Park, Auckland
attendance =
referee = Stephen Hilditch flagicon|IRL ----rugbybox
date = 1987-05-23
home = ru-rt|FRA
score = 20 – 20
away = ru|SCO
homescore = Tries: Sella
Berbizier
Blanco
Con: Blanco
Pen: Blanco (2)
awayscore = Tries: White
Duncan
Pen: Hastings (4)
stadium = Lancaster Park, Christchurch
attendance =
referee = Fred Howard flagicon|ENG ----rugbybox
date = 1987-05-28
home = ru-rt|FRA
score = 55 – 12
away = ru|ROU|1965
homescore = Tries: Lagisquet (2)
Charvet (2)
Sella
Andrieu
Camberabero
Erbani
Laporte
Con: Laporte (8)
Pen: Laporte
awayscore = Pen: Bezuscu (4)
stadium = Athletic Park, Wellington
attendance =
referee = Bob Fordham flagicon|AUS ----rugbybox
date = 1987-05-30
home = ru-rt|SCO
score = 60 – 21
away = ru|ZIM
homescore = Tries: Tait (2)
Tukalo (2)
Duncan (2)
Paxton (2)
Oliver
Hastings
Jeffrey
Con: Hastings (8)
awayscore = Try: Buitendag
Con: Grobler
Pen: Grobler (5)
stadium = Athletic Park, Wellington
attendance =
referee = David Burnett flagicon|IRL ----rugbybox
date = 1987-06-02
home = ru-rt|ROU|1965
score = 28 – 55
away = ru|SCO
homescore = Tries: Murariu (2)
Toader
Con: Alexandru
Ion
Pen: Alexandru (3)
Ion
awayscore = Tries: Jeffrey (3)
Tait (2)
Hastings (2)
Duncan
Tukalo
Con: Hastings (8)
Pen: Hastings
stadium = Carisbrook, Dunedin
attendance =
referee = Stephen Hilditch flagicon|IRL ----rugbybox
date = 1987-06-02
home = ru-rt|FRA
score = 70 – 12
away = ru|ZIM
homescore = Tries: Modin (3)
Camberabero (3)
Charvet (2)
Rodriguez (2)
Durboca
Esteve
Laporte
Con: Camberabero (9)
awayscore = Try: Kaulbach
Con: Grobler
Pen: Grobler (2)
stadium = Eden Park, Auckland
attendance =
referee = Derek Bevan flagicon|WAL

Knock-out stage

Round8-with third
6 June - Lancaster Park, Christchurch|ru|NZL|30|ru|SCO|3
8 June - Ballymore, Brisbane|ru|WAL|16|ru|ENG|3
7 June - Eden Park, Auckland|ru|FRA|31|ru|FIJ|16
7 June - Concord Oval, Sydney|ru|AUS|33|ru|IRE|15
14 June - Ballymore, Brisbane|ru|NZL|49|ru|WAL|6
13 June - Concord Oval, Sydney|ru|FRA|30|ru|AUS|24
20 June - Eden Park, Auckland|ru|NZL|29|ru|FRA|9
18 June - Rotorua International Stadium, Rotorua|ru|WAL|22|ru|AUS|21

Quarter-finals

rugbybox
date = 1987-06-06
home = ru-rt|NZL
score = 30 – 3
away = ru|SCO
homescore = Tries: Whetton
Gallagher
Con: Fox (2)
Pen: Fox (6)
awayscore = Pen: Hastings
stadium = Lancaster Park, Christchurch
attendance = 40,000
referee = David Burnett flagicon|IRL ----rugbybox
date = 1987-06-07
home = ru-rt|AUS
score = 33 – 15
away = ru|IRE
homescore = Tries: Burke (2)
McIntyre
Smith
Con: Lynagh (4)
Pen: Lynagh (3)
awayscore = Tries: MacNeill
Kiernan
Con: Kiernan (2)
Pen: Kiernan
stadium = Concord Oval, Sydney
attendance =
referee = Brian Anderson flagicon|SCO ----rugbybox
date = 1987-06-07
home = ru-rt|FIJ
score = 16 – 31
away = ru|FRA
homescore = Tries: Qoro
Damu
Con: Koroduadua
Pen: Koroduadua (2)
awayscore = Tries: Rodriguez (2)
Lorieux
Lagisquet
Con: Laporte (3)
Pen: Laporte (2)
Drop: Laporte
stadium = Eden Park, Auckland
attendance =
referee = Clive Norling flagicon|WAL ----rugbybox
date = 1987-06-08
home = ru-rt|ENG
score = 3 – 16
away = ru|WAL
homescore = Pen: Webb
awayscore = Tries: Roberts
Jones
Devereux
Con: Thorburn (2)
stadium = Ballymore, Brisbane
attendance =
referee = Rene Hourquet flagicon|FRA

emi-finals

rugbybox
date = 1987-06-13
home = ru-rt|AUS
score = 24 – 30
away = ru|FRA
homescore = Tries: Campese
Codey
Con: Lynagh (2)
Pen: Lynagh (3)
Drop: Lynagh
awayscore = Tries: Lorieux
Sella
Lagisquet
Blanco
Con: Camberabero (4)
Pen: Camberabero (2)
stadium = Concord Oval, Sydney
attendance = 17,768
referee = Brian Anderson flagicon|SCO ----rugbybox
date = 1987-06-14
home = ru-rt|NZL
score = 49 – 6
away = ru|WAL
homescore = Tries: Kirwan (2)
Shelford (2)
Drake
Whetton
Stanley
Brooke-Cowden
Con: Fox (7)
Pen: Fox
awayscore = Try: Devereux
Con: Thorburn
stadium = Ballymore, Brisbane
attendance = 22,576
referee = Kerry Fitzgerald flagicon|AUS

Third-place play-off

rugbybox
date = 18 June 1987
home = ru-rt|AUS
score = 21 – 22
away = ru|WAL
homescore = Tries: Burke
Grigg
Con: Lynagh (2)
Pen: Lynagh (2)
Drop: Lynagh
awayscore = Tries: Roberts
Moriarty
Hadley
Con: Thorburn (2)
Pen: Thorburn (2)
stadium = Rotorua International Stadium, Rotorua
attendance =
referee = Fred Howard flagicon|ENG

Final

rugbybox
date = 20 June 1987
home = ru-rt|NZL
score = 29 – 9
away = ru|FRA
homescore = Tries: Jones
Kirk
Kirwan
Con: Fox
Pen: Fox (4)
Drop: Fox
awayscore = Try: Berbizier
Con: Camberabero
Pen: Camberabero
stadium = Eden Park, Auckland
attendance = 46,000
referee = Kerry Fitzgerald flagicon|AUS

External links

* [http://stats.allblacks.com/ All Blacks official match and player statistics]
* [http://www.worldcupweb.com/WCrugby/results/1987.asp 1987 Rugby World Cup] on Worldcupweb.com
* [http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/node/4953 Origins of the 1987 World Cup]