2007 Rugby World Cup

2007 Rugby World Cup
2007-09-07 - 2007-10-20
Host nation Flag of France.svg France
No. of nations 20 (91 qualifying)
Champions Flag of South Africa.svg South Africa
Runner-up Flag of England.svg England
Matches played 48
Attendance 2,263,223
(47,150 per match)
Top scorer Flag of South Africa Percy Montgomery (105)
Most tries Flag of South Africa Bryan Habana (8)
Preceded by 2003 Rugby World Cup
Succeeded by 2011 Rugby World Cup

The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union world championship inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 20 October, and won by South Africa, who defeated England at the Stade de France in St. Denis, Paris. France won the hosting rights in 2003, beating a bid from England. The competition consisted of 48 matches over 44 days; 42 matches were played in ten cities throughout France, as well as four in Cardiff, Wales, and two in Edinburgh, Scotland.

The eight quarter-finalists from 2003 were granted automatic qualification, while 12 other nations gained entry through the regional qualifying competitions that began in 2004 - of them, Portugal was the only World Cup debutant. The top three nations from each pool at the end of the pool stage will qualify automatically for the 2011 World Cup.

The competition opened with a match between hosts France and Argentina on 7 September at the Stade de France in St-Denis. The stadium was also the venue of the final match between England and South Africa on 20 October, which South Africa won by 15 points to 6, granting them their second World Cup title.

Contents

Bids

The Eiffel Tower in Paris decorated with a giant rugby ball for the 2007 Rugby World Cup.

Both England and France bid to host the tournament.[1][2] The tender document for the 2007 bidding process was due out on October 31, 2001. Both England and France were invited to re-submit their plans.[3] The International Rugby Board (IRB) stated that both countries must comply with tender document terms in one bid, but in their second option, could propose alternative ideas. The IRB said "England's original proposal contained three plans for hosting the tournament with a traditional, new and hybrid format all on offer... The French bid, while complying with the tender document in all other respects, fell outside one of the `windows` in which the IRB wanted to stage an event".[3] England's bids included a two-tier tournament and altering the structure of the qualifying tournament and France had a bid in September/October.[3]

It was announced in April 2003 that France had won the right to host the tournament.[4] The tournament was moved to the proposed September-October dates with the tournament structure remaining as it was.[4] It was also announced that ten French cities would be hosting games, with the final at the Stade de France.[4] French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin said that "this decision illustrates the qualities of our country and its capacity to host major sporting events...This World Cup will be the opportunity to showcase the regions of France where the wonderful sport of rugby is deeply rooted".[4] French Sports Minister Jean-Francois Lamour said that "The organisation of this World Cup will shine over all of France because ten French towns have the privilege of organising matches and to be in the world's spotlight."[4] French cities to host games are Bordeaux, Lens, Lyon, Marseilles, Montpellier, Nantes, St. Etienne, Toulouse and Paris, and it was also announced that the final would be at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis.[4]

Qualifying

Main article: 2007 Rugby World Cup qualifying
Nations participating in qualifying competition and those that have qualified automatically; Asia (purple), Africa (orange), Americas (green), Europe (blue) and Oceania (yellow). In total, over 90 nations took part.

The eight quarter-finalists from the 2003 World Cup all received automatic entry, with the other 12 nations coming from qualifying series around the world. Ten of the 20 positions available in the tournament were filled by regional qualifiers, with an additional two being filled by repechage qualification. The qualifying tournament was divided into five regional groups; Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania.[5] Qualifying matches began in 2004 and were completed in early 2007. Including the automatic qualifiers, over 90 nations were in qualifying contention for the final tournament.

In July 2005, both Samoa and Fiji were confirmed as the qualifiers from Oceania, as Oceania 1 and 2 respectively.[6] In July of the following year, Argentina qualified as Americas 1 by defeating Uruguay 26-0 in Buenos Aires.[7] Americas 2 was filled in August when Canada defeated the United States 56-7 in Newfoundland.[8] The United States went on to qualify as Americas 3 after beating Uruguay in a two-legged tie in early October.[9] That month also saw Italy qualify as Europe 1 after defeating Russia 67-7 in Moscow, reaching the first place in its qualifying group; Romania defeated Spain 43-20 in Madrid, and also qualified for the World Cup as Europe 2.[10]

Namibia qualified for their third consecutive World Cup after they earned their spot in France by defeating Morocco over two legs in November.[11] In late 2006, it was announced that the IRB had withdrawn Colombo as the venue of the final Asian qualifying tournament due to security problems.[12] Japan won the only Asian allocation after the tournament was moved to Hong Kong.[13] Georgia was 14 points the better of Portugal over two legs to claim the last European place.[13] Tonga qualified through repechage after defeating Korea.[14] The final spot went to Portugal, joining Pool C after beating Uruguay 24-23 on aggregate. Portugal's qualification was the only change in the 20-team roster from the 2003 World Cup, replacing Uruguay, becoming the only wholly amateur team to qualify.

Nations

Pool A Pool B Pool C Pool D

Flag of England.svg England[15]
Flag of Samoa.svg Samoa
Flag of South Africa.svg South Africa[15]
Flag of Tonga.svg Tonga
Flag of the United States.svg United States

Flag of Australia.svg Australia[15]
Flag of Canada.svg Canada
Flag of Fiji.svg Fiji
Flag of Japan.svg Japan
Flag of Wales 2.svg Wales[15]

Flag of Italy.svg Italy
Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand[15]
Flag of Portugal.svg Portugal
Flag of Romania.svg Romania
Flag of Scotland.svg Scotland[15]

Flag of Argentina.svg Argentina
Flag of France.svg France[15][16]
Flag of Georgia.svg Georgia
Flag of Ireland rugby.svg Ireland[15]
Flag of Namibia.svg Namibia

Hosting

See also: Rugby union in France
The 2007 World Cup was hosted by France, with additional venues at Edinburgh and Cardiff.

France won the right to host the 2007 World Cup in 2003, and it was subsequently announced that four matches would be held in Wales, at Cardiff's 74,500 seat Millennium Stadium (two Pool B games involving Wales, the match between Fiji and Canada, and a quarter-final). Ireland was to have hosted matches at Lansdowne Road, Dublin, but opted out because the stadium was being redeveloped.[17]

Two Pool C matches were played at Edinburgh's Murrayfield Stadium. There had been speculation that the Scottish Rugby Union (SRU) was having doubts about hosting these games,[17] and that the Welsh Rugby Union might be interested in hosting them,[18] but the SRU confirmed in April 2006 that the games would be played at Murrayfield.

There was a substantial increase in the overall capacity of stadiums compared to the 2003 Rugby World Cup — the smallest venue at the 2007 tournament could seat 33,900 people. The French venues were the same as those used for the 1998 FIFA World Cup. Around 6,000 volunteers helped to organise the competition.[19]

Although the 2007 tournament was the first to be hosted primarily by France, a number of matches during the 1991 and 1999 tournaments were played in France. In 1991, matches in Pool D (which included France) were played in Béziers, Bayonne, Grenoble, Toulouse, Brive and Agen, while Parc des Princes and Stadium Lille-Metropole each hosted a quarter-final. Similarly, in 1999, fixtures in Pool C (which included France) were played in Béziers, Bordeaux and Toulouse,[20] Stade Félix-Bollaert was the venue for one of the quarter-final play-offs, and Stade de France hosted a quarter-final.[20]

City Country Stadium Capacity Further reading
Paris (Saint-Denis) France Stade de France 80,000 Overview
Cardiff Wales Millennium Stadium 73,350 Overview
Edinburgh Scotland Murrayfield 68,000 Overview
Marseille France Stade Vélodrome 59,500 Overview
Paris France Parc des Princes 47,870 Overview
Lens France Stade Félix-Bollaert 41,400 Overview
Lyon France Stade de Gerland 41,100 Overview
Nantes France Stade de la Beaujoire 38,100 Overview
Toulouse France Stadium de Toulouse 35,700 Overview
Saint-Étienne France Stade Geoffroy-Guichard 35,650 Overview
Bordeaux France Stade Chaban-Delmas 34,440 Overview
Montpellier France Stade de la Mosson 33,900 Overview

Tickets and sponsorship

The Official Rugby World Cup Shop in Paris.

Ticket sales for the Rugby World Cup were broken up into three phases. The first phase was released in November 2005, when members of the European rugby community, such as officials, players and so on were given the opportunity for various packages. Upon the release of the second phase ticketing scheme, more than 100,000 tickets were sold in the first ten hours of release.[21] The remaining tickets — individual tickets and tickets to the semi-finals — were released in phase three in November 2006. In June 2007, it was announced that 2 million of the 2.4 million tickets had been sold in advance of the tournament.[22]

The Worldwide partners for the tournament are Société Générale, GMF, Électricité de France, Peugeot, Visa and SNCF,[23] and official sponsors include Heineken, Vediorbis, Capgemini, Orange, Toshiba and Emirates.[24] Gilbert will be providing the tournament balls, the Gilbert Synergie match ball will be used throughout the tournament. This continues Gilbert's involvement with the World Cup, the company having provided the Barbarian (1995), Revolution (1999) and Xact (2003) balls in the past.[25] Along with Gilbert, the official suppliers are Adidas, Coca-Cola, Clifford Chance, Goodyear and McDonalds.[26] The host broadcaster for the event is TVH.[27]

Squads

Main article: 2007 Rugby World Cup squads

Each country was allowed a squad of 30 players for the tournament. These squads were to be submitted to the International Rugby Board by a deadline of 14 August 2007.[28] Once the squad was submitted a player could be replaced if injured, but would not be allowed to return to the squad.

Match officials

The 2007 Rugby World Cup officials were appointed in late-April 2007, with 12 referees and 13 touch judges being chosen to officiate during the pool stage. In the knockout stage the 12 referees also acted as touch judges, with referee appointments being based on performance from previous matches and selection for neutrality. Referees came from seven different nationalities and three of them made their Rugby World Cup debut. The touch judges came from 10 different countries. Tony Spreadbury of England officiated the opening game between France and Argentina at the Stade de France[29] and Irishman Alain Rolland refereed the final.

Referees
Country Name
Flag of Australia.svg Australia Dickinson, StuartStuart Dickinson
Flag of England.svg England Barnes, WayneWayne Barnes
Flag of England.svg England Spreadbury, TonyTony Spreadbury
Flag of England.svg England White, ChrisChris White
Flag of France.svg France Jutge, JoelJoël Jutge
Flag of Ireland rugby.svg Ireland Lewis, AlanAlan Lewis
Flag of Ireland rugby.svg Ireland Rolland, AlainAlain Rolland
Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand Honiss, PaulPaul Honiss
Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand Walsh, SteveSteve Walsh
Flag of South Africa.svg South Africa Jonker, MariusMarius Jonker
Flag of South Africa.svg South Africa Kaplan, JonathanJonathan Kaplan
Flag of Wales 2.svg Wales Owens, NigelNigel Owens
Touch judges
Country Name[30]
Flag of Argentina.svg Argentina Cuesta, FedericoFederico Cuesta
Flag of Australia.svg Australia Marks, PaulPaul Marks
Flag of England.svg England Pearson, DaveDave Pearson
Flag of France.svg France Berdos, ChristopheChristophe Berdos
Flag of Italy.svg Italy Damasco, CarloCarlo Damasco
Flag of Ireland rugby.svg Ireland McDowell, SimonSimon McDowell
Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand Bray, LyndonLyndon Bray
Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand Deaker, KelvinKelvin Deaker
Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand Lawrence, BryceBryce Lawrence
Flag of Scotland.svg Scotland Changleng, MalcolmMalcolm Changleng
Flag of South Africa.svg South Africa Joubert, CraigCraig Joubert
Flag of South Africa.svg South Africa Lawrence, MarkMark Lawrence
Flag of Wales 2.svg Wales Watkins, HughHugh Watkins

Format

The opening ceremony of the
2007 Rugby World Cup

The competition was contested over 44 days between 20 different nations, over 48 fixtures. The tournament began on 7 September at the Stade de France with a match between the host nation, France, and Argentina. The tournament culminated at the same venue on 20 October for the Final between England and South Africa.

Pool stage

The 20 nations were split up into four pools, designated A through to D, each consisting of five teams. Each pool had one semi-finalist and one quarter-finalist (automatic qualifiers) from the 2003 tournament, with the other three places filled via the qualification system. Each nation plays every other team in their pool once; each nation therefore played four matches during the pool stage.

Classification within each pool was based on the following scoring system:

Bonus points, contributing to a team's cumulative match-point score, were awarded in each of the following instances (one match point for each event):

At the end of the pool stage, teams were ranked from first to fifth based on cumulative match points, with the top two nations proceeding to the quarter-finals.

If at the completion of the pool phase two or more Teams were level on Match points, then the following criteria would have been used in the following order until one of the Teams could be determined as the higher ranked: [31]

i. The winner of the Match in which the two tied Teams have played each other shall be the higher ranked;
ii. The Team which has the best difference between points scored for and points scored against in all its pool Matches shall be the higher ranked;
iii. The Team which has the best difference between tries scored for and tries scored against in all its pool Matches shall be the higher ranked;
iv. The Team which has scored most points in all its pool Matches shall be the higher ranked;
v. The Team which has scored most tries in all its pool Matches shall be the higher ranked;
vi. Should the tie be unresolved at the conclusion of steps (i) through (v), the Team that is higher ranked in the updated Official IRB World Rankings on October 1, 2007.

By elevating head-to-head results (rule i) above points difference (rule ii), a notable difference is created to other sports competitions, in which points difference usually determines rank for teams with the same number of match points (table points). These rules allowed the winners of Pools A, B and C to be determined by the results of the third pool matches on the weekend of September 22 and 23.[32] Although other teams could theoretically draw level on table points with South Africa, Australia and New Zealand and exceed their points differences at the end of the pool stages, head-to-head results by that time ensured these teams could be declared winners of their respective pools, with a match to spare. This also illustrates the fact that the pool tables do not tell the whole story.

Knockout stage

From this stage onwards, the tournament adopted a knockout format comprising eight fixtures: four quarter-finals, two semi-finals, a bronze medal match, and the final. The winner and runner-up from each of the four pools advanced to the quarter-finals. Pool winners were drawn against opposite pool runners-up in the quarter-finals, e.g. the winner of Pool A faced the runner up of Pool B, and the winner of Pool B faced the runner-up of Pool A.

Each match in the knockout stage must conclude in a victory. If, after eighty minutes of normal play, a match results in a draw, further play is made to determine an outright winner. Initially, there will be two periods of extra time, 10 minutes each way; if there is no winner after this, then play proceeds to a single 10 minute period of 'sudden death' play. If the contest is unresolved after a total 110 minutes of open play, the winner will be determined by a placekicking competition.[31]

Effect on 2011 qualification

In a change from the format of the previous tournament, the top three teams in each pool will qualify for the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand;[33] previously, only the eight quarter-finalists gained an automatic place in the following tournament.

Pool stage

Qualified for the quarterfinals
Eliminated, automatic qualification for RWC 2011
Eliminated

All times French time (UTC+2)

Pool A

Main article: 2007 Rugby World Cup - Pool A
Team Pld W D L TF PF PA +/- BP Pts
Flag of South Africa.svg South Africa 4 4 0 0 24 189 47 +142 3 19
Flag of England.svg England 4 3 0 1 11 108 88 +20 2 14
Flag of Tonga.svg Tonga 4 2 0 2 9 89 96 -7 1 9
Flag of Samoa.svg Samoa 4 1 0 3 5 69 143 -74 1 5
Flag of the United States.svg United States 4 0 0 4 7 61 142 -81 1 1
  ENG SAM RSA TGA USA
England 44 – 22 0 – 36 36 – 20 28 – 10
Samoa 7 – 59 15 – 19 25 – 21
South Africa 30 – 25 64 – 15
Tonga 25 – 15
United States

Pool B

Main article: 2007 Rugby World Cup - Pool B
Team Pld W D L TF PF PA +/- BP Pts
Flag of Australia.svg Australia 4 4 0 0 30 215 41 +174 4 20
Flag of Fiji.svg Fiji 4 3 0 1 14 114 136 -22 3 15
Flag of Wales 2.svg Wales 4 2 0 2 23 168 105 +63 4 12
Flag of Japan.svg Japan 4 0 1 3 7 64 210 -146 1 3
Flag of Canada.svg Canada 4 0 1 3 6 51 120 -69 0 2
  AUS CAN FJI JPN WAL
Australia 37 – 6 55 – 12 91 – 3 32 – 20
Canada 16 – 29 12 – 12 17 – 42
Fiji 35 – 31 38 – 34
Japan 18 – 72
Wales

Pool C

Main article: 2007 Rugby World Cup - Pool C
Team Pld W D L TF PF PA +/- BP Pts
Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand 4 4 0 0 46 309 35 +274 4 20
Flag of Scotland.svg Scotland 4 3 0 1 14 116 66 +50 2 14
Flag of Italy.svg Italy 4 2 0 2 8 85 117 -32 1 9
Flag of Romania.svg Romania 4 1 0 3 5 40 161 -121 1 5
Flag of Portugal.svg Portugal 4 0 0 4 4 38 209 -171 1 1
  ITA NZL POR ROM SCO
Italy 14 – 76 31 – 5 24 – 18 16 – 18
New Zealand 108 – 13 85 – 8 40 – 0
Portugal 10 – 14 10 – 56
Romania 0 – 42
Scotland

Pool D

Main article: 2007 Rugby World Cup - Pool D
Team Pld W D L TF PF PA +/- BP Pts
Flag of Argentina.svg Argentina 4 4 0 0 16 143 33 +110 2 18
Flag of France.svg France 4 3 0 1 24 188 37 +151 3 15
Flag of Ireland rugby.svg Ireland 4 2 0 2 9 64 82 -18 1 9
Flag of Georgia.svg Georgia 4 1 0 3 5 50 111 -61 1 5
Flag of Namibia.svg Namibia 4 0 0 4 3 30 212 -182 0 0
  ARG FRA GEO IRE NAM
Argentina 17 – 12 33 – 3 30 – 15 63 – 3
France 64 – 7 25 – 3 87 – 10
Georgia 10 – 14 30 – 0
Ireland 32 – 17
Namibia

Knockout stage

Main article: 2007 Rugby World Cup knockout stage
Quarter finals Semi finals Final
                   
October 6 – Stade Vélodrome, Marseille        
 Flag of Australia.svg Australia  10
October 13 – Stade de France, St-Denis
 Flag of England.svg England  12  
 Flag of England.svg England  14
October 6 – Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
   Flag of France.svg France  9  
 Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand  18
October 20 – Stade de France, St-Denis
 Flag of France.svg France  20  
 Flag of England.svg England  6
October 7 – Stade Vélodrome, Marseille
   Flag of South Africa.svg South Africa  15
 Flag of South Africa.svg South Africa  37
October 14 – Stade de France, St-Denis
 Flag of Fiji.svg Fiji  20  
 Flag of South Africa.svg South Africa  37 Bronze Final
October 7 – Stade de France, St-Denis
   Flag of Argentina.svg Argentina  13  
 Flag of Argentina.svg Argentina  19  Flag of France.svg France  10
 Flag of Scotland.svg Scotland  13    Flag of Argentina.svg Argentina  34
October 19 – Parc des Princes, Paris

Quarter-finals

2007-10-06
15:00
Australia Flag of Australia.svg 10 – 12 Flag of England.svg England Stade Vélodrome, Marseille
Attendance: 59,102
Referee: Alain Rolland Flag of Ireland
Try: Tuqiri 33' c
Con: Mortlock (1/1)
Pen: Mortlock (1/4) 6'
(Report) Pen: Wilkinson (4/7) 22', 25', 51', 59'

2007-10-06
21:00
New Zealand Flag of New Zealand.svg 18 – 20 Flag of France.svg France Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Attendance: 71,669
Referee: Wayne Barnes Flag of England
Tries: McAlister 17' c
So'oialo 63' m
Con: Carter (1/1)
Pen: Carter (2/2) 14', 31'
(Report) Tries: Dusautoir 54' c
Jauzion 69' c
Con: Beauxis (1/1)
Élissalde (1/1)
Pen: Beauxis (2/3) 40+', 46'

2007-10-07
15:00
South Africa Flag of South Africa.svg 37 – 20 Flag of Fiji.svg Fiji Stade Vélodrome, Marseille
Attendance: 55,943
Referee: Alan Lewis Flag of Ireland
Tries: Fourie 13' m
Smit 35' m
Pietersen 51' c
Smith 70' c
James 80' c
Con: Montgomery (3/5)
Pen: Steyn (1/1) 8'
Montgomery (1/2) 63'
(Report) Tries: Delasau 57' c
Bobo 59' c
Con: Bai (2/2)
Pen: Bai (2/2) 26', 44'

2007-10-07
21:00
Argentina Flag of Argentina.svg 19 – 13 Flag of Scotland.svg Scotland Stade de France, Saint-Denis
Attendance: 76,866
Referee: Joël Jutge Flag of France
Try: Longo Elía 33' c
Con: F. Contepomi (1/1)
Pen: F. Contepomi (3/4) 23', 29', 43'
Drop: Hernández (1/4) 54'
(Report) Try: Cusiter 63' c
Con: Paterson (1/1)
Pen: Parks (1/2) 16'
Paterson (1/1) 38'

Semi-finals

2007-10-13
21:00
England Flag of England.svg 14 – 9 Flag of France.svg France Stade de France, Saint-Denis
Attendance: 80,283
Referee: Jonathan Kaplan Flag of South Africa
Try: Lewsey 2' m
Pen: Wilkinson (2/3) 47', 75'
Drop: Wilkinson (1/4) 78'
(Report) Pen: Beauxis (3/3) 8', 18', 44'

2007-10-14
21:00
South Africa Flag of South Africa.svg 37 – 13 Flag of Argentina.svg Argentina Stade de France, Saint-Denis
Attendance: 77,055
Referee: Steve Walsh Flag of New Zealand
Tries: du Preez 7' c
Habana (2) 32' c, 76' c
Rossouw 40' c
Con: Montgomery (4/4)
Pen: Montgomery (3/3) 17', 71', 75'
(Report) Try: M. Contepomi 45' c
Con: F. Contepomi (1/1)
Pen: F. Contepomi (2/4) 15', 30'

Bronze final

2007-10-19
21:00
France Flag of France.svg 10 – 34 Flag of Argentina.svg Argentina Parc des Princes, Paris
Attendance: 45,958
Referee: Paul Honiss Flag of New Zealand
Try: Poitrenaud 69' c
Con: Beauxis (1/1)
Pen: Élissalde (1/1) 18'
(Report) Tries: F. Contepomi (2) 28' c, 77' c
Hasan Jalil 32' c
Martín Aramburú 53' m
Corleto 65' m
Con: F. Contepomi (3/5)
Pen: F. Contepomi (1/1) 21'

Final

Main article: 2007 Rugby World Cup Final
2007-10-20
21:00
England Flag of England.svg 6 – 15 Flag of South Africa.svg South Africa Stade de France, Saint-Denis
Attendance: 80,430
Referee: Alain Rolland Flag of Ireland
Pen: Wilkinson (2/2) 13', 44' (Report) Pen: Montgomery (4/4) 7', 16', 40', 51'
Steyn (1/2) 62'
 2007 Rugby World Cup Champions 
Flag of South Africa
South Africa
Second title

Citing controversy

the citing system is a total shambles

Roger Naish, Sportingo[34]

discrepancies in the bans we have seen handed down this week are not only alarming but raise questions with regards to the consistency, or complete lack of it

Marcus Leach, Planet Rugby[35]

the citing commissioners and disciplinary panels at this Rugby World Cup are coming down too harshly

Bruce Pope, BBC Sport[36]

In that game [South Africa–Samoa] you could have cited 10 people. It is just the luck of the draw who gets picked up and who doesn't

Jerry Collins[36] (New Zealand player)

There has been some controversy over the post match citings by IRB Citing Commissioners with all players not being cited for seemingly similar offences or receiving lengthy bans when other players are only sin binned (yellow carded).[35][36][37]

Examples of inconsistencies include the citing of Schalk Burger against Samoa in the same game Brian Lima executed what seemed to be a late tackle. Lima wasn't cited in that instance, but later received a three week ban following an almost identical tackle on England's Jonny Wilkinson.[34]

England's Phil Vickery received a two week ban for tripping an American player, while Christophe Dominici only received a yellow card for the same offence in the 2003 World Cup.[34] Other examples of players being sin binned, but not receiving further punishment include Australia's Drew Mitchell for his spear tackle on a Welsh player and New Zealand prop Carl Hayman for punching (a serious offence) an Italian opponent.[38][37]

List of citings
Ban
(weeks)
Player Nation Opponent Offence
7 Otar Eloshvili Flag of Georgia.svg Georgia France spear tackle[39]
5 Paul Emerick Flag of the United States.svg United States England spear tackle[40]
4 Juan Severino Somoza Flag of Portugal.svg Portugal Scotland head-butting[41]
3 Brian Lima Flag of Samoa.svg Samoa England high tackle[42]
2 Schalk Burger Flag of South Africa.svg South Africa Samoa dangerous play[43][44]
2 Phil Vickery Flag of England.svg England United States tripping[45]
2 Mirco Bergamasco Flag of Italy.svg Italy Scotland tripping[46]
1 Hale T Pole Flag of Tonga.svg Tonga Samoa striking[47]
1 Jacques Nieuwenhuis Flag of Namibia.svg Namibia France high tackle[48]
1 Alfie Vaeluaga Flag of Samoa.svg Samoa South Africa high tackle[49]
1 Seremaia Bai Flag of Fiji.svg Fiji South Africa dangerous tackle[50]
cleared François Steyn Flag of South Africa.svg South Africa Tonga foul play[51]
cleared Sione Lauaki Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand Romania dangerous tackle[52][53]

Statistics

Teams

Points Team Matches Tries Con Pen Drop Yellow card.svg Red card.svg
327 Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand 5 48 36 5 0 2 0
278 Flag of South Africa.svg South Africa 7 33 25 21 0 3 0
227 Flag of France.svg France 7 27 19 18 0 2 0
225 Flag of Australia.svg Australia 5 31 20 8 2 2 0
209 Flag of Argentina.svg Argentina 7 23 14 18 4 3 0
168 Flag of Wales 2.svg Wales 4 23 16 7 0 0 0
140 Flag of England.svg England 7 12 7 17 5 1 0
134 Flag of Fiji.svg Fiji 5 16 12 10 0 3 0
129 Flag of Scotland.svg Scotland 5 15 15 8 0 1 0
89 Flag of Tonga.svg Tonga 4 9 7 10 0 3 1
85 Flag of Italy.svg Italy 4 8 6 11 0 3 0
69 Flag of Samoa.svg Samoa 4 5 4 12 0 1 0
64 Flag of Ireland rugby.svg Ireland 4 9 5 2 1 2 0
64 Flag of Japan.svg Japan 4 7 4 7 0 0 0
61 Flag of the United States.svg United States 4 7 4 6 0 4 0
51 Flag of Canada.svg Canada 4 6 3 5 0 1 0
50 Flag of Georgia.svg Georgia 4 5 5 5 0 2 0
40 Flag of Romania.svg Romania 4 5 3 3 0 1 0
38 Flag of Portugal.svg Portugal 4 4 3 3 1 1 0
30 Flag of Namibia.svg Namibia 4 3 3 2 1 0 1

Source: RugbyWorldCup.com, last updated 20 October.

Individual records

Top point scorers

Note: ranked according to points then number of appearances
Points Name Team Pos Apps Tries Con Pen Drop
105 Percy Montgomery Flag of South Africa.svg South Africa FB 7 2 22 17 0
91 Felipe Contepomi Flag of Argentina.svg Argentina CE 7 3 11 18 0
67 Jonny Wilkinson Flag of England.svg England FH 5 0 5 14 5
50 Nick Evans Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand FH/FB 4 2 20 0 0
47 Jean-Baptiste Élissalde Flag of France.svg France SH 7 1 12 6 0
46 Chris Paterson Flag of Scotland.svg Scotland WG/FH 5 1 10 7 0
44 Pierre Hola Flag of Tonga.svg Tonga FH 4 0 7 10 0
43 Lionel Beauxis Flag of France.svg France FH 6 1 7 8 0
42 Nicky Little Flag of Fiji.svg Fiji FH 3 0 9 8 0
40 Dan Carter Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand FH 3 1 10 5 0
40 Matt Giteau Flag of Australia.svg Australia CE 4 3 8 3 0
40 Bryan Habana Flag of South Africa.svg South Africa WG 7 8 0 0 0

Key: Pos = position; Apps = appearances; Con = conversions; Pen = penalties; Drop = drop goals

Source: RugbyWorldCup.com, last updated 20 October.

Top try scorers

Rank Name Team Pos Apps Tries
1 Bryan Habana Flag of South Africa.svg South Africa WG 7 8
2 Drew Mitchell Flag of Australia.svg Australia WG 5 7
3 Doug Howlett Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand WG 3 6
3 Shane Williams Flag of Wales 2.svg Wales WG 4 6
5 Joe Rokocoko Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand WG 3 5
5 Vincent Clerc Flag of France.svg France WG 5 5
5 Chris Latham Flag of Australia.svg Australia FB 5 5
8 Rory Lamont Flag of Scotland.svg Scotland FB 4 4
8 Sitiveni Sivivatu Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand WG 4 4
8 Jaque Fourie Flag of South Africa.svg South Africa CE 6 4
8 Paul Sackey Flag of England.svg England WG 6 4
8 JP Pietersen Flag of South Africa.svg South Africa WG 7 4
8 Juan Smith Flag of South Africa.svg South Africa FL 7 4

Key: Pos = position; Apps = appearances

See also

References

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  2. "World Cup bidding process underway". rugby.com.au (2002-09-28). Retrieved on 2006-10-07.
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External links

Preceded by
2003
Rugby World Cup
2007
Succeeded by
2011