1991 Rugby World Cup

1991 Rugby World Cup

Tournament details
Dates	3 October – 2 November 1991
No. of nations	16 (33 qualifying)
Final positions
Champions	Australia
Runner-up	England
Tournament statistics
Matches played	32
Attendance	1,007,760 (31,493 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Ralph Keyes (68) (Ireland)
Most tries	Jean-Baptiste Lafond (6) David Campese (6)
← 1987 1995 →

The 1991 Rugby World Cup was the second edition of the Rugby World Cup, and jointly hosted by England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and France; at that time, the five European countries that participated in the Five Nations Championship. The World Cup Final was played at the Twickenham Stadium in London, and saw Australia triumph 12-6 against an England side that had suddenly abandoned their forward-based approach to play a running game.

Contents 1 Qualification 2 Stadia 3 Squads 4 Pool stage 4.1 Pool A 4.2 Pool B 4.3 Pool C 4.4 Pool D 5 Knock-out stage 5.1 Quarter-finals 5.2 Semi-finals 5.3 Third-place play-off 5.4 Final 6 External links

Qualification

The following 16 teams, shown by region, qualified for the 1991 Rugby World Cup. Of the 16 teams, eight of those places were automatically filled by quarterfinalists from the 1987 World Cup and did not have to play any qualification matches. 25 nations competed in a qualification process designed to fill the remaining eight spots, bringing the total participation to 33 nations.

Africa  Zimbabwe (Africa 1) Americas  Argentina (Americas 2)  Canada (Americas 1)  United States (Americas 3) Oceania  Australia (1987 Semi-finalist)  Fiji (1987 Quarter-finalist)  New Zealand (1987 Champion)  Western Samoa (Asia 1)

Asia  Japan (Asia 2) Europe  England (Joint Host and 1987 Quarter-finalist)  France (Joint Host and 1987 Runner-up)  Ireland (Joint Host and 1987 Quarter-finalist)  Italy (Europe 1)  Romania (Europe 2)  Scotland (Joint Host and 1987 Quarter-finalist)  Wales (Joint Host and 1987 Third Place)

Stadia

City	Stadium	Capacity
London	Twickenham Stadium	75,000
Edinburgh	Murrayfield Stadium	67,800
Cardiff	Cardiff Arms Park	53,000
Paris	Parc des Princes	48,712
Dublin	Landsdowne Road	49,250
Toulouse	Stade Ernest-Wallon	19,000
Villeneuve d'Ascq	Stadium Lille-Metropole	18,185
Béziers	Stade de la Méditerranée	18,000
Leicester	Welford Road	16,815
Brive	Parc Municipal des Sports	16,000
Grenoble	Stade Lesdiguières	14,000
Agen	Stade Armandie	14,000
Bayonne	Stade Jean Dauger	13,500
Gloucester	Kingsholm	12,500
Belfast	Ravenhill	12,300
Llanelli	Stradey Park	10,800
Pontypool	Pontypool Park	8,800
Pontypridd	Sardis Road	7,200
Otley	Cross Green	5,000

Squads

Pool stage

Pool A

Team	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	Points
New Zealand	3	0	0	95	39	9
England	2	0	1	85	33	7
Italy	1	0	2	57	76	5
United States	0	0	3	24	113	3

3 October 1991	England	12 – 18	New Zealand	Twickenham Stadium, London Attendance: 70,000 Referee: Jim Fleming (Scotland)
	Pen: Webb (3) Drop: Andrew		Tries: Jones Con: Fox Pen: Fox (4)

---

5 October 1991	Italy	30 – 9	United States	Cross Green, Otley Referee: Owen Doyle (Ireland)
	Tries: Barba, Francescato, Vaccari, Gaetaniello Con: Dominguez (4) Pen: Dominguez (2)		Tries: Swords Con: Williams Pen: Williams

---

8 October 1991	New Zealand	46 – 6	United States	Kingsholm, Gloucester Attendance: 12,000 Referee: Efraim Sklar (Argentina)
	Tries: Wright (3), Earl, Purvis, Timu, Tuigamala, Innes Con: Preston (4) Pen: Preston (2)		Pen: Williams (2)

---

8 October 1991	England	36 – 6	Italy	Twickenham Stadium, London Referee: Brian Anderson (Scotland)
	Tries: Guscott (2), Underwood, Webb Con: Webb (4) Pen: Webb (4)		Tries: Cuttitta Con: Dominguez

---

11 October 1991	England	37 – 9	United States	Twickenham Stadium, London Referee: Les Peard (Wales)
	Tries: Underwood (2), Carling, Skinner, Heslop Con: Hodgkinson (4) Pen: Hodgkinson (3)		Tries: Nelson Con: Williams Pen: Williams

---

13 October 1991	Italy	21 – 31	New Zealand	Welford Road, Leicester Attendance: 16,800 Referee: Kerry Fitzgerald (Australia)
	Tries: Cuttitta, Bonomi Con: Dominguez (2) Pen: Dominguez (3)		Tries: Brooke, Innes, Tuigamala, Hewett Con: Fox (3) Pen: Fox (3)

Pool B

Team	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	Points
Scotland	3	0	0	122	36	9
Ireland	2	0	1	102	51	7
Japan	1	0	2	77	87	5
Zimbabwe	0	0	3	31	158	3

5 October 1991	Scotland	47 – 9	Japan	Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh Referee: Ed Morrison (England)
	Tries: S. Hastings, Stanger, Chalmers, White, Penalty Try, Tukalo, G. Hastings Con: G. Hastings (5) Pen: G. Hastings (2), Chalmers		Tries: Hosokawa Con: Hosokawa Drop: Hosokawa

---

6 October 1991	Ireland	55 – 11	Zimbabwe	Landsdowne Road, Dublin Referee: Keith Lawrence (New Zealand)
	Tries: Robinson (4), Popplewell (2), Geoghegan, Curtis Con: Keyes (4) Pen: Keyes (5)		Tries: Dawson, Schultz Pen: Ferreira

---

9 October 1991	Ireland	32 – 16	Japan	Landsdowne Road, Dublin Referee: Laikini Colati (Fiji)
	Tries: Mannion (2), O’Hara, Staples Con: Keyes (2) Pen: Keyes (4)		Tries: Hayashi, Kajihara, Yoshida Con: Hosokawa (2)

---

9 October 1991	Scotland	51 – 12	Zimbabwe	Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh Referee: Don Reordan (United States)
	Tries: Tukalo (3), Turnbull, S. Hastings, Stanger, Weir, White Con: Dods (5) Pen: Dods (2) Drop: Wylie		Tries: Garvey (2) Con: Currin (2)

---

12 October 1991	Scotland	24 – 15	Ireland	Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh Referee: Fred Howard (England)
	Tries: Shiel, Armstrong, S. Hastings Con: G. Hastings (2) Pen: G. Hastings (3) Drop: Chalmers		Pen: Keyes (4) Drop: Keyes

---

14 October 1991	Japan	52 – 8	Zimbabwe	Ravenhill Stadium, Belfast Referee: Rene Hourquet (France)
	Tries: Yoshida (2), Mashuho (2), Kutsuki (2), Horikoshi, Luaiufi, Matsuo Con: Hosokawa (2) Pen: Hosokawa (4)		Tries: Tsimba, Nguruve

Pool C

Team	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	Points
Australia	3	0	0	79	25	9
Western Samoa	2	0	1	54	34	7
Wales	1	0	2	32	61	5
Argentina	0	0	3	38	83	3

4 October 1991	Argentina	19 – 32	Australia	Stradey Park, Llanelli Referee: David Bishop (New Zealand)
	Tries: Teran (2) Con: Del Castillo Pen: Del Castillo Drop: Arbizu (2)		Tries: Campese (2), Horan (2), Kearns Con: Lynagh (3) Pen: Lynagh (2)

---

6 October 1991	Wales	13 – 16	Western Samoa	Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff Referee: Patrick Robin (France)
	Tries: Emyr, Evans Con: Ring Pen: Ring	Report	Tries: Vaega, Vaifale Con: Vaea Pen: Vaea (2)

---

9 October 1991	Australia	9 – 3	Western Samoa	Pontypool Park, Pontypool Referee: Ed Morrison (England)
	Pen: Lynagh (3)		Pen: Vaea

---

9 October 1991	Wales	16 – 7	Argentina	Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff Referee: Rene Hourquet (France)
	Tries: Arnold Pen: Ring (3), Rayer		Tries: Simon Pen: Del Castillo

---

12 October 1991	Wales	3 – 38	Australia	Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff Referee: Keith Lawrence (New Zealand)
	Pen: Ring		Tries: Roebuck (2), Slattery, Campese, Horan, Lynagh Con: Lynagh (4) Pen: Lynagh (2)

---

13 October 1991	Argentina	12 – 35	Western Samoa	Sardis Road, Pontypridd Referee: Brian Anderson (Scotland)
	Tries: Teran Con: Arbizu Pen: Laborde, Arbizu		Tries: Tagaola (2), Lima (2), Bunce, Bachop Con: Vaea (4) Pen: Vaea

Pool D

Team	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	Points
France	3	0	0	82	25	9
Canada	2	0	1	45	33	7
Romania	1	0	2	31	64	5
Fiji	0	0	3	27	63	3

4 October 1991	France	30 – 3	Romania	Stade de la Méditerranée, Béziers Referee: Les Peard (Wales)
	Tries: Roumat, Lafond, Penalty Try, Saint-André Con: Camberabero Pen: Camberabero (4)		Pen: Nichitean

---

5 October 1991	Canada	13 – 3	Fiji	Stade Jean Dauger, Bayonne Referee: Kerry Fitzgerald (Australia)
	Tries: Stewart Pen: Rees (3)		Drop: Serevi

---

8 October 1991	France	33 – 9	Fiji	Stade Lesdiguières, Grenoble Referee: Derek Bevan (Wales)
	Tries: Lafond (3), Sella (2), Camberabero Con: Camberabero (3) Pen: Camberabero		Tries: Naruma Con: Koroduadua Pen: Koroduadua

---

9 October 1991	Canada	19 – 11	Romania	Stade Ernest-Wallon, Toulouse Referee: Sandy MacNeill (Australia)
	Tries: McKinnon, Ennis Con: Mark Wyatt Pen: Wyatt (2) Drop: Rees		Tries: Lungu, Sasu Pen: Nichitean

---

12 October 1991	Fiji	15 – 17	Romania	Parc Municipal des Sports, Brive Referee: Owen Doyle (Ireland)
	Pen: Turuva (2) Drop: Rabaka (2), Turuva		Tries: Ion, Dumitras, Sasu Con: Racean Pen: Nichitean

---

13 October 1991	France	19 – 13	Canada	Stade Armandie, Agen Referee: Stephen Hilditch (Ireland)
	Tries: Lafond, Saint-André Con: Camberabero Pen: Lacroix (2), Camberabero		Tries: Wyatt Pen: Wyatt, Rees Drop: Rees

Knock-out stage

	Quarter-finals				Semi-finals				Final
	19 October – Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh
	Scotland	28
					26 October – Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh
	Western Samoa	6
					Scotland	6
	19 October – Parc des Princes, Paris
					England	9
	France	10
									2 November – Twickenham Stadium, London
	England	19
									England	6
	20 October – Stadium Lille-Metropole, Villeneuve d'Ascq
									Australia	12
	New Zealand	29
					27 October – Lansdowne Road, Dublin
	Canada	13
					New Zealand	6			Third place
	20 October – Lansdowne Road, Dublin
					Australia	16
	Australia	19							Scotland	6
	Ireland	18							New Zealand	13
									30 October – Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff

Quarter-finals

19 October 1991	France	10 – 19	England	Parc des Princes, Paris Referee: David Bishop (New Zealand)
	Tries: Lafond Pen: Lacroix (2)	Report	Tries: Underwood, Carling Con: Webb Pen: Webb (3)

---

19 October 1991	Scotland	28 – 6	Western Samoa	Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh Referee: Derek Bevan (Wales)
	Tries: Jeffrey (2), Stanger Con: Hastings (2) Pen: Hastings (4)		Pen: Vaea Drop goals: Bachop

---

20 October 1991	Ireland	18 – 19	Australia	Lansdowne Road, Dublin Referee: Jim Fleming (Scotland)
	Tries: Hamilton Con: Keyes Pen: Keyes (3) Drop: Keyes		Tries: Campese (2), Lynagh Con: Lynagh (2) Pen: Lynagh

---

20 October 1991	Canada	13 – 29	New Zealand	Stadium Lille-Metropole, Villeneuve d'Ascq Referee: Fred Howard (England)
	Tries: Tynan, Charron Con: Rees Pen: Wyatt		Tries: Timu (2), McCahill, Brooke, Kirwan Con: Fox (3) Pen: Fox

Semi-finals

26 October 1991	Scotland	6 – 9	England	Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh Referee: Kerry Fitzgerald (Australia)
	Pen: G. Hastings (2)		Pen: Webb (2) Drop: Andrew

---

27 October 1991	Australia	16 – 6	New Zealand	Lansdowne Road, Dublin Referee: Jim Fleming (Scotland)
	Tries: Campese, Horan Con: Lynagh Pen: Lynagh (2)		Pen: Fox (2)

Third-place play-off

30 October 1991	New Zealand	13 – 6	Scotland	Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff Referee: Stephen Hilditch (Ireland)
	Tries: Little Pen: Preston (3)		Pen: G. Hastings (2)

Final

2 November 1991	Australia	12 – 6	England	Twickenham Stadium, London Attendance: 56,000 Referee: Derek Bevan (Wales)
	Tries: Daly Con: Lynagh Pen: Lynagh (2)	Report	Pen: Webb (2)

1991 Rugby World Cup Champions
Australia First title

External links

• Rugbyworldcup.com
• 1991 results
• 1991 Rugby World Cup on Worldcupweb.com

Rugby World Cup Overview History • Hosts • Qualification • Records and statistics • Team appearances • Trophy • Final Tournaments 1987 • 1991 • 1995 • 1999 • 2003 • 2007 • 2011 • 2015 • 2019 Finals 1987 • 1991 • 1995 • 1999 • 2003 • 2007 Squads 1987 • 1991 • 1995 • 1999 • 2003 • 2007 Qualifying 1987 • 1991 • 1995 • 1999 • 2003 • 2007 • 2011

Rugby World Cup by nation First tier Argentina · Australia · England · France · Ireland · Italy · New Zealand · Scotland · South Africa · Wales Second tier Canada · Fiji · Japan · Romania · Samoa · Tonga · USA Third tier Ivory Coast · Georgia · Namibia · Portugal · Russia · Spain · Uruguay · Zimbabwe