| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host nations | United Kingdom France Ireland |
| Dates | 3 October – 2 November 1991 |
| No. of nations | 16 (33 qualifying) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Australia |
| Runner-up | England |
| Third-place | New Zealand |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 32 |
| Top scorer(s) | Ralph Keyes (68) (Ireland) |
| Most tries | Jean-Baptiste Lafond (6) David Campese (6) |
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← 1987
1995 →
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The 1991 Rugby World Cup was the second edition of the Rugby World Cup, and was jointly hosted by England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and France; at that time, the five European countries that participated in the Five Nations Championship making it the first Rugby World Cup to be staged in the northern hemisphere with England hosting the 1991 Rugby World Cup Final at Twickenham. Following on from the success of the inaugural 1987 Rugby World Cup there was a lot more attention and razzmatazz and was also seen for the first time as a major sporting event. Also for the first time qualifying competitions were introduced as the number of entrants had increased from sixteen nations four years before to a total of thirty-three countries, the eight quarter-finalists from 1987 qualified automatically with the remaining twenty-five countries having to qualify for the remaining eight spots. The same sixteen team pool/knock-out format was used with just minor changes to the points system. The Pool stage of the tournament was nothing like four years earlier with was fewer one sided matches and all sixteen teams fought hard to try and reach the quarter finals and produced two major shocks when Western Samoa, who were making their debut in the tournament and Canada (which to date is still their best performance at a Rugby World Cup) both qualified for the last eight. The biggest shock of the Pool stage with regards to the major teams was Wales who finished third in Pool 3 and were eliminated. The Quarter-finals sadly proved no match for either Western Samoa or Canada who both lost heavily to New Zealand and Scotland. England knocked out 1987 finalists France and Australia in what was seen as the match of the round piped Ireland 19-18 in a thrilling match at Lansdowne Road. The semi-finals produced two tight matches with England overcoming their rivals Scotland 6-9 at Murrayfield and Australia defeating the defending world champions New Zealand 16-6 at Lansdowne Road. The World Cup Final was played at Twickenham 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 |
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. In the event, there was only one change from the 1987 tournament, with Western Samoa appearing in place of Tonga.
| Africa | Americas | Europe | Oceania/Asia |
|---|---|---|---|
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| City | Stadium | Capacity |
|---|---|---|
| London | Twickenham Stadium | 75,000 |
| Edinburgh | Murrayfield Stadium | 67,800 |
| Cardiff | National Stadium (Cardiff Arms Park) | 53,000 |
| Paris | Parc des Princes | 48,712 |
| Dublin | Lansdowne 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 |
| Pool 1 | Pool 2 | Pool 3 | Pool 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
As in the 1987 Rugby World Cup 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.
Points System
The points system that was used in the pool stage was which was changed from 1987 was as follows:
A total of 32 matches (24 Pool Stage & 8 Knock-out) were played throughout the tournament over 30 days from Thursday 3 October 1991 to Saturday 2 November 1991.
| Team | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Zealand | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 95 | 39 | 9 |
| England | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 85 | 33 | 7 |
| Italy | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 57 | 76 | 5 |
| United States | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 24 | 113 | 3 |
| 3 October 1991 |
England | 12–18 | New Zealand | Twickenham Stadium, London 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 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 Referee: Kerry Fitzgerald (Australia) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tries: Cuttitta, Bonomi Con: Dominguez (2) Pen: Dominguez (3) |
Tries: Brooke, Innes, Tuigamala, Hewett Con: Fox (3) Pen: Fox (3) |
| Team | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scotland | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 122 | 36 | 9 |
| Ireland | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 102 | 51 | 7 |
| Japan | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 77 | 87 | 5 |
| Zimbabwe | 3 | 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 | Lansdowne 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 | Lansdowne 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 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: René Hourquet (France) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tries: Yoshida (2), Mashuho (2), Kutsuki (2), Horikoshi, Luaiufi, Matsuo Con: Hosokawa (2) Pen: Hosokawa (4) |
Tries: Tsimba, Nguruve |
| Team | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 79 | 25 | 9 |
| Western Samoa | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 54 | 34 | 7 |
| Wales | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 32 | 61 | 5 |
| Argentina | 3 | 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 | National Stadium (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 | National Stadium (Cardiff Arms Park), Cardiff Referee: René Hourquet (France) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tries: Arnold Pen: Ring (3), Rayer |
Tries: Simon Pen: Del Castillo |
| 12 October 1991 |
Wales | 3–38 | Australia | National Stadium (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) Replaced by Jim Fleming (Scotland) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tries: Teran Con: Arbizu Pen: Laborde, Arbizu |
Tries: Tagaola (2), Lima (2), Bunce, Bachop Con: Vaea (4) Pen: Vaea |
| Team | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| France | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 82 | 25 | 9 |
| Canada | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 45 | 33 | 7 |
| Romania | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 31 | 64 | 5 |
| Fiji | 3 | 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 |
| 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 – National Stadium (Cardiff Arms Park), Cardiff | ||||||||||
| 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 |
Report | 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 |
| 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) |
| 30 October 1991 |
New Zealand | 13–6 | Scotland | National Stadium (Cardiff Arms Park), Cardiff Referee: Stephen Hilditch (Ireland) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tries: Little Pen: Preston (3) |
Pen: G. Hastings (2) |
| 2 November 1991 |
Australia | 12–6 | England | Twickenham Stadium, London Referee: Derek Bevan (Wales) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tries: Daly Con: Lynagh Pen: Lynagh (2) |
Report | Pen: Webb (2) |
| Preceded by 1987 Rugby World Cup |
Rugby World Cup 1991 Australia |
Succeeded by 1995 Rugby World Cup |
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