2007 Rugby World Cup

2007 Rugby World Cup
Coupe du Monde – France 2007
Tournament details
Host nations  France
 Scotland
 Wales
Dates 7 September – 20 October
No. of nations 20 (91 qualifying)
Final positions
Champions   South Africa
Runner-up   England
Third-place   Argentina
Tournament statistics
Matches played 48
Attendance 2,263,223 (47,150 per match)
Top scorer(s)  Percy Montgomery (105)
Most tries  Bryan Habana (8)
2003
2011

The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition 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. 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 qualified 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 Saint-Denis, Paris. 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, their second World Cup title.

Contents

Bids

Both England and France bid to host the tournament.[1][2] The tender document for the 2007 bidding process was due out on 31 October 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

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.

Africa Americas Europe Oceania/Asia

Hosting

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.[15]

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,[15] and that the Welsh Rugby Union might be interested in hosting them,[16] 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.[17]

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,[18] Stade Félix-Bollaert was the venue for one of the quarter-final play-offs, and Stade de France hosted a quarter-final.[18]

City Country Stadium Capacity Further reading
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

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.[19] 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.[20]

The Worldwide partners for the tournament are Société Générale, GMF, Électricité de France, Peugeot, Visa and SNCF,[21] and official sponsors include Heineken, Vediorbis, Capgemini, Orange, Toshiba and Emirates.[22] 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.[23] Along with Gilbert, the official suppliers are Adidas, Coca-Cola, Clifford Chance, Goodyear and McDonalds.[24] The host broadcaster for the event is TF1.[25]

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.[26] 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[27] and Irishman Alain Rolland refereed the final.

Referees
Country Name
 Australia Dickinson, StuartStuart Dickinson
 England Barnes, WayneWayne Barnes
 England Spreadbury, TonyTony Spreadbury
 England White, ChrisChris White
 France Jutge, JoelJoël Jutge
 Ireland Lewis, AlanAlan Lewis
 Ireland Rolland, AlainAlain Rolland
 New Zealand Honiss, PaulPaul Honiss
 New Zealand Walsh, SteveSteve Walsh
 South Africa Jonker, MariusMarius Jonker
 South Africa Kaplan, JonathanJonathan Kaplan
 Wales Owens, NigelNigel Owens
Touch judges
Country Name[28]
 Argentina Cuesta, FedericoFederico Cuesta
 Australia Marks, PaulPaul Marks
 England Pearson, DaveDave Pearson
 France Berdos, ChristopheChristophe Berdos
 Italy Damasco, CarloCarlo Damasco
 Ireland McDowell, SimonSimon McDowell
 New Zealand Bray, LyndonLyndon Bray
 New Zealand Deaker, KelvinKelvin Deaker
 New Zealand Lawrence, BryceBryce Lawrence
 Scotland Changleng, MalcolmMalcolm Changleng
 South Africa Joubert, CraigCraig Joubert
 South Africa Lawrence, MarkMark Lawrence
 Wales Watkins, HughHugh Watkins

Format

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

Pool A Pool B Pool C Pool D

 England[29]
 Samoa
 South Africa[29]
 Tonga
 United States

 Australia[29]
 Canada
 Fiji
 Japan
 Wales[29]

 Italy
 New Zealand[29]
 Portugal
 Romania
 Scotland[29]

 Argentina
 France[29][30]
 Georgia
 Ireland[29]
 Namibia

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 1 October 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 22 and 23 September.[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

All times French time (UTC+2)

Pool A

Team Pld W D L TF PF PA +/- BP Pts
 South Africa 4 4 0 0 24 189 47 +142 3 19
 England 4 3 0 1 11 108 88 +20 2 14
 Tonga 4 2 0 2 9 89 96 −7 1 9
 Samoa 4 1 0 3 5 69 143 −74 1 5
 United States 4 0 0 4 7 61 142 −81 1 1
  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

Pool B

Team Pld W D L TF PF PA +/- BP Pts
 Australia 4 4 0 0 30 215 41 +174 4 20
 Fiji 4 3 0 1 14 114 136 −22 3 15
 Wales 4 2 0 2 23 168 105 +63 4 12
 Japan 4 0 1 3 7 64 210 −146 1 3
 Canada 4 0 1 3 6 51 120 −69 0 2
  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

Pool C

Team Pld W D L TF PF PA +/- BP Pts
 New Zealand 4 4 0 0 46 309 35 +274 4 20
 Scotland 4 3 0 1 14 116 66 +50 2 14
 Italy 4 2 0 2 8 85 117 −32 1 9
 Romania 4 1 0 3 5 40 161 −121 1 5
 Portugal 4 0 0 4 4 38 209 −171 1 1
  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

Pool D

Team Pld W D L TF PF PA +/- BP Pts
 Argentina 4 4 0 0 16 143 33 +110 2 18
 France 4 3 0 1 24 188 37 +151 3 15
 Ireland 4 2 0 2 9 64 82 −18 1 9
 Georgia 4 1 0 3 5 50 111 −61 1 5
 Namibia 4 0 0 4 3 30 212 −182 0 0
  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

Knockout stage

Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
                   
6 October – Marseille        
  Australia  10
13 October – Saint-Denis
  England  12  
  England  14
6 October – Cardiff
    France  9  
  New Zealand  18
20 October – Saint-Denis
  France  20  
  England  6
7 October – Marseille
    South Africa  15
  South Africa  37
14 October – Saint-Denis
  Fiji  20  
  South Africa  37 Bronze Final
7 October – Saint-Denis
    Argentina  13  
  Argentina  19   France  10
  Scotland  13     Argentina  34
19 October – Paris

Quarter-finals

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

6 October 2007
21:00
New Zealand  18–20  France Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Attendance: 71,669
Referee: Wayne Barnes (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'

7 October 2007
15:00
South Africa  37–20  Fiji Stade Vélodrome, Marseille
Attendance: 55,943
Referee: Alan Lewis (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'

7 October 2007
21:00
Argentina  19–13  Scotland Stade de France, Saint-Denis
Attendance: 76,866
Referee: Joël Jutge (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

13 October 2007
21:00
England  14–9  France Stade de France, Saint-Denis
Attendance: 80,283
Referee: Jonathan Kaplan (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'

14 October 2007
21:00
South Africa  37–13  Argentina Stade de France, Saint-Denis
Attendance: 77,055
Referee: Steve Walsh (Australia)
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

19 October 2007
21:00
France  10–34  Argentina Parc des Princes, Paris
Attendance: 45,958
Referee: Paul Honiss (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

20 October 2007
21:00
England  6–15  South Africa Stade de France, Saint-Denis
Attendance: 80,430
Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland)
Pen: Wilkinson (2/2) 13', 44' Report Pen: Montgomery (4/4) 7', 16', 40', 51'
Steyn (1/2) 62'

Disciplinary citings

There was some controversy over post-match citings by IRB Citing Commissioners because of apparent inconsistencies between disciplinary sanctions.[34][35][36]

List of citings
Ban
(weeks)
Player Nation Opponent Offence
7 Otar Eloshvili  Georgia France spear tackle[37]
5 Paul Emerick  United States England spear tackle[38]
4 Juan Severino Somoza  Portugal Scotland head-butting[39]
3 Brian Lima  Samoa England high tackle[40]
2 Schalk Burger  South Africa Samoa dangerous play[41][42]
2 Phil Vickery  England United States tripping[43]
2 Mirco Bergamasco  Italy Scotland tripping[44]
1 Hale T-Pole  Tonga Samoa striking[45]
1 Jacques Nieuwenhuis  Namibia France high tackle[46]
1 Alfie Vaeluaga  Samoa South Africa high tackle[47]
1 Seremaia Bai  Fiji South Africa dangerous tackle[48]
cleared François Steyn  South Africa Tonga foul play[49]
cleared Sione Lauaki  New Zealand Romania dangerous tackle[50][51]

Statistics

Teams

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

Source: RugbyWorldCup.com

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  South Africa FB 7 2 22 17 0
91 Felipe Contepomi  Argentina CE 7 3 11 18 0
67 Jonny Wilkinson  England FH 5 0 5 14 5
50 Nick Evans  New Zealand FH/FB 4 2 20 0 0
47 Jean-Baptiste Élissalde  France SH 7 1 12 6 0
46 Chris Paterson  Scotland WG/FH 5 1 10 7 0
44 Pierre Hola  Tonga FH 4 0 7 10 0
43 Lionel Beauxis  France FH 6 1 7 8 0
42 Nicky Little  Fiji FH 3 0 9 8 0
40 Dan Carter  New Zealand FH 3 1 10 5 0
40 Matt Giteau  Australia CE 4 3 8 3 0
40 Bryan Habana  South Africa WG 7 8 0 0 0

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

Source: RugbyWorldCup.com

Top try scorers

Rank Name Team Pos Apps Tries
1 Bryan Habana  South Africa WG 7 8
2 Drew Mitchell  Australia WG 5 7
3 Doug Howlett  New Zealand WG 3 6
3 Shane Williams  Wales WG 4 6
5 Joe Rokocoko  New Zealand WG 3 5
5 Vincent Clerc  France WG 5 5
5 Chris Latham  Australia FB 5 5
8 Rory Lamont  Scotland FB 4 4
8 Sitiveni Sivivatu  New Zealand WG 4 4
8 Jaque Fourie  South Africa CE 6 4
8 Paul Sackey  England WG 6 4
8 JP Pietersen  South Africa WG 7 4
8 Juan Smith  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. 28 September 2002. http://www.rugby.com.au/news/2002_ber/world_cup_bidding_process_underway_14773,4063.html. Retrieved 7 October 2006. 
  3. ^ a b c "IRB clarifies World Cup bid situation". rugby.com.au. 17 November 2002. http://www.rugby.com.au/news/2002_december/irb_clarifies_world_cup_bid_position_14984,7997.html. Retrieved 7 October 2006. 
  4. ^ a b c d e f "France wins right to host 2007 Rugby World Cup". rugby.com.au. 11 April 2003. http://www.rugby.com.au/news/2003_april/france_wins_right_to_host_the_2007_rugby_wor_15381,3851.html. Retrieved 7 October 2006. 
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  22. ^ "RWC 2007 Sponsors". rugbyworldcup.com. http://www.rwc2007.irb.com/sponsors/index.html. Retrieved 14 August 2007. 
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  24. ^ "RWC 2007 Suppliers". rugbyworldcup.com. http://www.rwc2007.irb.com/suppliers/index.html. Retrieved 9 September 2007. 
  25. ^ "TF1 Website". Archived from the original on 24 June 2009. http://www.tf1.fr. Retrieved 21 June 2009. 
  26. ^ "Tonga reveal squad for World Cup". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 10 August 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_union/6941210.stm. Retrieved 2 September 2007. 
  27. ^ "Referees Announced For World Cup". Yahoo! Sport UK. 26 April 2007. http://uk.sports.yahoo.com/26042007/4/referees-announced-world-cup.html. Retrieved 2 May 2007. 
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  30. ^ As well as being an automatic qualifier due to making the quarter finals in 2003, France are the hosts.
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  38. ^ "USA's Paul Emerick suspended for five weeks". rugbyworldcup.com. http://www.rwc2007.irb.com/home/news/newsid=2006393.html. Retrieved 12 November 2008. 
  39. ^ "Severino Somoza suspended for four weeks". rugbyworldcup.com. http://www.rwc2007.irb.com/home/news/newsid=2007358.html. Retrieved 12 November 2008. 
  40. ^ "Lima suspended". rugbyworldcup.com. http://www.rwc2007.irb.com/home/news/newsid=2012307.html. Retrieved 12 November 2008. 
  41. ^ "Burger suspended for four matches". rugbyworldcup.com. http://www.rwc2007.irb.com/home/news/newsid=2006650.html. Retrieved 12 November 2008. 
  42. ^ "Burger suspension reduced". rugbyworldcup.com. http://rwc2007.irb.com/home/news/newsid=2007335.html. Retrieved 12 November 2008. 
  43. ^ "Vickery suspended for two matches". rugbyworldcup.com. http://www.rwc2007.irb.com/home/news/newsid=2006514.html. Retrieved 12 November 2008. 
  44. ^ "Bergamasco suspended for two weeks". rugbyworldcup.com. http://www.rwc2007.irb.com/home/news/newsid=2015881.html. Retrieved 12 November 2008. 
  45. ^ "Pole suspended for one match". rugbyworldcup.com. http://www.rwc2007.irb.com/home/news/newsid=2009791.html. Retrieved 12 November 2008. 
  46. ^ "Nieuwenhuis suspended for one match". rugbyworldcup.com. http://www.rwc2007.irb.com/home/news/newsid=2009699.html. Retrieved 12 November 2008. 
  47. ^ "Samoa's Vaeluaga suspended for one match". rugbyworldcup.com. http://www.rwc2007.irb.com/home/news/newsid=2007088.html. Retrieved 12 November 2008. 
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  51. ^ "Lauaki free to play". rugbyworldcup.com. http://www.rwc2007.irb.com/home/news/newsid=2016163.html. Retrieved 12 November 2008. 

External links

Preceded by
2003 Rugby
World Cup
Rugby World Cup
2007
South Africa
Succeeded by
2011 Rugby
World Cup