List of Rugby Union World Cup hat-tricks

Bryan Habana (shown with ball in hand) playing for South Africa against Samoa during the 2007 World Cup, a game in which Habana scored four tries.

In the sport of rugby union a hat-trick is achieved when a player scores three or more tries in a game. There have been 49 hat-tricks scored at the Rugby World Cup, which has taken place every four years since 1987. In the World Cup hat-tricks are much more likely to occur in the pool stages where the higher ranked teams, such as New Zealand, who have scored twelve World Cup hat-tricks, are matched against much lesser teams, such as Namibia, who have conceded hat-tricks on nine occasions. There have only been two hat-tricks in the knock out stages, both occurred during the 1995 World Cup; South Africa's Chester Williams scored four tries against Samoa in the quarter-finals and this was followed by Jonah Lomu, of New Zealand, who also scored four tries, against England in the semi-finals.[1]

Marc Ellis holds the record for the most tries scored in a World Cup game. Ellis scored six times against Japan in 1995 at the Free State Stadium, two of Ellis's team-mates, Eric Rush and Jeff Wilson, also scored hat-tricks in the game. This feat was repeated eight years later at the Adelaide Oval by Mat Rogers, Matt Giteau and Lote Tuqiri, who helped Australia to a 142–0 victory over Namibia.[2]

Only two players, Jeff Wilson of New Zealand and Vincent Clerc of France, have scored two World Cup hat-tricks. Each player's hat-tricks were spread over two tournaments; Wilson's three tries in 1995 were followed by another three against Italy in 1999 and Clerc's were scored against Namibia in 2007 and Canada in 2011. Of the Six Nations and Four Nations teams, only Italy have failed to score a hat-trick at the World Cup. Other than the Six and Four Nations teams, Fiji and Samoa, with hat-tricks scored by Vereniki Goneva (four tries) and Alesana Tuilagi respectively, are the only teams on this list.[1]

Key

List of hat-tricks

No. Tries Player For Against Stage Venue Date
1 4 Gallagher, JohnJohn Gallagher  New Zealand  Fiji Pool Lancaster Park, Christchurch 27 May 1987
2 4 Green, CraigCraig Green  New Zealand  Fiji Pool Lancaster Park, Christchurch 27 May 1987
3 3 Webbe, GlenGlen Webbe  Wales  Tonga Pool FMG Stadium, Palmerston North 29 May 1987
4 3 Harrison, MikeMike Harrison  England  Japan Pool Concord Oval, Sydney 30 May 1987
5 3 Jeffrey, JohnJohn Jeffrey  Scotland  Romania Pool Carisbrook, Dunedin 2 June 1987
6 3 Camberabero, DidierDidier Camberabero  France  Zimbabwe Pool Eden Park, Auckland 2 June 1987
7 3 Modin, RodolpheRodolphe Modin  France  Zimbabwe Pool Eden Park, Auckland 2 June 1987
8 4 Evans, IeuanIeuan Evans  Wales  Canada Pool Rugby Park Stadium, Invercargill 3 June 1987
9 3 Mullin, BrendanBrendan Mullin  Ireland  Tonga Pool Ballymore Stadium, Brisbane 3 June 1987
10 4 Robinson, BrianBrian Robinson  Ireland  Zimbabwe Pool Lansdowne Road, Dublin 6 October 1991
11 3 Wright, TerryTerry Wright  New Zealand  United States Pool Kingsholm, Gloucester 8 October 1991
12 3 Lafond, Jean-BaptisteJean-Baptiste Lafond  France  Fiji Pool Stade Lesdiguières, Grenoble 8 October 1991
13 3 Tukalo, IwanIwan Tukalo  Scotland  Zimbabwe Pool Murrayfield, Edinburgh 9 October 1991
14 4 Hastings, GavinGavin Hastings  Scotland  Ivory Coast Pool Olympia Park, Rustenburg 26 May 1995
15 3 Thomas, GarethGareth Thomas  Wales  Japan Pool Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein 27 May 1995
16 6 Ellis, MarcMarc Ellis  New Zealand  Japan Pool Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein 4 June 1995
17 3 Rush, EricEric Rush  New Zealand  Japan Pool Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein 4 June 1995
18 3 Wilson, JeffJeff Wilson (1/2)  New Zealand  Japan Pool Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein 4 June 1995
19 4 Williams, ChesterChester Williams  South Africa  Samoa Quarter-final Ellis Park, Johannesburg 10 June 1995
20 4 Lomu, JonahJonah Lomu  New Zealand  England Semi-final Newlands, Cape Town 18 June 1995
21 4 Wood, KeithKeith Wood  Ireland  United States Pool Lansdowne Road, Dublin 2 October 1999
22 3 Kefu, ToutaiToutai Kefu  Australia  Romania Pool Ravenhill, Belfast 3 October 1999
23 3 Mola, UgoUgo Mola  France  Namibia Pool Stade Chaban-Delmas, Bordeaux 8 October 1999
24 3 Wilson, JeffJeff Wilson (2/2)  New Zealand  Italy Pool Galpharm Stadium, Huddersfield 14 October 1999
25 3 Jauzion, YannickYannick Jauzion  France  Fiji Pool Lang Park, Brisbane 11 October 2003
26 3 van der Westhuizen, JoostJoost van der Westhuizen  South Africa  Uruguay Pool Subiaco Oval, Perth 11 October 2003
27 3 Gaitán, MartínMartín Gaitán  Argentina  Namibia Pool Central Coast Stadium, Gosford 14 October 2003
28 4 Muliaina, MilsMils Muliaina  New Zealand  Canada Pool Docklands Stadium, Melbourne 17 October 2003
29 3 Rogers, MatMat Rogers  Australia  Romania Pool Lang Park, Brisbane 18 October 2003
30 3 Giteau, MattMatt Giteau  Australia  Namibia Pool Adelaide Oval 25 October 2003
31 5 Latham, ChrisChris Latham  Australia  Namibia Pool Adelaide Oval 25 October 2003
32 3 Tuqiri, LoteLote Tuqiri  Australia  Namibia Pool Adelaide Oval 25 October 2003
33 3 Liebenberg, BrianBrian Liebenberg  France  United States Pool Wollongong Showground 31 October 2003
34 5 Lewsey, JoshJosh Lewsey  England  Uruguay Pool Lang Park, Brisbane 2 November 2003
35 3 Howlett, DougDoug Howlett  New Zealand  Italy Pool Stade Vélodrome, Marseille 8 September 2007
36 3 Elsom, RockyRocky Elsom  Australia  Japan Pool Stade de Gerland, Lyon 8 September 2007
37 4 Habana, BryanBryan Habana  South Africa  Samoa Pool Parc des Princes, Paris 9 September 2007
38 3 Clerc, VincentVincent Clerc (1/2)  France  Namibia Pool Stadium Municipal, Toulouse 16 September 2007
39 3 Hogg, AllisterAllister Hogg  Scotland  Romania Pool Murrayfield, Edinburgh 18 September 2007
40 3 Mitchell, DrewDrew Mitchell  Australia  Fiji Pool Stade de la Mosson, Montpellier 23 September 2007
41 3 Rokocoko, JoeJoe Rokocoko  New Zealand  Romania Pool Stadium Municipal, Toulouse 29 September 2007
42 4 Goneva, VerenikiVereniki Goneva  Fiji  Namibia Pool Rotorua International Stadium 10 September 2011
43 3 Tuilagi, AlesanaAlesana Tuilagi  Samoa  Namibia Pool Rotorua International Stadium 14 September 2011
44 3 Clerc, VincentVincent Clerc (2/2)  France  Canada Pool McLean Park, Napier 18 September 2011
45 3 Ashley-Cooper, AdamAdam Ashley-Cooper  Australia  United States Pool Westpac Stadium, Wellington 23 September 2011
46 3 Cueto, MarkMark Cueto  England  Romania Pool Otago Stadium, Dunedin 24 September 2011
47 3 Ashton, ChrisChris Ashton  England  Romania Pool Otago Stadium, Dunedin 24 September 2011
48 3 Williams, ScottScott Williams  Wales  Namibia Pool Yarrow Stadium, New Plymouth 26 September 2011
49 4 Guildford, ZacZac Guildford  New Zealand  Canada Pool Westpac Stadium, Wellington 2 October 2011

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Statsguru / Test matches / Player records / Rugby World Cup / Tries scored: greater than or equal to 3". ESPN Scrum. Retrieved 8 September 2011.
  2. ↑ "Rugby World Cup, Pool A - Adelaide, 25 October 2003, 15:30 local, 06:00 GMT / Australia (69) 142 - 0 (0) Namibia (FT)". ESPN Scrum. Retrieved 8 September 2011.