Rugby Union World Cup 1991

1991 Rugby Union World Cup
host	England
World Champion 2nd place 3rd place	Australia England New Zealand
Duration	October 3 - November 2, 1991
Nations	33 (final tournament: 16)
Games	32
Top scorer	Ralph Keyes (68)
Most attempts	Jean-Baptiste Lafond and David Campese (6 each)

The 2nd Rugby Union World Cup took place from October 3rd to November 2nd 1991 , hosted by England . This was the first time a rugby World Cup had been held in the northern hemisphere . World champions were the Australian Wallabies , who beat the English team ( England Rugby ) in the final in London's Twickenham Stadium .

Venues

Only seven of the 32 games were played in the nominal host country. The English federation reached an agreement with the other federations of the Five Nations , so that games also took place in France , Ireland , Scotland and Wales .

city	Stadion	country	capacity
London	Twickenham Stadium	England	75,000
Edinburgh	Murrayfield Stadium	Scotland	67,800
Cardiff	Cardiff Arms Park	Wales	53,000
Dublin	Lansdowne Road	Ireland	49,250
Paris	Parc des Princes	France	48,700
Toulouse	Stade Ernest-Wallon	France	19,000
Villeneuve-d'Ascq	Nord Lille Métropole stadium	France	18,200
Beziers	Stade de la Méditerranée	France	18,000
Leicester	Welford Road Stadium	England	16,800
Brive-la-Gaillarde	Parc Municipal des Sports	France	16,000
Agen	Stade Armandie	France	14,000
Grenoble	Stade Lesdiguières	France	14,000
Bayonne	Stade Jean-Dauger	France	13,500
Gloucester	Kingsholm Stadium	England	12,500
Belfast	Ravenhill Stadium	Ireland	12,300
Llanelli	Stradey Park	Wales	10,800
Pontypool	Pontypool Park	Wales	8,800
Pontypridd	Sardis Road	Wales	7,200
Otley	Cross green	England	5,000

qualification

→ Main article : 1991 Rugby Union World Cup / qualification

16 teams qualified for the 1991 World Cup. England and the other seven teams that had reached the quarter-finals at the 1987 World Cup (each marked with (*)) qualified automatically . 33 teams played qualifying games for the remaining eight starting places.

Africa  Zimbabwe America  Argentina  Canada  United States Oceania  Australia *  Fiji *  New Zealand *  Western Samoa

Asia  Japan Europe  England *  France *  Ireland *  Italy  Romania  Scotland *  Wales *

Preliminary round

There were three points for a win, two points for a draw and one point for a loss. The two best teams in each group qualified for the quarter-finals.

Group A

	country	Games	Victories	Unent.	Ndlg.	Game points	Diff.	Table points
1.	New Zealand	3	3	0	0	95:39	+ 56	9
2.	England	3	2	0	1	85:33	+ 52	7th
3.	Italy	3	1	0	2	57:76	- 19th	5
4th	United States	3	0	0	3	24: 113	- 89	3

3rd October 1991	England	12: 18	New Zealand	Twickenham Stadium , London

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5th October 1991	Italy	30: 9	United States	Cross Green , Otley

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October 8, 1991	New Zealand	46: 6	United States	Kingsholm Stadium , Gloucester

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October 8, 1991	England	36: 6	Italy	Twickenham Stadium, London

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October 11, 1991	England	37: 9	United States	Twickenham Stadium, London

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October 13, 1991	Italy	21:31	New Zealand	Welford Road Stadium , Leicester

Group B

	country	Games	Victories	Unent.	Ndlg.	Game points	Diff.	Table points
1.	Scotland	3	3	0	0	122: 36	+ 86	9
2.	Ireland	3	2	0	1	102: 51	+ 51	7th
3.	Japan	3	1	0	2	77:87	- 10	5
4th	Zimbabwe	3	0	0	3	31: 158	- 127	3

5th October 1991	Scotland	47: 9	Japan	Murrayfield Stadium , Edinburgh

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October 6, 1991	Ireland	55: 11	Zimbabwe	Lansdowne Road , Dublin

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October 9, 1991	Ireland	32:16	Japan	Lansdowne Road, Dublin

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October 9, 1991	Scotland	51: 12	Zimbabwe	Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh

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October 12, 1991	Scotland	24:15	Ireland	Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh

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October 14, 1991	Japan	52: 8	Zimbabwe	Ravenhill Stadium , Belfast

Group C

	country	Games	Victories	Unent.	Ndlg.	Game points	Diff.	Table points
1.	Australia	3	3	0	0	79:25	+ 54	9
2.	Western Samoa	3	2	0	1	54:34	+ 20	7th
3.	Wales	3	1	0	2	32:61	- 29	5
4th	Argentina	3	0	0	3	38:83	- 45	3

4th October 1991	Argentina	19:32	Australia	Stradey Park , Llanelli

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October 6, 1991	Wales	13:16	Western Samoa	Cardiff Arms Park , Cardiff

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October 9, 1991	Australia	9: 3	Western Samoa	Pontypool Park , Pontypool

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October 9, 1991	Wales	16: 7	Argentina	Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff

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October 12, 1991	Wales	3: 38	Australia	Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff

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October 13, 1991	Argentina	12:35	Western Samoa	Sardis Road , Pontypridd

Group D

	country	Games	Victories	Unent.	Ndlg.	Game points	Diff.	Table points
1.	France	3	3	0	0	82:25	+ 57	9
2.	Canada	3	2	0	1	45:33	+ 12	7th
3.	Romania	3	1	0	2	31:64	- 33	5
4th	Fiji	3	0	0	3	27:63	- 36	3

4th October 1991	France	30: 3	Romania	Stade de la Méditerranée , Béziers

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October 6, 1991	Canada	13: 3	Fiji	Stade Jean-Dauger , Bayonne

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October 8, 1991	France	33: 9	Fiji	Stade Lesdiguières , Grenoble

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October 9, 1991	Canada	19: 11	Romania	Stade Ernest-Wallon , Toulouse

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October 12, 1991	Fiji	15: 17	Romania	Parc Municipal des Sports , Brive

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October 13, 1991	France	19: 13	Canada	Stade Armandie , Agen

Final round

	Quarter finals				Semifinals				final
	Scotland	28
	Western Samoa	6th
					Scotland	6th
					England	9
	France	10
	England	19th
									England	6th
									Australia	12
	Canada	13
	New Zealand	29
					New Zealand	6th			Game for third place
					Australia	16
	Ireland	18th							Scotland	6th
	Australia	19th							New Zealand	13

Quarter finals

October 19, 1991	France	10:19	England	Parc des Princes , Paris Referee: David Bishop (NZL)
	Attempts: Lafond Penalty kicks: Lacroix (2)		Attempts: Underwood Carling Elevations: Webb (1) Penalty Kicks: Webb (3)

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October 19, 1991	Scotland	28: 6	Western Samoa	Murrayfield Stadium , Edinburgh Referee: Derek Bevan (WAL)
	Attempts: Jeffrey (2) Stanger Rises: Hastings (2) Penalty Kicks: Hastings (4)		Penalty kicks: Vaea (1) Dropgoals: Bachop (1)

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October 20, 1991	Ireland	18:19	Australia	Lansdowne Road , Dublin Referee: Jim Fleming (SCO)
	Attempts: Hamilton raises: Keyes (1) Penalty kicks: Keyes (3) Dropgoals: Keyes (1)		Attempts: Campese (2) Lynagh Elevations: Lynagh (2) Penalty Kicks: Lynagh (1)

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October 20, 1991	Canada	13:29	New Zealand	Stadium Nord Lille Métropole , Villeneuve-d'Ascq Referee: Fred Howard (ENG)
	Tries: Tynan Charron Elevations: Rees (1) Penalty Kicks: Wyatt (1)		Tries: Timu (2) McCahill Brooke Kirwan Elevations: Fox (3) Penalties: Fox (1)

Semifinals

October 26, 1991	Scotland	6: 9	England	Murrayfield Stadium , Edinburgh Referee: Kerry Fitzgerald (AUS)
	Penalty Kicks: Hastings (2)		Penalty Kicks: Webb (2) Dropgoals: Andrew (1)

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October 27, 1991	Australia	16: 6	New Zealand	Lansdowne Road , Dublin Referee: Jim Fleming (SCO)
	Attempts: Campese Horan Elevations: Lynagh (1) Penalty Kicks: Lynagh (2)		Penalty Kicks: Fox (2)

3rd place match

October 30, 1991	New Zealand	13: 6	Scotland	Cardiff Arms Park , Cardiff Referee: Stephen Hilditch (IRL)
	Attempts: Little Penalty Kicks: Preston (3)		Penalty Kicks: Hastings (2)

final

November 2, 1991	Australia	12: 6	England	Twickenham Stadium , London Referee: Derek Bevan (WAL)
	Attempts: Daly Raise: Lynagh (1) Penalty: Lynagh (2)		Penalty Kicks: Webb (2)

World Champion 1991

Australia
(first title)

statistics

Teams

team	Games	Victories	undecided eliminated	low lying	Points	tries	elevated Ungen	criminal kicks	Jump kicks
Scotland	6th	4th	0	2	162	20th	14th	16	2
New Zealand	6th	5	0	1	143	19th	11	15th	0
Australia	6th	6th	0	0	126	17th	11	12	0
Ireland	4th	2	0	2	120	13	7th	16	2
England	6th	4th	0	2	119	11	9	17th	2
France	4th	3	0	1	92	13	5	10	0
Japan	3	1	0	2	77	13	5	4th	1
Western Samoa	4th	2	0	2	60	8th	5	5	1
Canada	4th	2	0	2	58	6th	2	8th	2
Italy	3	1	0	2	57	7th	7th	5	0
Argentina	3	0	0	3	38	4th	2	4th	2
Wales	3	1	0	2	32	3	1	6th	0
Romania	3	1	0	2	31	5	1	3	0
Zimbabwe	3	0	0	3	31	6th	2	1	0
Fiji	3	0	0	3	27	1	1	3	4th
United States	3	0	0	3	24	2	2	4th	0
total	32				1197	148	85	129	16

Most points scored

rank	player	team	position	Games	tries	elevated Ungen	criminal kicks	Jump kicks	Total
1.	Ralph Keyes	Ireland	Connection half	4th	0	7th	16	2	68
2.	Michael Lynagh	Australia	Connection half	6th	2	11	12	0	66
3.	Gavin Hastings	Scotland	Goalkeeper	5	1	9	13	0	61
4th	Jonathan Webb	England	Goalkeeper	5	1	5	14th	0	56
5.	Grant Fox	New Zealand	Connection half	4th	0	7th	10	0	44
6th	Didier Camberabero	France	Connection half	3	1	5	6th	0	32
7th	Diego Domínguez	Italy	Connection half	3	0	7th	5	0	29
	Takahiro Hosokawa	Japan	Goalkeeper	3	1	5	4th	1	29
9.	Mathew Vaea	Western Samoa	Half of the crowd	4th	0	5	5	0	25th
10.	Jean-Baptiste Lafond	France	Outer three-quarters	4th	6th	0	0	0	24
	David Campese	Australia	Outer three-quarters	6th	6th	0	0	0	24

Most attempts made

rank	player	team	position	Games	tries
1.	Jean-Baptiste Lafond	France	Outer three-quarters	4th	6th
	David Campese	Australia	Outer three-quarters	6th	6th
3.	Brian Robinson	Ireland	Number eight	3	4th
	Tim Horan	Australia	Inner three quarters	6th	4th
	Ivan Tukalo	Scotland	Outer three-quarters	6th	4th
	Rory Underwood	England	Outer three-quarters	6th	4th
7th	Martin Teran Nougues	Argentina	Outer three-quarters	3	3
	Yoshihito Yoshida	Japan	Outer three-quarters	3	3
	John Timu	New Zealand	Goalkeeper	4th	3
	Terry Wright	New Zealand	Outer three-quarters	4th	3
	Tony Stanger	Scotland	Outer three-quarters	6th	3

Web links

• Review of worldcupweb.com