The Rugby World Cup in France will be the 10th since the first Cup match kicked off at Eden Park on May 22, 1987.
Phil Gifford, the only New Zealand journalist to have reported at all nine Cups to date, rates them in order of quality.
The best Rugby World Cups of all time (ranked)
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France lost 14-9 to England in a semifinal in Paris, which led to the dog of all finals, played between England and South Africa. In terms of style think dull and duller.
The final: Eighty minutes of rugby. Not one try. The Boks won 14 (five penalty goals) to 6 (two penalty goals). If they could bottle this final it’d put Mogadon out of business.
NZ reaction: Near hysteria, which got more intense when the NZRU reappointed coaches Graham Henry, Steve Hansen and Wayne Smith, ahead of Robbie Deans, a winning Crusaders’ coach.
Weird offshoot: In the aftermath of the Cardiff horror show, on May 21, 2008, in a first for the game, NZRU officials and the coaches held an off-the-record media forum at Eden Park to try to clear the air. After three hours of heated discussion, Wayne Smith made a passionate plea: “When will we win your trust again?” Nobody in the room had the heart to say: “When you win the World Cup.”
8) 1991 - UK, Ireland and France
Perhaps as an insurance policy for nervous organisers, games in the first Cup in the northern hemisphere were scattered from Edinburgh to Pontypool to Dublin to Toulouse to London.
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It can’t be a coincidence that the best tournaments have been hosted by, at the most, two countries. (Every game in this year’s Cup being played in France is the best indication of success for the ‘23 tournament.)
The final: The Wallabies got to the final against England playing daring rugby, which saw them race past the All Blacks, 16-6, in a semifinal in Dublin.
Aussie coach Bob Dwyer and superstar wing David Campese then conspired in the most brilliant con job in Cup history. England had made the final with gritty forward play and relentless kicking by first-five Rob Andrew.
Dwyer slipped the leash on Campese with the media, and Campo made headlines as during the week he relentlessly bagged England’s tactics as boring and killing the game.
At Twickenham the English tried to run the ball and couldn’t manage it. Australia won 12-6.
NZ reaction: The decision by the NZRU to appoint Alex Wyllie and John Hart as co-coaches was a disaster, and when Hart applied to take sole charge in 1992 he was beaten to the job by Laurie Mains. In the most remarkable welcome ever for a new All Black coach, NZRU chairman Eddie Tonks rings Mains, and says: “The shit will hit the fan now.”
Weird offshoot: Not so much weird this time, as impressive. The toast of the Cup are Samoa (then playing as Western Samoa). They make such an impact, beating Wales in their first game, that in the official programme for the final Samoa’s leader Peter Fatialofa is named captain of a World Cup XV.
7) 2019 - Japan
A Cup that was predicated more on future commercial hopes than rugby realities. The word “market” was key to Japan winning the rights, with World Rugby obviously hoping the Cup would open up a flood of money generated by a tournament held in Asia.
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The organisers were helpful and energetic, but staying in Tokyo, a city of 13 million people, you felt the World Cup barely scraped the surface of local interest.
The final: A triumph for the Springboks, who became the first team to lose a pool game (23-13 to the All Blacks), and then go on to win the Cup, beating England, 32-12.
England had been the favourites going into the final in Yokohama, after steamrolling the All Blacks, 19-7, in the semifinal.
But where the All Blacks had struggled with the physicality of England, South Africa didn’t just match the onslaught of the men in white, they overpowered them.
NZ reaction: Even the usually laconic Steve Hansen seemed devastated by the loss to England, and there was a kinder response than usual from Kiwis to a team coming home empty-handed. Hostility only emerged when Ian Foster, Hansen’s most senior assistant coach, was appointed as the new national coach ahead of Scott Robertson.
Weird offshoot: The loss in the final led to the unique sight of England’s coach Eddie Jones lost for words. The man of a thousand one-liners made the stark admission: “I don’t know why we didn’t play well today.”
6) 2003 - Australia
This would have been a joint Cup, with 24 games, two quarter-finals and a semifinal in New Zealand. But a massive falling out in 2002 between New Zealand and the International Rugby Board over advertising at grounds saw every match shifted to Australia. In the uproar that followed the entire NZRU board resigned.
The tournament was largely split between Melbourne and Sydney, and, even in strongholds for Aussie Rules and rugby league, there was a flurry of interest as, in an upset, the Wallabies proved too good for the All Blacks, 22-10, in the semifinal in Sydney. Aussie’s star halfback George Gregan can’t help himself and yells “four more years” at his opponent Byron Kelleher.
All was set for a barnstorming triumph for the Wallabies, but the most tedious team in the tournament, England, had other ideas.
The final: England deserved to win and it was fitting that in extra-time England’s hero was first-five Jonny Wilkinson who dropped the goal for a 20-17 victory. Sadly, the grinding, forward-dominated, England style would be a blueprint for future Cup winners.
NZ reaction: Coach John Mitchell is sacked, and replaced by Graham Henry. But unlike in 1999, and the vitriol John Hart suffered, there is no massive media or public backlash against Mitchell.
Weird offshoot: For a brief, golden time their world champion rugby players were the heroes of English sport. A parade through London in two open-topped buses drew 750,000 cheering people and ended with the whole team being greeted at Buckingham Palace by the Queen. And coach Clive Woodward was knighted.
5) 1999 - Britain, Ireland and France
There were fascinating back stories to the ‘99 Cup.
In the rebellious spirit that is deep in the DNA of the French people, players in the French side, which barely scraped into the quarter-finals, had told their coach Jean-Claude Skrela he could stay in the same hotel and travel on the team bus, but control of the team would be completely in the players’ hands.
Meanwhile, the Wallabies, impeccably coached by Rod McQueen and captained by the great John Eales, always looked destined for the final.
The All Blacks would feel the weight of French player power in a semifinal on a grey day at Twickenham where, despite some Herculean moments from Jonah Lomu, the French swept to a 43-31 victory.
The final: Eales’ leadership would never be better displayed than in the final at Cardiff with France.
Early in the game an unseemly aspect of French rugby emerged, thuggery at the breakdown, in an era before television match officials. Eales, who had the sort of respect from referees Richie McCaw would later command, told South African ref Andre Watson that unless he clamped down on the French, Eales would take his team from the field.
Watson started penalising France, the Wallabies started playing with freedom, Matt Burke kicked seven penalty goals, and Australia took the Cup, 35-12.
NZ reaction: There was a vicious backlash against All Black coach John Hart. “Few criminals have been vilified as much as we were,” Jeff Wilson would say, “and in particular as much as John Hart was.”
Weird offshoot: Not long after the ‘99 Cup, Hart’s horse DG Holmes raced at Addington Raceway in Christchurch. The horse was roundly booed by the local crowd.
4) 2011 - NZ
In nine World Cups since 1987 just two have only been played in a country where rugby is a dominant sport, South Africa in ‘95 and New Zealand in 2011.
Before the International Rugby Board meeting in Dublin in 2005, English bookmakers had Japan as 20-1 favourites to host the ‘11 Cup. When the IRB chose New Zealand the petulance among the chattering class in Britain was unbounded.
“If ever the game had a golden opportunity to embrace the future, to herald the advent of a bright new dawn in the sport, it was this week in Dublin,” wrote Peter Bills in The Independent. “Sadly, it turned its back on tomorrow and retreated into the past where it felt most comfortable.”
The tournament itself was actually embraced to a degree that made the slogan “A stadium of four million” not an embarrassment, but a statement of fact.
The final: After being bundled out in the quarter-finals at the 2007 Cup, there was extraordinary pressure on the All Blacks in the final against France. Coach Graham Henry may not be entirely joking when he now says that he and his wife may have had to emigrate to Brazil if France had won.
Thankfully he’s able to quip that they “trashed France 8-7″ thanks to a penalty goal in the second half by fourth-choice first-five Stephen Donald, in the side because of injuries to Dan Carter, Colin Slade and Aaron Cruden.
NZ reaction: Huge relief from players, coaching staff, and the public.
Weird offshoot: The Cup saved the hide of an Ayrshire bobby calf in Northland. He was about to go to the freezing works when the son of the farmer noticed a white blaze on his forehead in the shape of a silver fern. In a matter of days he’s on national television, dubbed Richie McCow, and is predicting game results by choosing between feed in tins painted in team colours.
3) 2015 - England and Wales
Why was this one so good? The fourth World Cup in the northern hemisphere was the first to not involve cross-Channel games, so even in a city as massive and diverse as London you were aware the Cup was on.
It helped that the autumn weather was stunning. The walk from the Twickenham railway station to the stadium was almost always a stroll in the sun.
And to cap it all off, the tone for the Cup was set by an All Black team determined to run the ball, score tries, and enjoy themselves. They weren’t unsmiling giants. They welcomed delighted players from Namibia and Georgia into their changing room for a drink after pool games.
After a press conference in Swansea I spoke briefly with coach Steve Hansen. The words, “It’s been the best fun in the world,” were out of my mouth before I had time to think. He paused very briefly and murmured, “Yeah, it has been, hasn’t it?”
Even the notoriously hard-to-please British media had kind words for Hansen. David Walsh, the Irish writer whose investigative journalism exposed Lance Armstrong, summed up Hansen brilliantly when he wrote: “He gives the impression that if he’d been the first man to come upon one of those geysers in Rotorua, he wouldn’t have gone round telling people he’d invented hot water.”
The final: The All Blacks hit a huge peak in their quarter-final in Cardiff, when they thrashed France 62-13, but had to battle hard to beat South Africa at Twickenham 20-18 in the semifinal, the only knockout game played in rain.
Facing the Wallabies in the final there was never a moment when it felt that the Aussies might win. Near the end of the match, when Beauden Barrett kicked and chased and scored a try to make it 32-17, Dan Carter was in such a joyous mood he kicked the conversion with his right foot. The previous 292 conversions he’d made for the All Blacks were with his natural left foot.
The attitude of the 2015 team was summed up for me after the final, as individual players were wheeled out for the media. Wing Nehe Milner-Skudder, who we’d seen score in the 38th minute, showed old-school courtesy as he shook hands with four Kiwi journalists, saying, “Hi, Nehe Milner-Skudder” as he did so.
NZ reaction: Delight and, four years later, a knighthood for Steve Hansen.
Weird offshoot: World Rugby’s coach of the year in 2015 wasn’t Hansen but Michael Cheika, the Australian coach. Go figure.
2) 1987 - NZ and Australia
New Zealand and Australia had to move mountains, in the form of deeply conservative rugby leaders in Britain, to get the first World Cup off the ground. The Scotland Rugby Union president Gordon Masson famously said there would only be a Cup “over my dead body”.
No major sponsors were interested and even in New Zealand the reaction was initially so lukewarm that Eden Park was less than half-full for the opening game between the All Blacks and Italy.
Thankfully, in that match, won 70-6 by the All Blacks, John Kirwan scored as great a try as rugby has ever seen, running 80 metres and beating six tacklers to score.
The All Blacks marched on, and across the Tasman the Wallabies faced a semifinal in Sydney against France, in what would be the most exciting game of the tournament. As only the French can, they snatched victory with a sensational, last-gasp, long-range try to their genius fullback Serge Blanco and won 28-24.
In Brisbane, in the other semi, the All Blacks whipped Wales 49-6 and the tournament was such a success that suddenly the World Cup didn’t seem such a bad idea to the old coots in the north, who quickly seized the chance to host in 1991.
(Scotland’s Gordon Masson, didn’t die of frustration, and was spotted in the VIP section at the ‘91 final at Twickenham, happily planting his well-upholstered butt next to his union’s patron, Princess Anne.)
The final: By the time the final at Eden Park rolled around the country was in love with the Cup.
A ticket for the showdown at Eden Park was so precious they were changing hands for $1000 (equivalent to $3590 today).
Iconic All Blacks had emerged. Kirwan was an electric presence on the wing, while No 8 Wayne “Buck” Shelford was not only a fearsome runner and tackler, but also led the charge to having a dramatic, fierce haka.
Captain David Kirk was a fresh-faced, articulate young doctor with a smile that melted hearts, and a newcomer to the team, flanker Michael Jones, was starting a career that was so brilliant that a statue showing him diving for his try in the final was unveiled outside Eden Park in 2011.
As they were throughout the ‘87 Cup, the All Blacks were magnificent, sweeping France aside 29-9. A grace note was provided by Kirk when he drew injured squad captain Andy Dalton in to join him when the Cup was presented in the south stand at Eden Park.
NZ reaction: Rugby, which had battled for public affection over contact with the apartheid era, was again the sporting darling.
It helped that the ‘87 All Blacks had in coach Brian Lochore, Kirk, Kirwan and Jones, people who could be admired just as much off the field as on it.
Weird offshoot: When they return home the whole French team and their families are sent by the French union for a holiday in the French West Indies. And a wealthy sponsor gives every player a $20,000 Patek Phillippe watch. By contrast, less than 48 hours after the final All Black wing Craig Green is shivering in a bitter Christchurch southerly as he hammers nails into a roof in Linwood, back to his job as a carpenter.
1) 1995 - South Africa
The Cup that had everything, from Nelson Mandela, to uniting a nation, to sparking professional rugby, to scandal and claims of poisoning, to having the sport’s first, and to date only, truly international superstar, Jonah Lomu.
Apartheid-era South Africa had been banned from the first two Cups, but with apartheid abolished in 1991 and Mandela elected president in 1994, the way was cleared for an extraordinary sporting celebration.
A veteran South African rugby journalist, Dan Retief, told me on the day of the final at Ellis Park: “I have to admit that when it was announced Mandela had become our president I cried like a baby. He’s our hope for the future.”
My friend’s dream of a united, happy South Africa, may not have been realised in the decades since, but in the immediate aftermath of the ‘95 Cup it actually seemed possible.
Johannesburg in August 1995 was a place where you could hire an AK-47 rifle for the day to settle old scores, but for a golden few weeks the Springboks, seen for decades as a symbol of minority white rule, became heroes, unifying the whole nation.
On the field there was some amazing rugby, much of it revolving around 20-year-old All Black wing Jonah Lomu, who swept past opposing tacklers like a Marvel movie hero.
The closest rugby ever came to capturing the United States was when American TV started showing his brilliant running. In New York one new Lomu fan was Rupert Murdoch, who told his man negotiating a $US555 million rugby television deal: “We’ve got to have that guy.”
The final: The capacity crowd, already on the cusp of hometown hysteria, roared when President Mandela appeared in the official section wearing a Springbok jersey given to him by their captain Francois Pienaar.
Then a South African Airways 747 jet bursts over the top of an open stand, clearing the upper deck by just 60 metres. It felt as if the world was one giant wind tunnel. On the undercarriage were the words “Good Luck Bokke”.
Mandela meets the team on the field. When he gets to Lomu his face lights up and, before Lomu can shake his hand, Mandela says: “Hi Jonah, nice to meet you.”
There are no tries in the final, but it’s so close and dramatic there’s barely a moment to catch a breath. After 80 minutes the score is 9-all, and 13 minutes into extra-time Joel Stransky kicks the dropped goal that wins the World Cup, and the game, 15-12.
NZ reaction: It took most Kiwis, including myself, some time to acknowledge the fact this Cup was so special. It emerged that nine of the 15 All Blacks who started the final had been ill leading into the final and coach Laurie Mains believed they’d been deliberately poisoned. Mains may have been right, but with time a bigger picture emerged.
“I was disappointed about the result,” All Black captain Sean Fitzpatrick would say later, “but it was fantastic to be part of that final. You felt you were part of something, part of history, part of another major step in the reunification of a country.”
Weird offshoot: The ‘95 Cup was so dramatic that in 2009 Clint Eastwood made it into a Hollywood movie, Invictus, with wee Matt Damon playing Francois Pienaar. Morgan Freeman was more believable as Nelson Mandela.
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