1987 Rugby World Cup in Review

Relive the first Rugby World Cup right here at RugbyPass. Our rugby gurus have gone back through the archives to find every detail, result and highlight from the inaugural tournament. Whether you want to know which squads competed or who won the 1987 Rugby World Cup, you’ll find all of the answers below.

From hard fought victories to shock losses, keep scrolling to discover the greatest moments from the 1987 Rugby World Cup.

When was the first Rugby World Cup?

Hosts: New Zealand and Australia
Champions: New Zealand

The inaugural 1987 Rugby World Cup was jointly hosted by New Zealand and Australia. The tournament was contested across 32 matches: 21 games were hosted by New Zealand and 11 games were hosted by Australia.

A total of 16 teams competed to lift the first Webb Ellis Cup. This included the seven International Rugby Football (IRFB) members: Australia, England, France, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland and Wales. These sides dominated the tournament, delivering spectacular performances and a series of one-sided matches.

Of these seven members, co-hosts New Zealand were the firm favourites. The All Blacks enjoyed an incredibly successful tournament, winning each of their matches and outperforming their opponents with ease. This included the 1987 Rugby World Cup final, which saw New Zealand conquer France 29-9.

1987 Rugby World Cup: Statistics

From the 1987 Rugby World Cup squads and venues to the top scorers and final standings, here are the most important statistics from the inaugural tournament.

Participating nations

Unlike later versions of the tournament, the 1987 competition had no qualification process. The participating nations consisted of the seven IRFB members and nine invited nations. Here are the sides that competed at the 1987 Rugby World Cup:

• IRFB members: Australia, England, France, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland and Wales
• AInvited nations: Argentina, Canada, Fiji, Italy, Japan, Romania, United States, Tonga and Zimbabwe

Matches, venues and attendance

The 1987 Rugby World Cup featured 32 matches at 11 venues – seven in New Zealand and five in Australia. The overall attendance was 478,449, with an average of 14,952 spectators per match.

Here are the venues that hosted the 1987 Rugby World Cup:

Who won the 1987 Rugby World Cup?

Champions: New Zealand
Runner-up: France
Third place: Wales

New Zealand won the 1987 Rugby World Cup and dominated the competition. The All Blacks won all six of their matches and they claimed the inaugural Webb Ellis Cup at a canter. As the runner-up, France won four games. They drew in their pool-stage match against Scotland and lost just one game: the final against New Zealand. 

Wales won five games. They narrowly defeated Australia 22-21 – a victory that secured their third-place finish – and suffered one loss against New Zealand during the semi-finals.

Top try and point scorers

Legendary All Black Grant Fox was the top scorer of the 1987 Rugby World Cup. He scored a total of 126 points during the tournament. This figure put him 44 points ahead of Australia’s Michael Lynagh, who was the tournament’s second-highest scorer with 82 points.

Meanwhile, Craig Green and John Kirwan tied for the most tries. These legendary All Blacks both scored six tries apiece during the tournament.

1987 Rugby World Cup: Pool stage review

The IRFB nations trounced the opposition from the get-go. These seven teams continually thwarted the nine invited nations and made easy work of their pool-stage matches. In fact, of the 24 pool-stage games, 12 ended with one of the teams scoring at least 40 points.

The pool stage saw the 1987 Rugby World Cup squads divided into four groups of four. Each team faced the other teams in their pool once, meaning each team played a total of three matches. Two points were awarded for a win and one was awarded for a draw. The top two teams from each pool progressed to the quarter-finals.

Pool 1

Pool 1 featured Australia, England, United States and Japan. The Wallabies thwarted the competition with three wins and finished at the top of their pool. They secured their place with a +67 points difference and 18 tries.

Additionally, England delivered several impressive performances. They scored 15 tries and finished with a +68 points difference.

Pool 2

Pool 2 was contested by Wales, Ireland, Canada and Tonga. Here, Wales emerged on top. They won all three of their games and scored 13 tries. Ireland were defeated by Wales in their opening match and finished in second place.

Pool 3

Pool 3 comprised New Zealand, Fiji, Italy and Argentina. As the favourites, the All Blacks obliterated their opponents. In their three games, they scored 30 tries.

Additionally, this pool saw the biggest margin of victory in the 1987 Rugby World Cup. This happened during the opening match, when New Zealand decimated Italy and notched up a 70-6 win.

Pool 4

Pool 4 contained France, Scotland, Romania and Zimbabwe. France and Scotland were neck-and-neck with two wins and one draw. The match between the two teams was the only draw of the tournament – the game finished 20-20. However, Les Bleus won the pool thanks to their +101 points difference.

After the pool stage concluded, eight teams progressed to the knockout stage of the 1987 Rugby World Cup:

• Pool 1: Australia and England
• Pool 2: Wales and Ireland
• Pool 3: New Zealand and Fiji
• Pool 4: France and Scotland
  

1987 Rugby World Cup: Knockout stage review

From Wales’ dominant performance against England to New Zealand’s victory in the final, here’s an overview of the 1987 Rugby World Cup knockout stage results:

1987 Rugby World Cup quarter finals

The 1987 Rugby World Cup quarter finals featured four decisive victories. The All Blacks delivered a comprehensive 30-3 win against Scotland while Australia beat Ireland 33-15. Next, France overpowered Fiji 31-16 and Wales defeated England 16-3. This meant New Zealand, Australia, France and Wales progressed to the semi finals.

1987 Rugby World Cup semi finals

The 1987 Rugby World Cup semi finals delivered one of the tournament’s most exciting matches: the clash between Australia and France. Both sides delivered intelligent kicks and attacks with France continually levelling the score.

Just as extra-time seemed inevitable, Les Bleus launched an attack from deep within their own territory. The effort culminated in a phenomenal try from Serge Blanco. By the 80th minute, France emerged with a hard fought 30-24 win.

In their semi final, New Zealand delivered another stellar performance to cement their place in the final. The All Blacks scored eight tries and delivered a resolute 49-6 victory over Wales.

1987 Rugby World Cup third-place play-off

The battle for third place was contested by Australia and Wales. After being thwarted by New Zealand in the semi-finals, little was expected of the Welsh side. Meanwhile, the Wallabies squad featured future legends including David Campese and Michael Lynagh.

Despite their efforts, Australia were no match for the gritty Welsh squad who eked out a 22-21 victory.

Wales’ third-place finish remains their greatest Rugby World Cup achievement. In hindsight, this feat is even more impressive as the Welsh side had a somewhat lacklustre pre-tournament warm-up.

1987 Rugby World Cup final

The first Rugby World Cup final was held on 20 June 1987 at Eden Park, Auckland. The stadium was filled to capacity as 48,035 spectators gathered to watch New Zealand defeat France 29-9.

Despite France’s spectacular semi-final against Australia, Les Bleus were unable to replicate the calibre of their previous performance. In fact, France delivered a somewhat low energy showing that resulted in a relatively flat final.

For the All Blacks, Grant Fox scored the bulk of the points, including one conversion, four penalties and one drop goal. Meanwhile Michael Jones, David Kirk and John Kirwan scored one try each. Les Bleus scored one try thanks to Pierre Berbizier.

A historic Rugby World Cup

As the first Rugby World Cup, the 1987 tournament was a historic moment. It marked a new era for the sport and proved that such a large international event would be viable in the long term. Additionally, it also highlighted the huge gulf between established and emerging rugby nations.

The 1987 Rugby World Cup was undoubtedly dominated by the seven IRFB sides. Three of the invited nations failed to win a single pool-stage match while the other six won just one. This led to an overhaul of the tournament’s structure and qualifying was introduced in 1991.