Introduction
The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth edition of the men’s Rugby World Cup. It was hosted mainly by France, with some games played in Cardiff (Wales) and Edinburgh (Scotland), from 7 September to 20 October 2007.
- Host nation: France
- Teams: 20
- Matches: 48
- Total attendance: 2,265,182 (about 47,191 per match)
- Champions: 🇿🇦 South Africa (2nd title)
- Runners-up: 🏴 England
- Third place: 🇦🇷 Argentina
- Top points scorer: Percy Montgomery (South Africa) – 105 points
- Top try scorer: Bryan Habana (South Africa) – 8 tries
The tournament opened with France vs Argentina at the Stade de France. The final, also at the Stade de France, saw South Africa beat England 15–6, thanks entirely to kicking (no tries were scored). Percy Montgomery and Frans Steyn kicked all the Springboks’ points.
Teams and Qualification
20 national teams took part:
- Automatic qualifiers: the 8 quarter-finalists from 2003
- 12 more teams came through a long regional qualifying process (Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe, Oceania).
The pools:
- Pool A: South Africa, England, Tonga, Samoa, United States
- Pool B: Australia, Fiji, Wales, Japan, Canada
- Pool C: New Zealand, Scotland, Italy, Romania, Portugal
- Pool D: Argentina, France, Ireland, Georgia, Namibia
Portugal were the only World Cup debutants, and also the only fully amateur side at the tournament.
Pool Format & Points
The pool stage had 4 groups of 5 teams, round-robin:
- Win: 4 points
- Draw: 2 points
- Loss: 0 points
- Bonus points:
- 1 point for scoring 4+ tries
- 1 point for losing by 7 points or fewer
Top two teams in each pool advanced to the quarter-finals.
The top three teams in each pool automatically qualified for the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
Pool Stage – Group Results
Pool A
Teams: South Africa, England, Tonga, Samoa, USA
Final standings:
- 🇿🇦 South Africa – 19 pts (4 wins, 3 bonus)
- 🏴 England – 14 pts
- 🇹🇴 Tonga – 9 pts
- 🇼🇸 Samoa – 5 pts
- 🇺🇸 United States – 1 pt
Key results:
- England 28–10 USA
- South Africa 59–7 Samoa
- England 0–36 South Africa – heavy defeat for the defending champions
- South Africa 30–25 Tonga – Tonga pushed the Boks very hard
- England 36–20 Tonga
- South Africa 64–15 USA
Story of the pool:
South Africa dominated and sent a strong message by crushing England 36–0. Tonga impressed with their physicality and almost shocked the Springboks.
Pool B
Teams: Australia, Fiji, Wales, Japan, Canada
Final standings:
- 🇦🇺 Australia – 20 pts (4 wins, 4 bonus)
- 🇫🇯 Fiji – 15 pts
- 🏴 Wales – 12 pts
- 🇯🇵 Japan – 3 pts
- 🇨🇦 Canada – 2 pts
Key results:
- Australia 91–3 Japan
- Wales 42–17 Canada
- Japan 31–35 Fiji – thriller in Toulouse
- Wales 20–32 Australia
- Fiji 29–16 Canada
- Wales 73–18 Japan
- Australia 55–12 Fiji
- Canada 12–12 Japan
- Wales 34–38 Fiji – classic match
Story of the pool:
Australia were comfortable winners, but the biggest story was Fiji’s dramatic win over Wales to reach the quarter-finals and knock Wales out.
Pool C
Teams: New Zealand, Scotland, Italy, Romania, Portugal
Final standings:
- 🇳🇿 New Zealand – 20 pts (4 wins, 4 bonus)
- 🏴 Scotland – 14 pts
- 🇮🇹 Italy – 9 pts
- 🇷🇴 Romania – 5 pts
- 🇵🇹 Portugal – 1 pt
Key results:
- New Zealand 76–14 Italy
- Scotland 56–10 Portugal
- Italy 24–18 Romania
- New Zealand 108–13 Portugal
- Scotland 42–0 Romania
- Italy 31–5 Portugal
- Scotland 0–40 New Zealand
- Romania 14–10 Portugal
- New Zealand 85–8 Romania
- Scotland 18–16 Italy
Story of the pool:
New Zealand were in terrifying form, scoring 309 points and 36 tries in four games. Scotland narrowly beat Italy to secure the second qualifying spot.
Pool D
Teams: Argentina, France, Ireland, Georgia, Namibia
Final standings:
- 🇦🇷 Argentina – 18 pts
- 🇫🇷 France – 15 pts
- 🇮🇪 Ireland – 9 pts
- 🇬🇪 Georgia – 5 pts
- 🇳🇦 Namibia – 0 pts
Key results:
- France 12–17 Argentina – opening upset in Paris
- Ireland 32–17 Namibia
- Argentina 33–3 Georgia
- Ireland 14–10 Georgia – very close
- France 87–10 Namibia
- France 25–3 Ireland
- Argentina 63–3 Namibia
- Georgia 30–0 Namibia
- France 64–7 Georgia
- Ireland 15–30 Argentina
Story of the pool:
Argentina were the sensation of the group, beating both France and Ireland and topping the pool. France recovered from the opening loss to qualify second; Ireland crashed out at the pool stage.
Knockout Stage
Quarter-finals
- Australia 10–12 England (Marseille)
- England, written off after the pool loss to South Africa, kicked their way to a narrow win through Jonny Wilkinson’s penalties.
- New Zealand 18–20 France (Cardiff)
- One of the most famous World Cup upsets: France came back from behind with tries from Dusautoir and Jauzion. New Zealand, favourites for the title, were eliminated.
- South Africa 37–20 Fiji (Marseille)
- Fiji produced a brilliant spell to come back into the game, but South Africa’s power and depth told in the final quarter.
- Argentina 19–13 Scotland (Saint-Denis)
- A controlled performance from the Pumas, driven by Felipe Contepomi’s boot and Juan Martín Hernández’s tactical kicking.
Semi-finals
- England 14–9 France (Saint-Denis)
- An early try from Josh Lewsey and late points from Jonny Wilkinson took England to a second consecutive final, knocking out the hosts.
- South Africa 37–13 Argentina (Saint-Denis)
- South Africa were clinical, with two tries from Bryan Habana and one from scrum-half Fourie du Preez.
Bronze Final (Third Place)
- France 10–34 Argentina (Paris)
- Argentina beat France for the second time in the tournament and secured a historic third place. Felipe Contepomi scored two tries and plenty of points with the boot.
Final – England vs South Africa
Result:
🏴 England 6–15 South Africa 🇿🇦
Venue: Stade de France, Saint-Denis
Attendance: 80,430
- England:
- Penalties: Jonny Wilkinson (2)
- South Africa:
- Penalties: Percy Montgomery (4), Frans Steyn (1)
No tries were scored. South Africa dominated territory and the kicking battle. Percy Montgomery finished as the tournament’s top points scorer, and South Africa lifted their second Rugby World Cup, after 1995.
Standout Players & Statistics
Top Points Scorers
- Percy Montgomery (South Africa) – 105 points
- Felipe Contepomi (Argentina) – 91
- Jonny Wilkinson (England) – 67
- Nick Evans (New Zealand) – 50
- Jean-Baptiste Élissalde (France) – 47
Top Try Scorer
- Bryan Habana (South Africa) – 8 tries
- Equalled Jonah Lomu’s record for most tries in a single World Cup at the time.
Other notable backs included Felipe Contepomi, Dan Carter, Matt Giteau and Chris Paterson, all heavily involved in their teams’ scoring.