Ireland at the Rugby World Cup

Map of nations' best results, excluding nations which unsuccessfully participated in qualifying tournaments.

The Ireland national rugby union team have played all eight Rugby World Cup tournaments. They have played in the quarter-finals at all but two tournaments, but have yet to progress to the semi-finals. Strangely, Ireland has never played either South Africa or England in a RWC match.

Ireland has competed at every Rugby World Cup since the tournament was first held in Australia and New Zealand in 1987. After a loss to Wales, Ireland finished second in their pool in 1987 but were then knocked out by Australia in their quarter final in Sydney. In 1991 Ireland again lost only the one match in pool play (to Scotland). They again met the Australians in the quarter-finals, who defeated them by one point. Runner-up in their pool in 1995 to the All Blacks, Ireland were defeated by France in their quarter-final in Durban.

Ireland finished second in their pool in 1999, behind Australia and went into the quarter-final play-offs (a system exclusive to the 1999 tournament). There they lost to Argentina, and thus, not being quarter-finalists, they were not given automatic entry into 2003. They defeated Russia and Georgia to go through as Europe 1. They finished second to Australia in their pool, and were knocked out by France in the quarter finals.

They started in the so-called "Group of death" with hosts France, Argentina, Namibia and Georgia in the 2007 Rugby World Cup. They played Namibia (the lowest ranked team in the World cup) in their opening game on 9 September which resulted in a narrow 32–17 win.^[1] Their progress was then put into doubt when they beat Georgia 14–10, not obtaining a bonus point.^[2] France's victory over Namibia 87–10 put Ireland's progression from the group in doubt, and this was compounded when the French defeated Ireland 25–3.^[3] Entering their last group match against Argentina, needing four tries to secure a bonus point without allowing Argentina anything, Ireland were defeated by 30 points to 15 and crashed out at the pool stage for the first time.^[4]

Ireland began their 2011 Rugby World Cup campaign on the back of four defeats in a series of warm-up tests in August, with a 22–10 victory over the United States in New Plymouth on 11 September. Failing to secure a bonus point against world cup minnows the United States, a team ranked far below Ireland, this was an unconvincing win. Contrary to preceding form, and indeed beating most commentators expectations, Ireland produced a memorable performance to defeat reigning tri-nations champions Australia 15–6 in their second pool game in Eden Park in Auckland on 17 September. This was the first Irish win against tri-nations opposition in the southern hemisphere in 32 years. It was also Ireland's first ever win against Australia in the Rugby World Cup. After comprehensive wins against Russia and Italy in the final two pool-stage matches, Ireland topped Pool C. This was the first ever time Ireland came first in a world cup pool. Ireland advanced to the quarter-finals to face Wales in Wellington. They were defeated 22–10 by the Welsh, thus ending their 2011 campaign.

Ireland topped Pool D of the 2015 Rugby World Cup with four victories and with two bonus points. Ireland beat Canada and Romania with bonus points in their first two games. Ireland then faced Italy, coming out on top 16–9,^[5] the only try coming from Keith Earls who surpassed Brian O'Driscoll as Ireland's leading Rugby World Cup try scorer with eight. The final pool game saw Ireland face France. The winner would set up a quarter final against Argentina and avoid the All Blacks. Ireland overcame the loss to injury of key players Jonathan Sexton, Peter O'Mahony and Paul O'Connell to run out 24–9 winners.^[6][7] The victory set up another game for Ireland in the Millennium Stadium against Pool C runners up Argentina on 18 October 2015. Ireland battled and came back from a 17-point deficit to come within 3 points of their opponents, but eventually lost 43–20.

By position

Ireland has reached the quarter-finals six times, but have not progressed beyond that stage.

• 1987: Eliminated in quarter finals.
• 1991: Eliminated in quarter finals.
• 1995: Eliminated in quarter finals.
• 1999: Eliminated in quarter-final play-offs
• 2003: Eliminated in quarter finals.
• 2007: Eliminated in the pool stages.
• 2011: Eliminated in quarter finals.
• 2015: Eliminated in quarter finals.

Matches

1987 Rugby World Cup

Pool 2 matches –

Team	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	Pts
Wales	3	3	0	0	82	31	6
Ireland	3	2	0	1	84	41	4
Canada	3	1	0	2	65	90	2
Tonga	3	0	0	3	29	98	0

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1987-05-25

Ireland	6–13	Wales
Pen: Kiernan (2)	Report	Try: Ring Pen: Thorburn Drop: Davies (2)

Athletic Park, Wellington Attendance: 17,500 Referee: Kerry Fitzgerald

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1987-05-30

Canada	19–46	Ireland
Try: Cardinal Pen: Rees (3) Wyatt Drop: Rees	Report	Tries: Crossan (2) Bradley Spillane Ringland MacNeill Con: Kiernan (5) Pen: Kiernan (2) Drop: Ward Kiernan

Carisbrook, Dunedin Attendance: 10,000 Referee: Fred Howard

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1987-06-03

Ireland	32–9	Tonga
Tries: Mullin (3) MacNeill (2) Con: Ward (3) Pen: Ward (2)	Report	Pen: Amone (3)

Ballymore, Brisbane Attendance: 3,000 Referee: Guy Maurette

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Quarter-final

7 June 1987

Australia	33–15	Ireland
Tries: Burke (2) McIntyre Smith Con: Lynagh (4) Pen: Lynagh (3)	Report	Tries: MacNeill Kiernan Con: Kiernan (2) Pen: Kiernan

Concord Oval, Sydney Attendance: 14,356 Referee: Brian Anderson (Scotland)

1991 Rugby World Cup

Pool B matches –

Team	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	Points
Scotland	3	0	0	122	36	9
Ireland	2	0	1	102	51	7
Japan	1	0	2	77	87	5
Zimbabwe	0	0	3	31	158	3

1991-10-06

Ireland	55–11	Zimbabwe
Tries: Robinson (4), Popplewell (2), Geoghegan, Curtis Con: Keyes (4) Pen: Keyes (5)	Report	Tries: Dawson, Schultz Pen: Ferreira

Landsdowne Road, Dublin Attendance: 40,000 Referee: Keith Lawrence

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1991-10-09

Ireland	32–16	Japan
Tries: Mannion (2), O’Hara, Staples Con: Keyes (2) Pen: Keyes (4)	Report	Tries: Hayashi, Kajihara, Yoshida Con: Hosokawa (2)

Landsdowne Road, Dublin Attendance: 30,000 Referee: Laikini Colati

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1991-10-12

Scotland	24–15	Ireland
Tries: Shiel, Armstrong, S. Hastings Con: G. Hastings (2) Pen: G. Hastings (3) Drop: Chalmers	Report	Pen: Keyes (4) Drop: Keyes

Murrayfield, Edinburgh Attendance: 60,000 Referee: Fred Howard

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Quarter-final

20 October 1991

Ireland	18–19	Australia
Tries: Hamilton Con: Keyes Pen: Keyes (3) Drop: Keyes	Report	Tries: Campese (2), Lynagh Con: Lynagh (2) Pen: Lynagh

Lansdowne Road, Dublin Attendance: 54,500 Referee: Jim Fleming (Scotland)

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1995 Rugby World Cup

Pool C matches –

Team	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	Points
New Zealand	3	0	0	225	45	9
Ireland	2	0	1	93	94	7
Wales	1	0	2	89	68	5
Japan	0	0	3	55	252	3

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1995-05-27

Ireland	19–43	New Zealand
Tries: David Corkery, Denis McBride, Gary Halpin Con: Eric Elwood (2)	Report	Tries: Jonah Lomu (2), Josh Kronfeld, Frank Bunce, Glen Osborne Con: Andrew Mehrtens (3) Pen: Andrew Mehrtens (4)

Ellis Park, Johannesburg Attendance: 38 000 Referee: Wayne Erickson

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1995-05-31

Ireland	50–28	Japan
Tries: Neil Francis, Simon Geoghegan, David Corkery, Eddie Halvey, Niall Hogan Con: Paul Burke (6) Pen: Paul Burke	Report	Tries: Sinali-Tui Latu, Ko Izawa, Seiji Hirao, Masanori Takura Con: Yoshihito Yoshida (4)

Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein Attendance: 15 000 Referee: Stef Neethling

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1995-06-04

Ireland	24–23	Wales
Tries: Eddie Halvey, Nick Popplewell, Denis McBride Con: Eric Elwood (3) Pen: Eric Elwood	Report	Tries: Jonathan Humphreys, Hemi Taylor Con: Neil Jenkins (2) Pen: Neil Jenkins (2) Drop: Adrian Davies

Ellis Park, Johannesburg Attendance: 35 000 Referee: Ian Rogers

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Quarter finals –

1995-06-10

France	36–12	Ireland
Tries: Philippe Saint-Andre, Émile Ntamack Con: Thierry Lacroix Pen: Thierry Lacroix (8)	Report	Pen: Eric Elwood (4)

Kings Park Stadium, Durban Attendance: 18 000 Referee: Ed Morrison

1999 Rugby World Cup

Pool 5 matches –

Team	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	Points
Australia	3	0	0	135	31	6
Ireland	2	0	1	100	45	4
Romania	1	0	2	50	126	2
United States	0	0	3	52	135	0

1999-10-02

Ireland	53–8	United States
Tries: Keith Wood (4), Eric Elwood (2), Brian O'Driscoll, Justin Bishop Con: David Humphreys (4) Pen: David Humphreys (2)	Report	Tries: Kevin Dalzell Pen: Kevin Dalzell

Lansdowne Road, Dublin Attendance: 30,000 Referee: Joel Dume

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1999-10-10

Ireland	3–23	Australia
Pen: David Humphreys	Report	Tries: Ben Tune, Tim Horan Con: Matthew Burke (2) Pen: Matthew Burke (2), John Eales

Lansdowne Road, Dublin Attendance: 49,250 Referee: Clayton Thomas

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1999-10-15

Ireland	44–14	Romania
Tries: Conor O'Shea (2), Andrew Ward, Thomas Tierney, Dion O'Cuinneagain Con: Eric Elwood (5) Pen: Eric Elwood (2) Drop goals: Brian O'Driscoll	Report	Tries: Cristian Sauan Pen: Petre Mitu (3)

Lansdowne Road, Dublin Attendance: 33,000 Referee: Brain Campsell

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Quarter-final play off

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1999-10-20

Ireland	24–28	Argentina
Pen: David Humphreys (7) Drop: David Humphreys	Report	Tries: Diego Albanese Con: Gonzalo Quesada Pen: Gonzalo Quesada (7)

Stade Félix Bollaert, Lens Attendance: 22,000 Referee: Stuart Dickinson

2003 Rugby World Cup

Group A matches –

Team	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	BP	Points
Australia	4	0	0	273	32	2	18
Ireland	3	0	1	141	56	3	15
Argentina	2	0	2	140	57	3	11
Romania	1	0	3	65	192	1	5
Namibia	0	0	4	28	310	0	0

2003-10-11

Ireland	45–17	Romania
Tries: S. Horgan, Wood, Hickie (2), Costello Con: Humphreys (3), O'Gara Pen: Humphreys (4)	Report	Tries: Penalty try, Maftei Con: Tofan, Vioreanu Pen: Tofan

Bluetongue Central Coast Stadium, Gosford Attendance: 19,123 Referee: Jonathan Kaplan

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2003-10-19

Ireland	64–7	Namibia
Tries: Quinlan (2), Dempsey, Hickie, Horan, Miller (2), G. Easterby, S. Horgan, Kelly Con: O'Gara (7)	Report	Tries: Powell Con: Wessels

Aussie Stadium, Sydney Attendance: 35,382 Referee: Andrew Cole

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2003-10-26

Argentina	15–16	Ireland
Pen: Quesada (3) Drop: Quesada, Corleto	Report	Tries: Quinlan Con: Humphreys Pen: Humphreys, O'Gara (2)

Adelaide Oval Attendance: 30,203 Referee: André Watson

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2003-11-01

Australia	17–16	Ireland
Tries: Smith Pen: Flatley (3) Drop: Gregan	Report	Tries: O'Driscoll Con: O'Gara Pen: O'Gara (2) Drop: O'Driscoll

Telstra Dome, Melbourne Attendance: 54,206 Referee: Paddy O'Brien

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2003-11-09

France	43–21	Ireland
Tries: Magne 3' c Dominici 29' c Harinordoquy 33' c Crenca 47' c Con: Michalak (4) Pen: Michalak (5)	Report	Tries: Maggs 52' c O'Driscoll (2) 65' c, 80+2' c Con: Humphreys (3)

Telstra Dome, Melbourne Attendance: 33,134 Referee: Jonathan Kaplan

2007 Rugby World Cup

Pool D matches –

Team Pld W D L TF PF PA +/- BP Pts  Argentina 4 4 0 0 16 143 33 +110 2 18  France 4 3 0 1 24 188 37 +151 3 15  Ireland 4 2 0 2 9 64 82 −18 1 9  Georgia 4 1 0 3 5 50 111 −61 1 5  Namibia 4 0 0 4 3 30 212 −182 0 0

ARG FRA GEO IRE NAM Argentina – 17 – 12 33 – 3 30 – 15 63 – 3 France – – 64 – 7 25 – 3 87 – 10 Georgia – – – 10 – 14 30 – 0 Ireland – – – – 32 – 17 Namibia – – – – –

2011 Rugby World Cup

Ireland qualified for the 2011 RWC automatically.

Team	Pld	W	D	L	TF	PF	PA	+/−	BP	Pts
Ireland	4	4	0	0	15	135	34	+101	1	17
Australia	4	3	0	1	25	173	48	+125	3	15
Italy	4	2	0	2	13	92	95	−3	2	10
United States	4	1	0	3	4	38	122	−84	0	4
Russia	4	0	0	4	8	57	196	−139	1	1

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11 September 2011 18:00

Ireland	22 – 10	United States
Try: Bowe (2) 40' c, 60' c Best 56' m Con: Sexton (1/1) O'Gara (1/2) Pen: Sexton (1/5) 17'	Report	Try: Emerick 80+' c Con: Malifa (1/1) Pen: Paterson (1/2) 54'

Stadium Taranaki, New Plymouth Attendance: 20,823 Referee: Craig Joubert (South Africa)

Ireland FB 15 Geordan Murphy  67' RW 14 Tommy Bowe OC 13 Brian O'Driscoll (c) IC 12 Gordon D'Arcy LW 11 Keith Earls FH 10 Jonathan Sexton  51' SH 9 Conor Murray  51' N8 8 Jamie Heaslip OF 7 Shane Jennings  61' BF 6 Stephen Ferris RL 5 Paul O'Connell LL 4 Donncha O'Callaghan TP 3 Mike Ross HK 2 Rory Best  61' LP 1 Tom Court  65' Replacements: HK 16 Jerry Flannery  61' PR 17 Tony Buckley  65' LK 18 Donnacha Ryan N8 19 Denis Leamy  61' SH 20 Eoin Reddan  51' FH 21 Ronan O'Gara  51' WG 22 Andrew Trimble  67' Coach: Declan Kidney

United States FB 15 Blaine Scully RW 14 Takudzwa Ngwenya OC 13 Paul Emerick IC 12 Andrew Suniula LW 11 James Paterson FH 10 Roland Suniula  59' SH 9 Mike Petri  67' N8 8 Nic Johnson OF 7 Todd Clever (c) BF 6 Louis Stanfill RL 5 Hayden Smith LL 4 John van der Giessen TP 3 Shawn Pittman HK 2 Phil Thiel  68' LP 1 Mike MacDonald  63' Replacements: HK 16 Chris Biller  68' PR 17 Mate Moeakiola  63' LK 18 Scott LaValla FL 19 Pat Danahy SH 20 Tim Usasz  67' FH 21 Nese Malifa  59' WG 22 Colin Hawley Coach: Eddie O'Sullivan

Man of the Match: Paul O'Connell (Ireland) Touch judges: Nigel Owens (Wales) Carlo Damasco (Italy) Television match official: Graham Hughes (England)

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17 September 2011 20:30

Australia	6 – 15	Ireland
Pen: O'Connor (2/4) 11', 23'	Report	Pen: Sexton (2/5) 17', 49' O'Gara (2/2) 62', 71' Drop: Sexton 19'

Eden Park, Auckland Attendance: 58,678 Referee: Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand)

Australia FB 15 Kurtley Beale RW 14 James O'Connor OC 13 Anthony Fainga'a  75' IC 12 Pat McCabe LW 11 Adam Ashley-Cooper FH 10 Quade Cooper SH 9 Will Genia N8 8 Radike Samo  74' OF 7 Ben McCalman BF 6 Rocky Elsom  73' RL 5 James Horwill (c) LL 4 Dan Vickerman  63' TP 3 Ben Alexander  63' HK 2 Tatafu Polota-Nau LP 1 Sekope Kepu Replacements: HK 16 Saia Fainga'a PR 17 James Slipper  63' LK 18 Rob Simmons  63' N8 19 Wycliff Palu  73' FL 20 Scott Higginbotham  74' SH 21 Luke Burgess WG 22 Drew Mitchell  75' Coach: Robbie Deans

Ireland FB 15 Rob Kearney  75' RW 14 Tommy Bowe OC 13 Brian O'Driscoll (c) 60' to 63' IC 12 Gordon D'Arcy  50' LW 11 Keith Earls FH 10 Jonathan Sexton SH 9 Eoin Reddan  57' N8 8 Jamie Heaslip OF 7 Sean O'Brien BF 6 Stephen Ferris RL 5 Paul O'Connell LL 4 Donncha O'Callaghan TP 3 Mike Ross  77' HK 2 Rory Best LP 1 Cian Healy Replacements: HK 16 Sean Cronin PR 17 Tom Court  77' LK 18 Donnacha Ryan N8 19 Denis Leamy SH 20 Conor Murray  57' FH 21 Ronan O'Gara  50' WG 22 Andrew Trimble  60'  63'  75' Coach: Declan Kidney

Man of the Match: Cian Healy (Ireland) Touch judges: Craig Joubert (South Africa) Carlo Damasco (Italy) Television match official: Graham Hughes (England)

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25 September 2011 18:00

Ireland	62 – 12	Russia
Try: McFadden 10' c O'Brien 13' c Boss 38' c Earls(2) 39' c, 48' c Trimble 40+' m Kearney 65' c Jennings 73' c Buckley 79' m Con: O'Gara (6/7) Sexton (1/2) Pen: O'Gara (1/1) 6'	Report	Try: Artemyev 50' c Simplikevich 59' m Con: Rachkov (1/2)

Rotorua International Stadium, Rotorua Attendance: 25,661 Referee: Craig Joubert (South Africa)

Ireland FB 15 Rob Kearney RW 14 Fergus McFadden OC 13 Keith Earls  49' IC 12 Paddy Wallace LW 11 Andrew Trimble FH 10 Ronan O'Gara  67' SH 9 Isaac Boss  66' N8 8 Jamie Heaslip OF 7 Sean O'Brien  57' BF 6 Donnacha Ryan RL 5 Leo Cullen (c) LL 4 Donncha O'Callaghan  46' TP 3 Tony Buckley HK 2 Sean Cronin LP 1 Cian Healy  49' Replacements: HK 16 Rory Best PR 17 Mike Ross  49' N8 18 Denis Leamy  46' FL 19 Shane Jennings  57' SH 20 Eoin Reddan  66' FH 21 Jonathan Sexton  67' WG 22 Geordan Murphy  49' Coach: Declan Kidney

Russia FB 15 Vasily Artemyev RW 14 Denis Simplikevich OC 13 Andrei Kuzin IC 12 Sergey Trishin LW 11 Vladimir Ostroushko  71' FH 10 Konstantin Rachkov 8' to 18' SH 9 Alexander Yanyushkin (c)  74' N8 8 Victor Gresev OF 7 Andrei Garbuzov  45' BF 6 Artem Fatakhov RL 5 Adam Byrnes LL 4 Denis Antonov  49' TP 3 Alexander Khrokin  50' HK 2 Valeri Tsnobiladze LP 1 Sergey Popov  74' Replacements: HK 16 Yevgeny Matveyev PR 17 Ivan Prishchepenko  50' LK 18 Alexey Travkin  74' FL 19 Alexander Voytov  49' SH 20 Andrey Bykanov  74' WG 21 Mikhail Sidorov  45' FB 22 Mikhail Babaev  71' Coaches: Nikolay Nerush Kingsley Jones

Man of the Match: Ronan O'Gara (Ireland) Touch judges: Dave Pearson (England) Jérôme Garces (France) Television match official: Giulio De Santis (Italy)

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2 October 2011 20:30

Ireland	36 – 6	Italy
Try: O'Driscoll 47' c Earls (2) 52' c, 80+' c Con: O'Gara (2/2) Sexton (1/1) Pen: O'Gara (4/5) 7', 18', 35', 44' Sexton (1/1) 70'	Report	Pen: Mi. Bergamasco (2/3) 11', 21'

Otago Stadium, Dunedin Attendance: 28,027 Referee: Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)

Ireland FB 15 Rob Kearney RW 14 Tommy Bowe OC 13 Brian O'Driscoll (c)  74' IC 12 Gordon D'Arcy LW 11 Keith Earls FH 10 Ronan O'Gara  67' SH 9 Conor Murray  74' N8 8 Jamie Heaslip OF 7 Sean O'Brien BF 6 Stephen Ferris  73' RL 5 Paul O'Connell LL 4 Donncha O'Callaghan  59' TP 3 Mike Ross HK 2 Rory Best  53' LP 1 Cian Healy  73' Replacements: HK 16 Sean Cronin  53' PR 17 Tom Court  73' LK 18 Donnacha Ryan  59' N8 19 Denis Leamy  73' SH 20 Eoin Reddan  74' FH 21 Jonathan Sexton  67' WG 22 Andrew Trimble  74' Coach: Declan Kidney

Italy FB 15 Andrea Masi RW 14 Tommaso Benvenuti OC 13 Gonzalo Canale IC 12 Gonzalo Garcia LW 11 Mirco Bergamasco FH 10 Luciano Orquera  41' SH 9 Fabio Semenzato  57' N8 8 Sergio Parisse (c)  77' OF 7 Mauro Bergamasco  49' BF 6 Alessandro Zanni RL 5 Corniel van Zyl  61' LL 4 Quintin Geldenhuys TP 3 Martin Castrogiovanni  37' HK 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini  67' LP 1 Salvatore Perugini Replacements: HK 16 Fabio Ongaro  67' PR 17 Andrea Lo Cicero  37' LK 18 Marco Bortolami  61' FL 19 Paul Derbyshire  49' SH 20 Edoardo Gori  57' FH 21 Riccardo Bocchino  41' FB 22 Luke McLean  77' Coach: Nick Mallett

Man of the Match: Sean O'Brien (Ireland) Touch judges: Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand) Chris Pollock (New Zealand) Television match official: Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)

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Quarter-finals

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8 October 2011 18:00 NZDT (UTC+13)

Ireland	10 – 22	Wales
Try: Earls 45' c Con: O'Gara (1/1) Pen: O'Gara (1/1) 24'	Report	Try: Williams 3' c Phillips 51' m J. Davies 64' c Con: Priestland (2/3) Pen: Halfpenny (1/1) 29' Priestland (0/2)

Westpac Stadium, Wellington Attendance: 35,787 Referee: Craig Joubert (South Africa)

Ireland FB 15 Rob Kearney RW 14 Tommy Bowe OC 13 Brian O'Driscoll (c) IC 12 Gordon D'Arcy LW 11 Keith Earls  72' FH 10 Ronan O'Gara  56' SH 9 Conor Murray  56' N8 8 Jamie Heaslip  75' OF 7 Sean O'Brien BF 6 Stephen Ferris  75' RL 5 Paul O'Connell LL 4 Donncha O'Callaghan TP 3 Mike Ross HK 2 Rory Best LP 1 Cian Healy Replacements: HK 16 Sean Cronin PR 17 Tom Court LK 18 Donnacha Ryan  75' N8 19 Denis Leamy  75' SH 20 Eoin Reddan  56' FH 21 Jonathan Sexton  56' WG 22 Andrew Trimble  72' Coach: Declan Kidney

Wales FB 15 Leigh Halfpenny RW 14 George North OC 13 Jonathan Davies IC 12 Jamie Roberts LW 11 Shane Williams FH 10 Rhys Priestland  78' SH 9 Mike Phillips N8 8 Taulupe Faletau OF 7 Sam Warburton (c) BF 6 Dan Lydiate RL 5 Alun Wyn Jones LL 4 Luke Charteris  41' TP 3 Adam Jones HK 2 Huw Bennett LP 1 Gethin Jenkins Replacements: HK 16 Lloyd Burns PR 17 Paul James LK 18 Bradley Davies  41' N8 19 Ryan Jones SH 20 Lloyd Williams FH 21 James Hook  78' CE 22 Scott Williams Coach: Warren Gatland

Man of the Match: Mike Phillips (Wales) Touch judges: Wayne Barnes (England) Romain Poite (France) Television match official: Giulio de Santis (Italy)

2015 Rugby World Cup

Team	Pld	W	D	L	TF	PF	PA	+/−	BP	Pts
Ireland	4	4	0	0	16	134	35	+99	2	18
France	4	3	0	1	12	120	63	+57	2	14
Italy	4	2	0	2	7	74	88	–14	2	10
Romania	4	1	0	3	7	60	129	–69	0	4
Canada	4	0	0	4	7	58	131	–73	2	2

19 September 2015	Ireland	50–7	Canada	Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
27 September 2015	Ireland	44–10	Romania	Wembley Stadium, London
4 October 2015	Ireland	16–9	Italy	Olympic Stadium, London
11 October 2015	France	9–24	Ireland	Millennium Stadium, Cardiff

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Quarter-finals

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18 October 2015 13:00 BST (UTC+01)

Ireland	20–43	Argentina
Try: Fitzgerald 26' c Murphy 44' c Con: Madigan (2/2) 27', 45' Pen: Madigan (2/4) 20', 53'	Report	Try: Moroni 3' c Imhoff (2) 10' c, 73' c Tuculet 69' c Con: Sánchez (4/4) 5', 10', 70', 74' Pen: Sánchez (5/6) 13', 22', 51', 64', 77'

Millennium Stadium, Cardiff Attendance: 72,316 Referee: Jérôme Garcès (France)

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Overall record

Against	Played	Win	Draw	Lost	Win %
Australia	5	1	0	4	20
Argentina	4	1	0	3	25
Canada	2	2	0	0	100
France	4	1	0	3	25
Georgia	1	1	0	0	100
Italy	2	2	0	0	100
Japan	2	2	0	0	100
Namibia	2	2	0	0	100
New Zealand	1	0	0	1	0
Romania	3	3	0	0	100
Russia	1	1	0	0	100
Scotland	1	0	0	1	0
Tonga	1	1	0	0	100
United States	3	3	0	0	100
Wales	3	1	0	2	33.33
Zimbabwe	1	1	0	0	100
Overall	36	22	0	14	61.11

Hosting

The Rugby World Cup is held every four years, and tends to alternate between the northern and southern hemispheres. Every northern hemisphere tournament so far has been held in Europe, and in general Ireland usually hosts some games when it is held there.

1991: UK/Ireland/France

Irish stadiums in 1991 World Cup

City	Stadium	Capacity
Dublin	Landsdowne Road	49,000
Belfast	Ravenhill	12,300

The 1991 Rugby World Cup final was played in England, while pool and finals games were played all over European nations. Pool A, which England was in, saw matches played mostly in London, though games were also taken to Leicester, Gloucester and Otley. Pool B games, which involved European nations, Scotland and Ireland, had all their games in either Dublin or Edinburgh with one game being played in Belfast. Pool C, which Wales was a part of, had all their games in Cardiff, with two taken to Pontypridd and one played in Llanelli. Pool D, which France were a part of, saw games played in Agen, Bayonne, Béziers and Grenoble. None of the quarter-finals or semi-finals were played in England. The final was played at the Rugby Football Union's Twickenham.

1999: Wales

Irish stadiums in 1999 World Cup

City	Stadium	Capacity
Dublin	Lansdowne Road	49,250
Limerick	Thomond Park	13,500
Belfast	Ravenhill Stadium	12,500

The 1999 World Cup was hosted by Wales, but an agreement was reached so that the other unions in the Five Nations Championship (England, France, Ireland and Scotland) also hosted matches.

The format of the pool games was similar to the 1991 World Cup in England. All Pool A games were held in Scotland, Pool B games in England, Pool C games in France and Pool D games were all held in Wales. Second round play-offs and the quarter-finals were held a variety of European venues, the semi-finals were held at Twickenham Stadium, London. The third place play-off and the final were held at the new Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

Venues in Ireland included Lansdowne Road, the traditional home of the Irish Rugby Football Union, Ravenhill, the Northern Ireland IRFU owned venue and Thomond Park.

2007: France

The 2007 competition was held in France, with some games played in Wales and Scotland. France won the right in 2003 to host the 2007 tournament. Three matches were played at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium. Two matches were held at Edinburgh's Murrayfield. Ireland were also offered to host matches at Lansdowne Road in Dublin, but had to decline the offer as construction work was scheduled to begin on the stadium.^[8]

2023: TBD

Ireland has announced its intention to bid to host the 2023 Rugby World Cup.

References

• Davies, Gerald (2004) The History of the Rugby World Cup (Sanctuary Publishing Ltd, (ISBN 1860746020)
• Farr-Jones, Nick, (2003). Story of the Rugby World Cup, Australian Post Corporation, (ISBN 0-642-36811-2)

1. "Ireland 32–17 Namibia". BBC Sport. 9 September 2007. Retrieved 2009-03-23.
2. "Ireland 14–10 Georgia". BBC Sport. 15 September 2007. Retrieved 2009-03-23.
3. "France 25–3 Ireland". BBC Sport. 21 September 2007. Retrieved 2009-03-23.
4. "Argentina 30–15 Ireland". BBC Sport. 30 September 2007. Retrieved 2009-03-23.
5. "Rugby World Cup 2015: Ireland 16-9 Italy". RugbyWorldCup.com Sport. 4 October 2015. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
6. "Rugby World Cup 2015: Ireland 24–9 France". BBC Sport. 11 October 2015. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
7. "Injury ends Paul O'Connell's Ireland career". RTÉ Sport. 13 October 2015. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
8. "Scotland looks to give up World cup matches at Murrayfield". worldcupweb.com. Retrieved 7 May 2006.