Wales at the Rugby World Cup

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

The Wales national rugby union team have played in all eight Rugby World Cup tournaments. Their best finishes were third placing in 1987, when they beat Australia in the bronze final, and fourth placing in 2011.

The 1987 tournament was Wales' most successful; they won all three pool matches and their quarter-final, before losing to the All Blacks in the semi-finals. They then faced Australia in the third place play-off match, which they won 22–21.^[1]

In the next two tournaments in 1991 and 1995, Wales failed to progress beyond the pool stage, winning just one match in each tournament.^[2] Both the 1999 and 2003 tournaments were more successful, with Wales qualifying for the quarter-finals both times. Wales hosted the event in 1999 and topped their pool only to lose to eventual winners Australia in the quarter-finals.^[3] In 2003, they finished second in their pool to the All Blacks and faced England in the quarter-finals, where they lost to the eventual champions, despite scoring more tries than their opponents.^[4] In the 2007 World Cup, Wales again failed to progress from the pool stage. After a loss to Australia, and two wins against Japan and Canada, they lost by four points to Fiji, despite scoring more tries than their opponents.^[5]

By position

Year	Round	Position	GP	W	D	L	PF	PA
1987 (16)	Third place	3rd	6	5	0	1	126	104
1991 (16)	Pool stage (11th)	-	3	1	0	2	32	61
1995 (16)	Pool stage (9th)	-	3	1	0	2	89	68
1999 (20)	Quarterfinals (7th)	-	4	2	0	2	127	95
2003 (20)	Quarterfinals (7th)	-	5	3	0	2	149	126
2007 (20)	Pool stage (9th)	-	4	2	0	2	168	105
2011 (20)	Fourth place	4th	7	4	0	3	228	74
2015 (20)	Quarterfinals (8th)	-	5	3	0	2	130	85
2019
Total			37	21	0	16	1049	718

Team ranking

Pos.	Team	Champion	Runner-up	Third	Fourth
1st	New Zealand	3 (1987, 2011, 2015)	1 (1995)	2 (1991, 2003)	1 (1999)
2nd	Australia	2 (1991, 1999)	2 (2003, 2015)	1 (2011)	1 (1987)
3rd	South Africa	2 (1995, 2007)	-	2 (1999, 2015)	-
4th	England	1 (2003)	2 (1991, 2007)	-	1 (1995)
5th	France	-	3 (1987, 1999, 2011)	1 (1995)	2 (2003, 2007)
6th	Wales	-	-	1 (1987)	1 (2011)
7th	Argentina	-	-	1 (2007)	1 (2015)
8th	Scotland	-	-	-	1 (1991)

By matches

1987 Rugby World Cup

Pool 2 games -

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

25 May 1987

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

Athletic Park, Wellington
Referee: Kerry Fitzgerald

29 May 1987

Tonga	16 – 29	Wales
Tries: Fielea Fifita Con: Liava'a Pen: Liava'a Amone		Tries: Webbe (3) Hadley Con: Thorburn (2) Pen: Thorburn (2) Drop: Davies

Showgrounds Oval, Palmerston North
Referee: David Bishop

3 June 1987

Canada	9 – 40	Wales
Pen: Rees (3)		Tries: Evans (4) Devereux Bowen Hadley Phillips Con: Thorburn (4)

Rugby Park, Invercargill
Referee: David Bishop

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

6 June - Lancaster Park, Christchurch

New Zealand

14 June - Ballymore, Brisbane

Scotland

New Zealand

8 June - Ballymore, Brisbane

Wales

Wales

20 June - Eden Park, Auckland

England

New Zealand

7 June - Eden Park, Auckland

France

France

13 June - Concord Oval, Sydney

Fiji

France

Third place

7 June - Concord Oval, Sydney

Australia

Australia

Wales

Ireland

Australia

18 June - Rotorua International Stadium, Rotorua

8 June 1987

England	3 – 16	Wales
Pen: Webb		Tries: Roberts Jones Devereux Con: Thorburn (2)

Ballymore, Brisbane
Referee: Rene Hourquet

14 June 1987

New Zealand	49 – 6	Wales
Tries: Kirwan (2) Shelford (2) Drake Whetton Stanley Brooke-Cowden Con: Fox (7) Pen: Fox		Try: Devereux Con: Thorburn

Ballymore, Brisbane
Attendance: 22,576
Referee: Kerry Fitzgerald

18 June 1987

Australia	21 – 22	Wales
Tries: Burke Grigg Con: Lynagh (2) Pen: Lynagh (2) Drop: Lynagh		Tries: Roberts Moriarty Hadley Con: Thorburn (2) Pen: Thorburn (2)

Rotorua International Stadium, Rotorua
Referee: Fred Howard

1991 Rugby World Cup

Pool C games -

Team	Won	Lost	For	Against	Points
Australia	3	0	79	25	9
Western Samoa	2	1	54	34	7
Wales	1	2	32	61	5
Argentina	0	3	38	83	3

6 October 1991

Wales	13 – 16	Western Samoa
Tries: Emyr, Evans Con: Ring Pen: Ring		Tries: Vaega, Vaifale Con: Vaea Pen: Vaea (2)

Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff
Referee: Patrick Robin

9 October 1991

Wales	16 – 7	Argentina
Tries: Arnold Pen: Ring (3), Rayer		Tries: Simon Pen: Del Castillo

Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff
Referee: Rene Hourquet

12 October 1991

Wales	3 – 38	Australia
Pen: Ring		Tries: Roebuck (2), Slattery, Campese, Horan, Lynagh Con: Lynagh (4) Pen: Lynagh (2)

Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff
Referee: Keith Lawrence

1995 Rugby World Cup

Pool C games -

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

27 May 1995

Japan	10 – 57	Wales
Tries: Osamu Ota (2)		Tries: Gareth Thomas (3), Ieuan Evans (2), Andrew Moore, Hemi Taylor Con: Neil Jenkins (5) Pen: Neil Jenkins (4)

Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein
Attendance: 12 000
Referee: Efrahim Sklar

31 May 1995

New Zealand	34 – 9	Wales
Tries: Marc Ellis, Walter Little, Josh Kronfeld Con: Andrew Mehrtens (2) Pen: Andrew Mehrtens (4) Drop: Andrew Mehrtens		Pen: Neil Jenkins (2) Drop: Neil Jenkins

Ellis Park, Johannesburg
Attendance: 38 000
Referee: Ed Morrison

4 June 1995

Ireland	24 – 23	Wales
Tries: Eddie Halvey, Nick Popplewell, Denis McBride Con: Eric Elwood (3) Pen: Eric Elwood		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

1999 Rugby World Cup

Pool 4 games -

Team	Won	Lost	For	Against	Points
Wales	2	1	118	71	4
Samoa	2	1	97	72	4
Argentina	2	1	83	51	4
Japan	0	3	36	140	0

1 October 1999

Wales	23 – 18	Argentina
Tries: Colin Charvis, Mark Taylor Con: Neil Jenkins (2) Pen: Neil Jenkins (3)		Pen: Gonzalo Quesada (6)

Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Referee: Paddy O'Brien

9 October 1999

Wales	64 – 15	Japan
Tries: Mark Taylor, (2) Robert Howley, Scott Gibbs, David Llewellyn, Gareth Thomas, Allan Bateman, Shane Howarth Con: Neil Jenkins (8) Con: Neil Jenkins		Tries: Patiliai Tuidraki, Daisuke Ohata Con: Keiji Hirose Pen: Keiji Hirose

Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Referee: Joel Dume

14 October 1999

Wales	31 – 38	Samoa
Tries: Gareth Thomas, Penalty try (2) Con: Neil Jenkins (2) Pen: Neil Jenkins (4)		Tries: Stephen Bachop (2), Filiga Falaniko, Patrick Lam, Silao Leaegailesolo Con: Silao Leaegailesolo Pen: Silao Leaegailesolo

Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Referee: Ed Morrison

Quarter finals -

23 October 1999

Wales	9 – 24	Australia
Pens: Neil Jenkins (3)		Tries: George Gregan (2), Ben Tune Con: Matthew Burke (3) Pen: Matthew Burke

Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Attendance: 74,499
Referee: Colin Hawke

2003 Rugby World Cup

Group D games -

Team	Won	Lost	For	Against	BP	Points
New Zealand	4	0	282	57	4	20
Wales	3	1	132	98	2	14
Italy	2	2	77	123	0	8
Canada	1	3	54	135	1	5
Tonga	0	4	46	178	1	1

12 October 2003

Wales	41 – 10	Canada
Tries: Parker, Cooper, M. Jones, Charvis, Thomas Con: Harris (5) Pen: Harris (2)		Tries: Tkachuk Con: Pritchard Drop: Ross

Telstra Dome, Melbourne
Attendance: 24,874
Referee: Chris White

19 October 2003

Wales	27 – 20	Tonga
Tries: Cooper, M. Williams Con: S. Jones Pen: S. Jones (4) Drop: M. Williams		Tries: Hola, Kivalu, Lavaka Con: Hola Pen: Hola

Canberra Stadium
Attendance: 19,806
Referee: Paul Honiss

25 October 2003

Italy	15 – 27	Wales
Pen: Wakarua (5)		Tries: M. Jones, Parker, D. Jones Con: Harris (3) Pen: Harris (3)

Canberra Stadium
Attendance: 22,641
Referee: Andrew Cole

2 November 2003

New Zealand	53 – 37	Wales
Tries: Rokocoko (2), MacDonald, Williams, Howlett (2), Spencer, Mauger Con: MacDonald (5) Pen: MacDonald		Tries: Taylor, Parker, Charvis, S. Williams Con: S. Jones (4) Pen: S. Jones (3)

Telstra Stadium, Sydney
Attendance: 80,012
Referee: André Watson

Quarter finals -

9 November 2003

England	28 – 17	Wales
Try: Greenwood 44' c Con: Wilkinson Pen: Wilkinson (6) Drop: Wilkinson 80+1'		Tries: S. Jones 30' m Charvis 35' m M. Williams 71' c Con: Harris

Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Attendance: 45,252
Referee: Alain Rolland

2007 Rugby World Cup

Pool B games -

Main article: 2007 Rugby World Cup - Pool B

Team	Pld	W	D	L	TF	PF	PA	+/-	BP	Pts
Australia	4	4	0	0	30	215	41	+174	4	20
Fiji	4	3	0	1	14	114	136	−22	3	15
Wales	4	2	0	2	23	168	105	+63	4	12
Japan	4	0	1	3	7	64	210	−146	1	3
Canada	4	0	1	3	6	51	120	−69	0	2

	AUS	CAN	FJI	JPN	WAL
Australia	–	37 – 6	55 – 12	91 – 3	32 – 20
Canada	–	–	16 – 29	12 – 12	17 – 42
Fiji	–	–	–	35 – 31	38 – 34
Japan	–	–	–	–	18 – 72
Wales	–	–	–	–	–

2011 Rugby World Cup

Pool D games -

Team	Won	Lost	For	Against	BP	Points
South Africa	4	0	282	57	4	20
Wales	3	1	132	98	2	14
Samoa	2	2	77	123	0	8
Fiji	1	3	54	135	1	5
Namibia	0	4	46	178	1	1

11 September 2011

South Africa	17 – 16	Wales
Tries: F. Steyn 3' , Hougaard 65' Con: M. Steyn (2) Pen: M. Steyn	(Report)	Tries: Faletau 54' Con: Hook Pen: Hook (3)

Westpac Stadium, Wellington
Attendance: 24,874
Referee: Wayne Barnes

18 September 2011

Wales	17 – 10	Samoa
Tries: Williams 67' Con: S. Jones Pen: Hook (2) Priestland (2)	(Report)	Tries: Perenise 42' Con: Williams Pen: Williams

Waikato Stadium, Hamilton
Attendance: 19,806
Referee: Alain Rolland

26 September 2011

Wales	81 – 7	Namibia
Tries: S. Williams (3) 7', 46', 70' Brew 14' Faletau 17' Jenkins 49' North (2) 60', 66' Davies 62' L. Williams 75' Byrne 77' A. Jones 80+' Con: S. Jones (6) Priestland (3) Pen: S. Jones	(Report)	Tries: Koll 52' Con: Kotzé

Stadium Taranaki, New Plymouth
Attendance: 80,012
Referee: Steve Walsh

2 October 2011

Wales	66 – 0	Fiji
Tries: Roberts (2) 5', 50' S. Williams 16' North 32' Warburton 39' Burns 59' Halfpenny 68' Williams 72' Davies 80+' Con: Priestland (5) S. Jones (4) Pen: Priestland	(Report)

Waikato Stadium, Hamilton
Attendance: 22,641
Referee: Wayne Barnes

Quarter Final

8 October 2011

Ireland	10 – 22	Wales
		Tries: S. Jones 30' m Charvis 35' m M. Williams 71' c Con: Harris

Westpac Stadium, Wellington
Attendance: 45,252
Referee: Craig Joubert

Semi Final

15 October 2011

Wales	8 – 9	France
Try: Phillips Pen: Hook		Pen: Parra (3)

Eden Park, Auckland
Attendance: 45,252
Referee: Alain Rolland

Bronze Medal Match

21 October 2011

Wales	18 – 21	Australia

Eden Park, Auckland
Referee: Wayne Barnes

Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, where Wales play their home games

2015 Rugby World Cup

Wales started by beating Uruguay, England & Fiji, to then lose to Australia. Then South Africa knocked them out in the quarter-finals.

Hosting

Main article: Rugby World Cup hosts

The Rugby World Cup is held every four years, and up to and including 2015, alternated between traditional rugby heartlands in the southern hemisphere and those in Europe. Wales hosted the tournament in 1999, with Cardiff's Millennium Stadium built to coincide with the event. However, it is common for Rugby World Cups to have matches played outside their official host country, and all four tournaments hosted in Europe have used Wales to some degree as a World Cup venue. After the 2015 event, Cardiff's Millennium Stadium and its predecessor will have hosted a total 21 matches over a total of four world cups. This is the largest number of world cup games hosted by one venue.

1991 Rugby World Cup

England was billed as the main host of the second tournament in 1991, hosting the opening ceremony, and final, though the hosting duties were shared between all countries which competed in the Five Nations Championship. France hosted eight games, England and Wales each hosted seven, and Scotland and Ireland five. The National Stadium in Cardiff hosted the third place playoff, whilst all of Pool C's matches were played in Wales. Wales were scheduled to feature in this pool, and all three of their pool matches were hosted in the National Stadium. One game each was played at the club grounds of Pontypridd, Pontypool and Llanelli.

The following Welsh stadiums were used:

City	Stadium	Capacity
Cardiff	National Stadium, Cardiff Arms Park	53,000
Llanelli	Stradey Park	10,800
Pontypool	Pontypool Park	8,800
Pontypridd	Sardis Road	7,200

1999 Rugby World Cup

Wales was chosen by the International Rugby Board as the principal host for the 1999 event. The centrepiece venue of the tournament, hosting the opening ceremony and final was the Millennium Stadium, a new structure built on the site of the old National Stadium at Cardiff Arms Park at a cost of £126 million from private investment. An agreement was reached with the unions of all four rivals in the Five Nations Championship (England, France, Ireland and Scotland), so that, like 1991, the majority of the matches would take place outside the official host nation. In a unique tournament format there were five pools in the opening round. Each of the five unions competed in a separate pool, and acted as host for all of the matches within that pool. All Pool A games were held in Scotland, Pool B games in England, Pool C games in France and Pool E games in Ireland.

Wales hosted Pool D, also featuring Argentina, Samoa and Japan. Four of the pool games were at the Millennium Stadium, with one match each at Stradey Park, Llanelli's rugby stadium, and at The Racecourse, Wrexham, which usually featured Association Football.

Of eleven knock-out games, the Millennium Stadium only hosted three; Australia's defeat of Wales in the quarter final stage, and the third place play-off and final. The other fixtures were played for at a variety of European venues.

The following Welsh stadiums were used:

City	Stadium	Capacity
Cardiff	Millennium Stadium	74,500
Wrexham	Racecourse Ground	15,500
Llanelli	Stradey Park	10,800

2007 Rugby World Cup

In a more public bidding process, France beat England to win the right to host the 2007 World Cup. The WRU supported the French bid, in accordance with an agreement between the nations over the 1999 cup.^[6] As a result of that agreement, world cup rugby returned to the Millennium Stadium for three pool matches (including two featuring Wales), and a quarter-final.

Ironically, as France were unexpected runners-up to Argentina in their group, the hosts found themselves competing in this, the only knock-out match held outside of their borders. The game was one of the highlights of the tournament, notable for a large number of reasons, though largely for being New Zealand's earliest exit from a Rugby World Cup, after the New Zealand Herald ran the hubristic headline 'France pose absolutely no threat to All Blacks'.^[7] The French squad's reply to the Haka, where the squad dressed in red, white and blue shirts, drew some attention, with a number of images of Sebastien Chabal's stony face appearing in the media the following day.^[8] Several controversial decisions by referee Wayne Barnes,^[9] provoked death threats from some fans.^[10] Statistical analysis by New Zealand company Verusco showed the match's playing time, that is time the ball is in play, was the longest of any of the 1,500 games they had ever recorded.^[11]

City	Country	Stadium	Capacity	Further reading
Cardiff	Wales	Millennium Stadium	73,350	Overview

2015 Rugby World Cup

A giant promotional rugby ball was placed on Cardiff Castle as part of the 2015 Rugby World Cup

In 2009 England were awarded the rights to stage the 2015 tournament. Owing to the proximity of Cardiff, the RFU made it clear that they intended to use the Millennium Stadium as part of its bid,^[12] despite initial reluctance from the IRB for multiple hosting nations.^[13] The Millennium Stadium is hosting eight games in the tournament, more than in any previous world cup. These include two quarter-finals. This made Cardiff the only venue hosting knock-out matches with the exception of England's national stadium, Twickenham, as well as the venue with the second highest number of games. As Wales and England have been drawn in the same group, Wales only have home advantage for two of their games, against Uruguay and Fiji.

Cardiff is using the world cup to promote tourism in the city,^[14] with estimates that the games will add over £300 million to the local economy.^[15] A 'Fan Zone' has been created within the grounds of Cardiff Arms Park with a large screen, for enjoying match days.^[16] Cardiff Council has commissioned an art installation to mark the tournament, grafting a rugby ball to the prominent Cardiff Castle, to make it appear the ball has smashed straight through the wall.^[17] This is similar to a publicity stunt from the 2007 World Cup, where a rugby ball hung from the centre of the Eiffel Tower. No such other sculptures have been created in the other 2015 venue cities.

City	Country	Stadium	Capacity	Further reading
Cardiff	Wales	Millennium Stadium	73,350	Overview

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)

↑ "1987 Rugby World Cup Results". worldcupweb.com. Retrieved 2008-06-15.
↑ "Pool B". Rugby News. 38 (9). 2007. p. 38.
↑ "1999 Rugby World Cup Results". worldcupweb.com. Retrieved 2008-06-15.
↑ "2003 Rugby World Cup Results". worldcupweb.com. Retrieved 2008-06-15.
↑ "Thomas lifts lid on World Cup woe". iol.ie. 2007-10-26. Retrieved 2007-11-03.
↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20060903232554/http://rugby.com.au/news/2003_april/france_wins_right_to_host_the_2007_rugby_wor_15381,3851.html
↑ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/international/france/8779952/Rugby-World-Cup-2011-France-pose-absolutely-no-threat-to-All-Blacks-headline-in-New-Zealand-Herald-in-2007.html
↑ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/international/newzealand/8848272/Rugby-World-Cup-2011-five-best-responses-to-the-haka.html
↑ Gower (2007)
↑ BBC News (2007)
↑ Lampp (2007)
↑ http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/8170488.stm
↑ , Doubt over Wales' 2015 Cup role
↑ http://www.independent.ie/life/travel/europe/rugby-world-cup-where-to-eat-drink-and-play-in-cardiff-31538334.html
↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-34297975
↑ http://www.walesonline.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-news/rugby-world-cup-fanzone-cardiff-10092938
↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-34282743

Wales national rugby union team

Welsh Rugby Union Support Millennium Stadium Category

History and records	1881–2003 2004–present Rugby union in Wales Results Records

Players	All players Captains

Grounds	Millennium Stadium Cardiff Arms Park St. Helen's

Competitions and trophies	Rugby World Cup Six Nations Championship Triple Crown James Bevan Trophy Prince William Cup

By opponent	Argentina Australia England France Ireland New Zealand Scotland South Africa Barbarians

Related teams	British and Irish Lions Women's Team Men's Sevens Women's Sevens Under 20s

Related articles	Grand Slam Pro12 Welsh Premier Division Anglo-Welsh Cup List of Welsh rugby union clubs

Rugby union in Wales

Governing body

Welsh Rugby Union (WRU)

National teams

Men's	Wales A 7's U-20 U-18 Schoolboys British and Irish Lions

Women's	Women's 7's

National team competitions

Regional and club teams

Cardiff Blues
Newport Gwent Dragons
Ospreys
Scarlets
RGC 1404
Celtic Warriors (disbanded)
Welsh rugby union teams

Regional and club competitions

Previous competitions

Welsh rugby union system
List of Wales national rugby union team captains
Welsh rugby union players
Millennium Stadium
National Stadium, Cardiff Arms Park
London Welsh RFC
Wales international players
Prince William Cup
James Bevan Trophy
History
Judgement Day

National team appearances in the Rugby World Cup by tier

Tier 1 teams	Argentina Australia England France Ireland Italy New Zealand Scotland South Africa Wales

Tier 2 teams	Canada Fiji Georgia Japan Namibia Portugal Romania Russia Samoa Spain Tonga United States Uruguay

Tier 3 teams	Ivory Coast Zimbabwe

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