Records and statistics of the Rugby World Cup

Overall

Team

Titles

Most titles won

Team	Titles
New Zealand	3
South Africa	2
Australia	2
England	1

Title Win Rate

Wins by percentage

Team	Win Rate
New Zealand	37.5%
South Africa	33.3%
Australia	25%
England	12.5%

Points

Most points by a team in a single match^[1]

Points	Team	Opponent	Score	Date
145	New Zealand	Japan	145–17	1995-06-04
142	Australia	Namibia	142–0	2003-10-24
111	England	Uruguay	111–13	2003-11-02
108	New Zealand	Portugal	108–13	2007-09-15

Margins

Biggest winning margins^[2]

Margin	Team	Opponent	Score	Date
142	Australia	Namibia	142–0	2003-10-24
128	New Zealand	Japan	145–17	1995-06-04
98	New Zealand	Italy	101–3	1999-10-14
	England	Uruguay	111–13	2003-11-02
95	New Zealand	Portugal	108–13	2007-09-15

Tries

Most tries by a team in a single match^[3]

Tries	Team	Opponent	Score	Date
22	Australia	Namibia	142–0	2003-10-24
21	New Zealand	Japan	145–17	1995-06-04
17	England	Uruguay	111–13	2003-11-02
16	New Zealand	Portugal	108–13	2007-09-15
14	New Zealand	Italy	101–3	1999-10-14

Individual

Points

Jonny Wilkinson holds the record for the most points scored (277), most penalties (58) & most drop goals (14) in Rugby World Cups.

Most overall points in final stages^[4]

Points	Name	Team	App.	Tries	Con.	Pen.	Drop.	Tournament(s)
277	Jonny Wilkinson	England	19	1	28	58	14	1999, 2003, 2007, 2011
227	Gavin Hastings	Scotland	13	9	39	36	0	1987, 1991, 1995
195	Michael Lynagh	Australia	15	4	36	33	2	1987, 1991, 1995
191	Dan Carter	New Zealand	15	3	58	17	3	2003, 2007, 2011, 2015
170	Grant Fox	New Zealand	10	0	37	31	1	1987, 1991

Key: App = Appearances. Con = conversions. Pen = penalties. Drop = drop goals.

Most points in one tournament^[5]

Points	Name	Team	Tournament
126	Grant Fox	New Zealand	1987
113	Jonny Wilkinson	England	2003
112	Thierry Lacroix	France	1995
105	Percy Montgomery	South Africa	2007
104	Gavin Hastings	Scotland	1995

Most points in a match by a player^[6]

Points	Name	Team	Opponent	Date
45	Simon Culhane	New Zealand	Japan	1995-06-04
44	Gavin Hastings	Scotland	Ivory Coast	1995-05-26
42	Mat Rogers	Australia	Namibia	2003-10-25
36	Paul Grayson	England	Tonga	2003-10-15
36	Tony Brown	New Zealand	Italy	1999-10-14

Tries

Bryan Habana & Jonah Lomu share the record for the most tries (15) in Rugby World Cups, and share the record for most tries in a single World Cup tournament (8) with Julian Savea (below).

Julian Savea scored a joint record eight tries in New Zealand's progress to the 2015 final, including two hat-tricks

Most overall tries in final stages^[7]

Tries	Name	Team	Tournament(s)
15	Jonah Lomu	New Zealand	1995-1999
15	Bryan Habana	South Africa	2007-2015
14	Drew Mitchell	Australia	2007-2015
13	Doug Howlett	New Zealand	2003-2007
12	Chris Latham	Australia	1999-2007

Most tries in one tournament^[8]

Tries	Name	Team	Tournament
8	Jonah Lomu	New Zealand	1999
8	Bryan Habana	South Africa	2007
8	Julian Savea	New Zealand	2015
7	Marc Ellis	New Zealand	1995
7	Jonah Lomu	New Zealand	1995

Most tries in a match by a player^[9]

Tries	Name	Team	Opponent	Date
6	Marc Ellis	New Zealand	Japan	1995-06-04
5	Chris Latham	Australia	Namibia	2003-10-25
5	Josh Lewsey	England	Uruguay	2003-11-02
4	John Gallagher	New Zealand	Fiji	1987-05-27
4	Craig Green	New Zealand	Fiji	1987-05-27

Youngest try scorer in a World Cup game

• George North  Wales, aged 19 years, 166 days (2 tries v  Namibia, 26 September 2011)^[10]

Oldest try scorer in a World Cup game

• Diego Ormaechea,  Uruguay, aged 40 years, 13 days (v  Spain, 2 October 1999)^[11]

Conversions

Daniel Carter holds the record for the most conversions in Rugby World Cups.

Most conversions in final stages^[12][13]

Con.	Name	Team	Tournament(s)
58	Daniel Carter	New Zealand	2003-2015
39	Gavin Hastings	Scotland	1987-1995
37	Grant Fox	New Zealand	1987-1991
36	Michael Lynagh	Australia	1987-1995
28	Jonny Wilkinson	England	1999-2011

Most conversions in one tournament^[14]

Con.	Name	Team	Tournament
30	Grant Fox	New Zealand	1987
23	Daniel Carter	New Zealand	2015
22	Percy Montgomery	South Africa	2007
20	Simon Culhane	New Zealand	1995
20	Michael Lynagh	Australia	1987

Most conversions in a match by a player^[15]

Con.	Name	Team	Opponent	Date
20	Simon Culhane	New Zealand	Japan	1995-06-04
16	Mat Rogers	Australia	Namibia	2003-10-25
14	Nick Evans	New Zealand	Portugal	2007-09-15
12	Paul Grayson	England	Tonga	1999-10-15
12	Leon MacDonald	New Zealand	Tonga	2003-10-24

Penalty goals

Gavin Hastings jointly holds the record for the most penalties kicked (8) in a Rugby World Cup match.

Most overall penalties in final stages^[16][17]

Pen.	Name	Team	Tournament(s)
58	Jonny Wilkinson	England	1999-2011
36	Gavin Hastings	Scotland	1987-1995
35	Gonzalo Quesada	Argentina	1999-2003
33	Andrew Mehrtens	New Zealand	1995-1999
33	Michael Lynagh	Australia	1987-1995

Most penalties in one tournament^[18]

Pen.	Name	Team	Tournament
31	Gonzalo Quesada	Argentina	1999
26	Thierry Lacroix	France	1995
23	Handré Pollard	South Africa	2015
23	Jonny Wilkinson	England	2003
21	Grant Fox	New Zealand	1987

Most penalties in a match by a player^[19]

Pen.	Name	Team	Opponent	Date
8	Gavin Hastings	Scotland	Tonga	1995-05-30
8	Thierry Lacroix	France	Ireland	1995-06-10
8	Gonzalo Quesada	Argentina	Samoa	1999-10-10
8	Matt Burke	Australia	South Africa	1999-10-30
7	Gonzalo Quesada	Argentina	Japan	1999-10-16

Drop goals

Most overall drop goals in final stages^[20][21]

Drop.	Name	Team	Tournament(s)
14	Wilkinson, JonnyJonny Wilkinson	England	1999-2011
6	de Beer, JannieJannie de Beer	South Africa	1999
5	Rees, GarethGareth Rees	Canada	1987-1999
5	Andrew, RobRob Andrew	England	1987-1995
4	Hernández, Juan MartínJuan Martín Hernández	Argentina	2003-2015

Most drop goals in one tournament^[22]

Drop.	Name	Team	Tournament
8	Wilkinson, JonnyJonny Wilkinson	England	2003
6	de Beer, JannieJannie de Beer	South Africa	1999
5	Wilkinson, JonnyJonny Wilkinson	England	2007
4	Hernández, Juan MartínJuan Martín Hernández	Argentina	2007
3	Mehrtens, AndrewAndrew Mehrtens	New Zealand	1995

Most drop goals in a match by a player^[23]

Drop.	Name	Team	Opponent	Date
5	de Beer, JannieJannie de Beer	South Africa	England	1999-10-24
3	Wilkinson, JonnyJonny Wilkinson	England	France	2003-11-16
3	Hernández, Juan MartínJuan Martín Hernández	Argentina	Ireland	2007-09-30
2	Kotzé, TheunsTheuns Kotzé	Namibia	Fiji	2011-09-10
2	Davies, JonathanJonathan Davies	Wales	Ireland	1987-05-25

Appearance statistics

Most appearances in final stages^[24][25]

App.	Name	Team	Tournaments
22	Leonard, JasonJason Leonard	England	1991-2003
22	McCaw, RichieRichie McCaw	New Zealand	2003-2015
20	Gregan, GeorgeGeorge Gregan	Australia	1995-2007
20	Burger, SchalkSchalk Burger	South Africa	2003-2015
20	Mealamu, KevenKeven Mealamu	New Zealand	2003-2015

Most winning appearances in final stages^[26]

App.	Name	Team	Tournaments
20	McCaw, RichieRichie McCaw	New Zealand	2003–2015
19	Mealamu, KevenKeven Mealamu	New Zealand	2003–2015
16	Leonard, JasonJason Leonard	England	1991-2003
16	Gregan, GeorgeGeorge Gregan	Australia	1995-2007
16	Burger, SchalkSchalk Burger	South Africa	2003–2015

Most losing appearances in final stages^[27]

App.	Name	Team	Tournaments
12	Tonița, OvidiuOvidiu Tonița	Romania	2003–2015
11	Gontineac, RomeoRomeo Gontineac	Romania	1995-2007
11	Horn, HugoHugo Horn	Namibia	1999-2011
11	Cudmore, JamieJamie Cudmore	Canada	2003-2015
11	Kvirikashvili, MerabMerab Kvirikashvili	Georgia	2003-2015
11	Burger, JacquesJacques Burger	Namibia	2007–2015
11	du Plessis, TinusTinus du Plessis	Namibia	2007–2015
11	Jantjies, EugeneEugene Jantjies	Namibia	2007–2015
11	Redelinghuys, JohnnyJohnny Redelinghuys	Namibia	2007–2015

Oldest player to appear in a World Cup match

• Diego Ormaechea,  Uruguay, aged 40 years, 26 days (v  South Africa, 15 October 1999)^[28][29]

Oldest player to appear in a World Cup Final

• Brad Thorn,  New Zealand, aged 36 years, 262 days (v  France, 23 October 2011)^[30]

Oldest player to win a World Cup Final

• Brad Thorn,  New Zealand, aged 36 years, 262 days (v  France, 23 October 2011)^[30]

Youngest player to appear in a World Cup match

• Vasil Lobzhanidze,  Georgia, aged 18 years, 340 days (v  Tonga, 19 September 2015)^[31]

Youngest player to appear in a World Cup Final

• Jonah Lomu,  New Zealand, aged 20 years, 43 days (v  South Africa, 24 June 1995)^[28]

Youngest player to win a World Cup Final

• François Steyn,  South Africa, aged 20 years, 159 days (v  England, 20 October 2007)^[28]

By tournament

Year	Top points scorers	Top try scorers	Team records
1987	*126– Grant Fox  New Zealand  82– Michael Lynagh  Australia  62– Gavin Hastings  Scotland	6– Craig Green  New Zealand 6– John Kirwan  New Zealand	Most points in a match	74	New Zealand (74-13 v Fiji)
			Biggest winning margin	64	New Zealand (70-6 v Italy)
			Most tries in a match	13	France (70-12 v Zimbabwe)
1991	68– Ralph Keyes  Ireland 66– Michael Lynagh  Australia 61– Gavin Hastings  Scotland	6– David Campese  Australia 6– Jean-Baptiste Lafond  France	Most points in a match	55	Ireland (55-11 v Zimbabwe)
			Biggest winning margin	44	Ireland (55-11 v Zimbabwe)  Japan (52-8 v Zimbabwe)
			Most tries in a match	9	Japan (52-8 v Zimbabwe)
1995	112– Thierry Lacroix  France 104– Gavin Hastings  Scotland  84– Andrew Mehrtens  New Zealand	7– Jonah Lomu  New Zealand 7– Marc Ellis  New Zealand	Most points in a match	*145	145 –  New Zealand v 17– Japan
			Biggest winning margin	128
			Most tries in a match	21
1999	102– Gonzalo Quesada  Argentina 101– Matt Burke  Australia  97– Jannie de Beer  South Africa	*8– Jonah Lomu  New Zealand	Most points in a match	101	New Zealand (101-3 v Italy)  England (101-10 v Tonga)
			Biggest winning margin	98	New Zealand (101-3 v Italy)
			Most tries in a match	14	New Zealand (101-3 v Italy)
2003	113– Jonny Wilkinson  England 103– Frédéric Michalak  France 100– Elton Flatley  Australia	7– Doug Howlett  New Zealand 7– Mils Muliaina  New Zealand	Most points in a match	142	142–  Australia v 0– Namibia
			Biggest winning margin	*142
			Most tries in a match	*22
2007	105– Percy Montgomery  South Africa 91– Felipe Contepomi  Argentina 67– Jonny Wilkinson  England	*8– Bryan Habana  South Africa	Most points in a match	108	108 –  New Zealand v 13– Portugal
			Biggest winning margin	95
			Most tries in a match	16
2011	62– Morné Steyn  South Africa 52– James O'Connor  Australia 45– Kurt Morath  Tonga	6– Chris Ashton  England 6– Vincent Clerc  France	Most points in a match	87	87–  South Africa v 0– Namibia
			Biggest winning margin	87
			Most tries in a match	12	New Zealand (79-15 v Canada)  South Africa (87-0 v Namibia)  Wales (81-7 v Namibia)
2015	97– Nicolás Sánchez  Argentina 93– Handré Pollard  South Africa 82– Bernard Foley  Australia	*8– Julian Savea  New Zealand	Most points in a match	65	Australia (65-3 v Uruguay)
			Biggest winning margin	64	South Africa (64-0 v United States)
			Most tries in a match	12	Argentina (64-19 v Namibia)

Note: * denotes a record across all tournaments

Miscellaneous

Winning coaches & captains

A foreign coach has never managed a World Cup winning team. In the case of England, which is part of the United Kingdom and also one of the four Home Nations within the context of rugby, their Cup-winning coach was also an Englishman.

Year	Host(s)	Champion	Winning coach	Winning captain
1987	Australia &  New Zealand	New Zealand	Brian Lochore	David Kirk
1991	England,  France,  Ireland,  Scotland &  Wales	Australia	Bob Dwyer	Nick Farr-Jones
1995	South Africa	South Africa	Kitch Christie	Francois Pienaar
1999	Wales	Australia	Rod MacQueen	John Eales
2003	Australia	England	Clive Woodward	Martin Johnson
2007	France	South Africa	Jake White	John Smit
2011	New Zealand	New Zealand	Graham Henry	Richie McCaw
2015	England	New Zealand	Steve Hansen	Richie McCaw

Draws

Team #1	Score	Team #2	Date
Canada	23 - 23	Japan	2011-09-27
France	20 - 20	Scotland	1987-05-23
Canada	12 - 12	Japan	2007-09-25

Note: Under the current points system of rugby union, and assuming that all individual scores had been the same, France would have beaten Scotland 23-22 in the 1987 match.

Nil points

Team #1	Score	Team #2	Date
Namibia	0 - 142	Australia	2003-10-25
Ivory Coast	0 - 89	Scotland	1995-05-26
Namibia	0 - 87	South Africa	2011-09-22
Fiji	0 - 66	Wales	2011-10-02
United States	0 - 64	South Africa	2015-10-07
Spain	0 - 48	Scotland	1999-10-16
Romania	0 - 42	Scotland	2007-09-18
Scotland	0 - 40	New Zealand	2007-09-23
England	0 - 36	South Africa	2007-09-14
Namibia	0 - 30	Georgia	2007-09-26

Highest attendance

• 89,267 -  Ireland vs  Romania, 27 September 2015 at Wembley Stadium, London, England, 2015.

Hosting

Eden Park was the first stadium to host the World Cup Final twice

• Eden Park in Auckland Park was the first stadium to host the Rugby World Cup Final twice, with the 1987 and 2011 finals having been held there. Twickenham Stadium also hosted the final twice in 1991 and 2015.
• The record for the city that has been a part of most Rugby World Cups is currently four and is held by Cardiff that hosted matches in 1991, 1999, 2007 and 2015. Edinburgh and Toulouse hosted matches in three tournaments. If the definition of "city" includes its metropolitan area, Paris has also hosted matches in three tournaments. The city of Paris hosted matches in 1991, its adjacent suburb of Saint-Denis hosted matches in 1999, and both cities hosted matches in 2007.

Trivia

• England became the first sole host nation to be eliminated in the pool stages of a Rugby World Cup in 2015. Wales as joint hosts, were eliminated in the pool stages in 1991.
• Three match-ups have occurred twice in the same World Cup:
  • 2007 Argentina defeated France in the opening match 17-12, and went on to beat them 34-10 in the Bronze final.
  • 2007 South Africa defeated England 36-0 in the pool stages, and went on to play them in the final, winning 15-6.
  • 2011 New Zealand defeated France 37-17 in the pool stages, and went on to play them in the final, winning 8-7.
• Jonny Wilkinson, with 15 points in 2003 and 6 in 2007, is the only player to have scored points in two Rugby World Cup Finals.

• Two nations have reached a Rugby World Cup Final having previously lost a game in that tournament: England in 1991 and 2007, and France in 2011, being the only team to reach the final having lost two games.
• The teams involved in the most World Cup opening matches are Argentina and New Zealand. The Pumas participated in the first three World Cup openers of the professional era — losing to Wales and Australia in 1999 and 2003 respectively, and defeating France in 2007. The All Blacks defeated Italy in 1987, England in 1991, and Tonga in 2011.
• No player scored a conversion in a Rugby World Cup Final between Matt Burke of Australia in 1999 and François Trinh-Duc of France in 2011. Both Jonny Wilkinson and Elton Flatley failed with their sole conversion attempts in 2003, and no tries were scored in 2007's final.
• France, Australia and New Zealand are the only nations to have made it to at least the quarter-finals of every Rugby World Cup. Furthermore, South Africa have also done so since they started participating in 1995.
• France is the only non English-speaking country to have made it to a Rugby World Cup final - in 1987, 1999 and 2011. It is also the only country to reach a final without ever winning it.
• The only Tier Two countries to have participated in every Rugby World Cup are Canada, Japan and Romania, with only the first of those making it to one quarter-final in 1991.
• Japan are the only team to have ever won three matches and not progressed beyond the Group Stage, having lost to South Africa and Scotland in their pool by points difference in 2015.
• Of the Tier One nations, Italy is the only one not to have made it to at least the quarter-finals in any Rugby World Cup. Conversely, three Tier Two countries have made it to the quarter-finals - Fiji in 1987 and 2007, Canada in 1991 and Samoa (then called Western Samoa) in 1991 and 1995.
• The 2015 final between Australia and New Zealand is the highest scoring Rugby World Cup final ever.
• After the 2015 final, New Zealand became the first team to win the Rugby World Cup three times, and the first team to have successfully defended its title.
• Wales have had the most upsets in the Rugby World Cup, having lost to Samoa both in 1991 and 1999, then losing to Fiji in 2007. Other major upsets include France losing to Tonga in 2011 and South Africa losing to Japan in 2015.

See also

• List of rugby union playing countries
• List of Rugby World Cup hat-tricks
• Rugby World Cup try scorers
• Rugby World Cup Overall Record
• National team appearances in the Rugby World Cup
• List of dual Rugby World Cup winners

References

1. "Most team points in a match". Espnscrum.com. 26 September 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
2. "All Time RWC Team Records". Rugbyworldcup.com. 26 September 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
3. "Most team tries in a match". Espnscrum.com. 26 September 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
4. "All Time RWC Player Statistics". Rugbyworldcup.com. 26 September 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
5. "Most individual points in a tournament/season". Espnscrum.com. 26 September 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
6. "All Time RWC Player Records". Rugbyworldcup.com. 26 September 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
7. "RWC ALL TIME MOST TRIES SCORED". Rugbyworldcup.com. 26 September 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
8. "Most individual tries in a tournament/season". Espnscrum.com. 26 September 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
9. "Most individual tries in a match". Espnscrum.com. 26 September 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
10. "Youngest tryscorer". Espnscrum.com. 26 September 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
11. "Oldest tryscorer". Espnscrum.com. 26 September 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
12. "RWC ALL TIME MOST CONVERSIONS". Rugbyworldcup.com. 26 September 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
13. "Most individual conversions". Espnscrum.com. 2 October 2015. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
14. "Most individual conversions in a tournament/season". Espnscrum.com. 26 September 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
15. "Most individual conversions in a match". Espnscrum.com. 26 September 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
16. "RWC ALL TIME MOST PENALTIES SCORED". Rugbyworldcup.com. 26 September 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
17. "Most individual penalty goals". Espnscrum.com. 26 September 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
18. "Most individual penalty goals in a tournament/season". Espnscrum.com. 26 September 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
19. "Most individual penalty goals in a match". Espnscrum.com. 26 September 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
20. "RWC ALL TIME MOST DROP GOALS". Rugbyworldcup.com. 26 September 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
21. "Most individual drop goals". Espnscrum.com. 26 September 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
22. "Most individual drop goals in a tournament/season". Espnscrum.com. 26 September 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
23. "Most individual drop goals in a match". Espnscrum.com. 26 September 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
24. "RWC ALL TIME MOST MATCHES PLAYED". Rugbyworldcup.com. 26 September 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
25. "Most matches". Espnscrum.com. 26 September 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
26. "Player Records: Overall figures, Rugby World Cup, won match". ESPN (UK). 31 October 2015. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
27. "Player Records: Overall figures, Rugby World Cup, lost match". ESPN (UK). 31 October 2015. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
28. Griffiths, John (12 September 2011). "Victors in the Five/Six Nations, Tri-Nations and the World Cup, the youngest and oldest players, referees and close encounters". Ask John. ESPN Scrum. Retrieved 13 September 2011.
29. For the specific match where Ormaeches established the current record, see the list of his Test matches at ESPN Scrum.
30. "Rugby World Cup: showpiece tournament by the numbers". stuff.co.nz. 13 September 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
31. "Georgia spring first surprise by taking down Tonga". ESPN (UK). PA Sport. 19 September 2015. Retrieved 19 September 2015.

External links

• All Time RWC Team Statistics on Rugbyworldcup.com
• All Time RWC Player Statistics on Rugbyworldcup.com
• IRB Rugby World Cup Records on Espnscrum.com