England at the Rugby World Cup

England playing against South Africa in the 2007 World Cup.

Map of the countries participating around the globe best results, excluding countries which unsuccessfully participated in qualifying tournaments.

The England national team have competed in every Rugby World Cup since the inaugural tournament in 1987. They have played 44 matches in eight tournaments, and won 31 for a winning record of 70.45%. Their best ever position was first in 2003, whilst they also participated in the 2007 final and the final of the 1991 competition. They have beaten three countries three times; Australia, France and the United States. Their worst record is against New Zealand whom they have never beaten in three matches, and South Africa who have defeated them in three of their four encounters.

England co-hosted the 1991 Rugby World Cup with Ireland, Scotland, Wales and France, with the final between England and Australia played at Twickenham. England was the sole host of the 2015 Rugby World Cup, although eight games were held at the Millennium Stadium, the Welsh national stadium in Cardiff.

By position

Rugby World Cup record											Qualification
Year	Round	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	Squad	Head coach		Pos	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA
1987	Quarter–finals	4	2	0	2	103	48	Squad	M. Green		Invited
1991	Runners–up	6	4	0	2	119	61	Squad	G. Cooke		Automatically qualified
1995	Fourth place	6	4	0	2	158	146	Squad	J. Rowell		Automatically qualified
1999	Quarter–finals	5	3	0	2	250	115	Squad	C. Woodward		1st	2	2	0	0	133	15
2003	Champions	7	7	0	0	327	88	Squad	C. Woodward		Automatically qualified
2007	Runners–up	7	5	0	2	140	122	Squad	B. Ashton		Automatically qualified
2011	Quarter–finals	5	4	0	1	149	53	Squad	M. Johnson		Automatically qualified
2015	Pool stage	4	2	0	2	133	75	Squad	S. Lancaster		Automatically qualified
2019	Runners–up	6	5	0	1	190	75	Squad	E. Jones		Automatically qualified
2023	Third place	7	6	0	1	221	102	Squad	S. Borthwick		Automatically qualified
2027											Automatically qualified
2031											To be determined
Total	—	57	42	0	15	1790	885	—	—		—	2	2	0	0	133	15
Champions   Runners–up   Third place   Fourth place   Home venue

By tournament

1987 New Zealand & Australia

Group matches

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23 May 1987

Australia	19–6	England
Try: Campese Poidevin Con: Lynagh Pen: Lynagh (3)		Try: Harrison Con: Webb

Concord Oval, Sydney Attendance: 17,896 Referee: Keith Lawrence (New Zealand)

30 May 1987

England	60–7	Japan
Try: Harrison (3) Underwood (2) Salmon Richards Redman Rees Simms Con: Webb (7) Pen: Webb (2)		Try: Miyamoto Pen: Matsuo

Concord Oval, Sydney Attendance: 4,893 Referee: René Hourquet (France)

3 June 1987

England	34–6	United States
Try: Winterbottom (2) Harrison Dooley Con: Webb (3) Pen: Webb (4)		Try: Purcell Con: Nelson

Concord Oval, Sydney Attendance: 8,785 Referee: Kerry Fitzgerald (Australia)

Quarter final

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8 June 1987

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

Ballymore, Brisbane Attendance: 15,000 Referee: René Hourquet (France)

1991 UK, Ireland & France

Group matches

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3 October 1991

England	12–18	New Zealand
Pen: Webb (3) Drop: Andrew		Try: Jones Con: Fox Pen: Fox (4)

Twickenham Stadium, London Attendance: 57,000 Referee: Jim Fleming (Scotland)

8 October 1991

England	36–6	Italy
Try: Guscott (2) Underwood Webb Con: Webb (4) Pen: Webb (4)		Try: Cuttitta Con: Dominguez

Twickenham Stadium, London Attendance: 30,000 Referee: Brian Anderson (Scotland)

11 October 1991

England	37–9	United States
Try: Underwood (2) Carling Skinner Heslop Con: Hodgkinson (4) Pen: Hodgkinson (3)		Try: Nelson Con: Williams Pen: Williams

Twickenham Stadium, London Attendance: 45,000 Referee: Les Peard (Wales)

Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
New Zealand	3	3	0	0	95	39	+56	6
England	3	2	0	1	85	33	+52	4
Italy	3	1	0	2	57	76	−19	2
United States	3	0	0	3	24	113	−89	0

Source:

Quarter final

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19 October 1991

France	10–19	England
Try: Lafond Pen: Lacroix (2)	Report	Try: Underwood Carling Con: Webb Pen: Webb (3)

Parc des Princes, Paris Attendance: 48,500 Referee: Dave Bishop (New Zealand)

Semi final

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26 October 1991

Scotland	6–9	England
Pen: G. Hastings (2)	Report	Pen: Webb (2) Drop: Andrew

Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh Attendance: 54,000 Referee: Kerry Fitzgerald (Australia)

Final

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Main article: 1991 Rugby World Cup Final

2 November 1991

Australia	12–6	England
Try: Daly Con: Lynagh Pen: Lynagh (2)	Report	Pen: Webb (2)

Twickenham Stadium, London Attendance: 56,208 Referee: Derek Bevan (Wales)

1995 South Africa

Group matches

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27 May 1995

Argentina	18–24	England
Try: Arbizu Noriega Con: Arbizu Pen: Arbizu (2)		Pen: Andrew (6) Drop: Andrew (2)

Kings Park Stadium, Durban Attendance: 35,000 Referee: Jim Fleming (Scotland)

31 May 1995

England	27–20	Italy
Try: R. Underwood T. Underwood Con: Andrew Pen: Andrew (5)		Try: Cuttitta Vaccari Con: Dominguez (2) Pen: Dominguez (2)

Kings Park Stadium, Durban Attendance: 45,093 Referee: Stephen Hilditch (Ireland)

4 June 1995

England	44–22	Western Samoa
Try: R. Underwood (2) Back Penalty try Con: Callard (3) Pen: Callard(5) Drop: Catt		Try: Sini (2) Umaga Con: Fa'amasino (2) Pen: Fa'amasino

Kings Park Stadium, Durban Attendance: 35,000 Referee: Patrick Robin (France)

Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
England	3	3	0	0	95	60	+35	9
Western Samoa	3	2	0	1	96	88	+8	7
Italy	3	1	0	2	69	94	−25	5
Argentina	3	0	0	3	69	87	−18	3

Source:

Quarter final

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11 June 1995

England	25–22	Australia
Try: T. Underwood Con: Andrew Pen: Andrew (5) Drop: Andrew	Report	Try: Smith Con: Lynagh Pen: Lynagh (5)

Newlands, Cape Town Attendance: 35,448 Referee: Dave Bishop (New Zealand)

Semi final

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18 June 1995

England	29–45	New Zealand
Try: Carling (2) R. Underwood (2) Con: Andrew (3) Pen: Andrew	Report	Try: Lomu (4) Kronfeld Bachop Con: Mehrtens (3) Pen: Mehrtens Drop: Z. Brooke Mehrtens

Newlands, Cape Town Attendance: 43,414 Referee: Stephen Hilditch (Ireland)

Third-place play-off

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22 June 1995

France	19–9	England
Try: Olivier Roumat Ntamack Pen: Lacroix (3)		Pen: Andrew (3)

Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria Attendance: 44,000 Referee: Dave Bishop (New Zealand)

1999 Wales

Group matches

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2 October 1999 17:00 WEST/GMT+01 (UTC+01)

England	67–7	Italy
Try: Wilkinson Hill Luger Back De Glanville Corry Dawson Perry Con: Wilkinson (6) Pen: Wilkinson (5)		Try: Dominguez Con: Dominguez

Twickenham, London Attendance: 73,470 Referee: Andre Watson (South Africa)

9 October 1999 16:30 WEST/GMT+01 (UTC+01)

England	16–30	New Zealand
Try: De Glanville Con: Wilkinson Pen: Wilkinson (3)		Try: Kelleher Wilson Lomu Con: Mehrtens (3) Pen: Mehrtens (3)

Twickenham, London Attendance: 72,000 Referee: Peter Marshall (Australia)

15 October 1999 13:00 WEST/GMT+01 (UTC+01)

England	101–10	Tonga
Try: Guscott (2) Greening (2) Luger (2) Healey (2) Greenwood (2) Dawson Perry Hill Con: Grayson (12) Pen: Grayson (4)		Try: Tiueti Con: Tuipulotu Pen: Tuipulotu

Twickenham, London Attendance: 72,485 Referee: Wayne Erickson (Australia)

Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
New Zealand	3	3	0	0	176	28	+148	9
England	3	2	0	1	184	47	+137	7
Tonga	3	1	0	2	47	171	−124	5
Italy	3	0	0	3	35	196	−161	3

Source:

Quarter-final play-offs

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20 October 1999 13:00 WEST/GMT+1 (UTC+01)

England	45–24	Fiji
Try: Luger Back Beal Greening Con: Dawson Wilkinson Pen: Wilkinson (7)	Report	Try: Satala Nakauta Tikomaimakogai Con: Little (3) Pen: Serevi

Twickenham, London Attendance: 55,000 Referee: Clayton Thomas (Wales)

Quarter final

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24 October 1999 14:00 CEST/GMT+2 (UTC+02)

South Africa	44–21	England
Try: Van der Westhuizen P. Rossouw Con: De Beer (2) Pen: De Beer (5) Drop: De Beer (5)	Report	Pen: Grayson (6) Wilkinson

Stade de France, Saint-Denis Attendance: 75,000 Referee: Jim Fleming (Scotland)

2003 Australia

Group matches

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12 October 2003

England	84–6	Georgia
Try: Tindall Dawson Thompson Back Dallaglio Greenwood (2) Regan Cohen (2) Robinson Luger Con: Wilkinson (5) Grayson (4) Pen: Wilkinson (2)		Pen: Urjukashvili Jimsheladze

Subiaco Oval, Perth Attendance: 25,501 Referee: Pablo De Luca (Argentina)

18 October 2003

South Africa	6–25	England
Pen: Koen (2)		Try: Greenwood Con: Wilkinson Pen: Wilkinson (4) Drop: Wilkinson (2)

Subiaco Oval, Perth Attendance: 38,834 Referee: Peter Marshall (Australia)

26 October 2003

England	35–22	Samoa
Try: Back Penalty try Balshaw Vickery Con: Wilkinson (3) Pen: Wilkinson (2) Drop: Wilkinson		Try: Sititi Con: Va'a Pen: Va'a (5)

Docklands Stadium, Melbourne Attendance: 50,647 Referee: Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)

2 November 2003

England	111–13	Uruguay
Try: Moody Lewsey (5) Balshaw (2) Catt (2) Gomarsall (2) Luger Abbott Robinson (2) Greenwood Con: Grayson (11) Catt (2)		Try: Lemoine Con: Menchaca Pen: Menchaca (2)

Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane Attendance: 46,233 Referee: Nigel Whitehouse (Wales)

Quarter final

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9 November 2003

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

Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane Attendance: 45,252 Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland)

Semi final

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16 November 2003

France	7–24	England
Try: Betsen 10' c Con: Michalak		Pen: Wilkinson (5) Drop: Wilkinson (3) 9', 38', 58'

Stadium Australia, Sydney Attendance: 82,346 Referee: Paddy O'Brien (New Zealand)

Final

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Main article: 2003 Rugby World Cup Final

22 November 2003

Australia	17–20 (a.e.t.)	England
Try: Tuqiri 6' m Pen: Flatley (4)	Report	Try: Robinson 38' m Pen: Wilkinson (4) Drop: Wilkinson 100'

Stadium Australia, Sydney Attendance: 82,957 Referee: André Watson (South Africa)

2007 France

Group matches

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8 September 2007 18:00

England	28–10	United States
Tries: Robinson 35' m Barkley 40+' c Rees 49' c Con: Barkley (2/3) Pen: Barkley (3/3) 7', 22', 31'	Report	Tries: Moeakiola 74' c Con: Hercus (1/1) Pen: Hercus (1/1) 9'

Stade Félix Bollaert, Lens Attendance: 36,755 Referee: Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)

14 September 2007 21:00

England	0–36	South Africa
	Report	Tries: Smith 6' c Pietersen (2) 38' c, 64' c Con: Montgomery (3/3) Pen: Steyn (1/1) 11' Montgomery (4/4) 36', 46', 55', 79'

Stade de France, Saint-Denis Attendance: 77,523 Referee: Joël Jutge (France)

22 September 2007 16:00

England	44–22	Samoa
Tries: Corry (2) 2' c, 76' c Sackey (2) 32' c, 80+' m Con: Wilkinson (3/4) Pen: Wilkinson (4/6) 15', 22', 33', 72' Drop: Wilkinson (2/3) 6', 69'	Report	Try: Polu 47' c Con: Crichton (1/1) Pen: Crichton (5/5) 9', 12', 38', 40+, 42'

Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes Attendance: 37,022 Referee: Alan Lewis (Ireland)

28 September 2007 21:00

England	36–20	Tonga
Tries: Sackey (2) 20' m, 38' m Tait 57' c Farrell 66' c Con: Wilkinson (2/4) Pen: Wilkinson (2/3) 14', 36' Drop: Wilkinson (2/2) 32', 72'	Report	Tries: Hufanga 17' c Pole 80' c Con: Hola (2/2) Pen: Hola (2/2) 11', 55'

Parc des Princes, Paris Attendance: 45,085 Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland)

Quarter final

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6 October 2007 15:00

Australia	10–12	England
Try: Tuqiri 33' c Con: Mortlock (1/1) Pen: Mortlock (1/4) 6'	Report	Pen: Wilkinson (4/7) 22', 25', 51', 59'

Stade Vélodrome, Marseille Attendance: 59,102 Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland)

Semi final

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13 October 2007 21:00

England	14–9	France
Try: Lewsey 2' m Pen: Wilkinson (2/3) 47', 75' Drop: Wilkinson (1/4) 78'	Report	Pen: Beauxis (3/3) 8', 18', 44'

Stade de France, Saint-Denis Attendance: 80,283 Referee: Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)

Final

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Main article: 2007 Rugby World Cup Final

20 October 2007 21:00

England	6–15	South Africa
Pen: Wilkinson (2/2) 13', 44'	Report	Pen: Montgomery (4/4) 7', 16', 40', 51' Steyn (1/2) 62'

Stade de France, Saint-Denis Attendance: 80,430 Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland)

2011 New Zealand

Group matches

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10 September 2011 20:30

Argentina	9–13	England
Pen: Contepomi (1/2) 7' Rodríguez (2/7) 20', 45'	Report	Try: Youngs 67' c Con: Wilkinson (1/1) Pen: Wilkinson (2/7) 12', 75'

Otago Stadium, Dunedin Attendance: 30,700 Referee: Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand)

18 September 2011 18:00

England	41–10	Georgia
Try: Hape (2) 4' c, 21' c Armitage 47' m Tuilagi 62' c Ashton (2) 65' c, 80' m Con: Flood (4/6) Pen: Flood (1/1) 35'	Report	Try: Basilaia 40' c Con: Kvirikashvili (1/1) Pen: Kvirikashvili (1/6) 27'

Otago Stadium, Dunedin Attendance: 20,117 Referee: Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)

24 September 2011 18:00

England	67–3	Romania
Try: Cueto (3) 15' m, 22' c, 26' m Ashton (3) 32' c, 35' c, 70' c Youngs 41' m Foden 49' c Tuilagi 61' c Croft 67' c Con: Wilkinson (3/5) Flood (4/5) Pen: Wilkinson (1/1) 2'	Report	Pen: Dumbravă (1/5) 38'

Otago Stadium, Dunedin Attendance: 25,687 Referee: Romain Poite (France)

1 October 2011 20:30

England	16–12	Scotland
Try: Ashton 78' c Con: Flood (1/1) Pen: Wilkinson (2/5) 34', 63' Drop: Wilkinson (1/2) 57'	Report	Pen: Paterson (2/2) 9', 55' Parks (1/1) 17' Drop: Parks (1/3) 40+'

Eden Park, Auckland Attendance: 58,213 Referee: Craig Joubert (South Africa)

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	T	B	Pts	Qualification
1	England	4	4	0	0	137	34	+103	18	2	18	Advanced to the quarter-finals and qualified for the 2015 Rugby World Cup
2	Argentina	4	3	0	1	90	40	+50	10	2	14
3	Scotland	4	2	0	2	73	59	+14	4	3	11	Eliminated but qualified for 2015 Rugby World Cup
4	Georgia	4	1	0	3	48	90	−42	3	0	4
5	Romania	4	0	0	4	44	169	−125	3	0	0

Source:

Quarter final

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8 October 2011 20:30 NZDT (UTC+13)

England	12–19	France
Try: Foden 55' c Cueto 77' m Con: Wilkinson (1/1)		Try: Clerc 22' m Médard 31' m Pen: Yachvili (2/3) 11', 16' Drop: Trinh-Duc (1/1) 73'

Eden Park, Auckland Attendance: 49,105 Referee: Steve Walsh (Australia)

2015 England

Group matches

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18 September 2015 20:00

England	35–11	Fiji
Try: Penalty try 13' c Brown (2) 22' m, 72' c B. Vunipola 80' c Con: Ford (1/2) 13' Farrell (2/2) 73', 80' Pen: Ford (2/3) 3', 34' Farrell (1/1) 68'	Report	Try: Nadolo 30' m Pen: Nadolo (1/3) 37' Volavola (1/2) 64'

Twickenham Stadium, London Attendance: 80,015 Referee: Jaco Peyper (South Africa)

26 September 2015 20:00

England	25–28	Wales
Try: May 27' c Con: Farrell (1/1) 29' Pen: Farrell (5/5) 12', 24', 44', 52', 69' Drop: Farrell 18'	Report	Try: G. Davies 71' c Con: Biggar (1/1) 72' Pen: Biggar (7/7) 3', 16', 40', 48', 54', 59', 75'

Twickenham Stadium, London Attendance: 81,129 Referee: Jérôme Garcès (France)

3 October 2015 20:00

England	13–33	Australia
Try: Watson 56' c Con: Farrell (1/1) 57' Pen: Farrell (2/2) 13', 65'	Report	Try: Foley (2) 20' c, 35' c Giteau 80' c Con: Foley (3/3) 22', 36', 80' Pen: Foley (4/4) 8', 50', 72', 76'

Twickenham Stadium, London Attendance: 81,010 Referee: Romain Poite (France)

10 October 2015 20:00

England	60–3	Uruguay
Try: Watson (2) 7' c, 42' m Easter (3) 18' c, 23' c, 60' m Slade 54' m Nowell (3) 57' c, 70' m, 74' m Penalty try 80' c Con: Farrell (4/6) 8', 19', 25', 58' Ford (1/4) 80'	Report	Pen: Berchesi (1/1) 2'

City of Manchester Stadium, Manchester Attendance: 50,778 Referee: Chris Pollock (New Zealand)

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	T	B	Pts	Qualification
1	Australia	4	4	0	0	141	35	+106	17	1	17	Advanced to the quarter-finals and qualified for the 2019 Rugby World Cup
2	Wales	4	3	0	1	111	62	+49	11	1	13
3	England	4	2	0	2	133	75	+58	16	3	11	Eliminated but qualified for 2019 Rugby World Cup
4	Fiji	4	1	0	3	84	101	−17	10	1	5
5	Uruguay	4	0	0	4	30	226	−196	2	0	0

Source:

2019 Japan

Group matches

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22 September 2019 19:15 JST (UTC+09)

(1 BP) England	35–3	Tonga
Try: Tuilagi (2) 24' m, 31' c George 57' c Cowan-Dickie 77' c Con: Farrell (3/4) 33', 58', 78' Pen: Farrell (3/3) 11', 37', 43'	Report	Pen: Takulua (1/2) 15'

Sapporo Dome, Sapporo Attendance: 35,923 Referee: Paul Williams (New Zealand)

26 September 2019 19:45 JST (UTC+09)

(1 BP) England	45–7	United States
Try: Ford 5' c Vunipola 24' c Cowan-Dickie 32' m Cokanasiga 47' m, 75' c McConnochie 57' c Ludlam 66' c Con: Ford (5/7) 7', 25', 59', 68', 76'		Try: Campbell 81' c Con: MacGinty (1/1) 82'

Kobe Misaki Stadium, Kobe Attendance: 27,194 Referee: Nic Berry (Australia)

5 October 2019 17:00 JST (UTC+09)

(1 BP) England	39–10	Argentina
Try: May 9' m Daly 35' m Youngs 40'+1 m Ford 45' c Nowell 74' c Cowan-Dickie 80' c Con: Farrell (3/6) 47', 76', 80+1' Pen: Farrell (1/1) 54'	Report	Try: Moroni 71' c Con: Boffelli (1/1) 72' Pen: Urdapilleta (1/1) 7'

Tokyo Stadium, Chōfu Attendance: 48,185 Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)

12 October 2019 17:15 JST (UTC+09)

England	0–0 (Cancelled)	France

International Stadium Yokohama, Yokohama Referee: Jaco Peyper (South Africa)

Notes:

• As a result of inclement weather caused by Typhoon Hagibis this match was cancelled and awarded as a 0–0 draw.

Quarter-final

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19 October 2019 16:15 JST (UTC+09)

England	v	Australia

Ōita Stadium, Ōita Referee: Jérôme Garcès (France)

Overall record

Against	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	% Won
Argentina	2	2	0	0	37	29	100
Australia	7	4	0	3	82	113	57.14
Fiji	2	2	0	0	80	35	100
France	6	3	1	2	78	64	60
Georgia	2	2	0	0	125	16	100
Italy	3	3	0	0	130	33	100
Japan	1	1	0	0	60	7	100
New Zealand	3	0	0	3	57	93	0
Romania	1	1	0	0	67	3	100
Samoa	3	3	0	0	123	66	100
Scotland	2	2	0	0	25	18	100
South Africa	4	1	0	3	51	95	25
Tonga	2	2	0	0	146	30	100
United States	3	3	0	0	99	25	100
Uruguay	2	2	0	0	171	16	100
Wales	3	1	0	2	56	61	33.33
Total	45	32	0	13	1379	708	70.45

References

• Davies, Gerald (2004) The History of the Rugby World Cup, Sanctuary Publishing Ltd, (ISBN 1-86074-602-0)
• Farr-Jones, Nick, (2003). Story of the Rugby World Cup, Australian Post Corporation, (ISBN 0-642-36811-2)

External links

• Rugbyworldcup.com Official site of the Rugby World Cup.
• IRB.com Official site of the International Rugby Board.