The 2007 Rugby World Cup () was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition organised by the International Rugby Board. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 20 October. France won the hosting rights in 2003, beating a bid from England. The competition consisted of 48 matches over 44 days; 42 matches were played in 10 cities throughout France, as well as four in Cardiff, Wales, and two in Edinburgh, Scotland.
The eight quarter-finalists from 2003 were granted automatic qualification, while 12 other nations gained entry through the regional qualifying competitions that began in 2004 – of them, Portugal was the only World Cup debutant. The top three nations from each pool at the end of the pool stage qualified automatically for the 2011 World Cup.
The competition opened with a match between hosts France and Argentina on 7 September at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, outside Paris. The stadium was also the venue of the final, played between England and South Africa on 20 October, which South Africa won 15–6 to win their second World Cup title.
thumb|The opening ceremony of the 2007 Rugby World Cup
Bids
thumb|The [[Eiffel Tower in Paris decorated with a giant rugby ball for the 2007 Rugby World Cup.]]
Both England and France bid to host the tournament. The tender document for the 2007 bidding process was due out on 31 October 2001. Both England and France were invited to re-submit their plans. The International Rugby Board (IRB) stated that both countries must comply with tender document terms in one bid, but in their second option, could propose alternative ideas. The IRB said "England's original proposal contained three plans for hosting the tournament with a traditional, new and hybrid format all on offer... The French bid, while complying with the tender document in all other respects, fell outside one of the 'windows' in which the IRB wanted to stage an event". The tournament was moved to the proposed September–October dates with the tournament structure remaining as it was. Qualifying matches began in 2004 and were completed in early 2007. Including the automatic qualifiers, over 90 nations were in qualifying contention for the final tournament.
In July 2005, both Samoa and Fiji were confirmed as the qualifiers from Oceania, as Oceania 1 and 2 respectively. In July of the following year, Argentina qualified as Americas 1 by defeating Uruguay 26–0 in Buenos Aires. Canada qualified as Americas 2 in August by defeating the United States 56–7 in Newfoundland. The United States went on to qualify as Americas 3 after beating Uruguay in a two-legged tie in early October. That month also saw Italy qualify as Europe 1 after defeating Russia 67–7 in Moscow, reaching the first place in its qualifying group; Romania defeated Spain 43–20 in Madrid, and also qualified for the World Cup as Europe 2.
Namibia qualified for their third consecutive World Cup after they earned their spot in France by defeating Morocco over two legs in November. In late 2006, it was announced that the IRB had withdrawn Colombo as the venue of the final Asian qualifying tournament due to security problems. Japan won the only Asian allocation after the tournament was moved to Hong Kong. Georgia was 14 points the better of Portugal over two legs to claim the last European place. The final spot went to Portugal, joining Pool C after beating Uruguay 24–23 on aggregate. Portugal's qualification was the only change in the 20-team roster from the 2003 World Cup, replacing Uruguay, becoming the only wholly amateur team to qualify.
{| class="wikitable" width=98%
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!width=20%|Africa
!width=28%|Americas
!width=28%|Europe
!width=23%|Oceania/Asia
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- (Africa)
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- (Americas 1)
- (Americas 2)
- (Americas 3)
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- (Europe 1)
- (Europe 2)
- (Europe 3)
- (Repechage 1)
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- (Oceania 2)
- (Oceania 1)
- (Repechage 2)
- (Asia)
|}
Venues
thumb|The 2007 World Cup was hosted by France, with additional venues at Edinburgh and Cardiff.
France won the right to host the 2007 World Cup in 2003, Then it was announced that 6 games would be held abroad, at the request of their neighbouring countries. Four matches would be held in Wales, at Cardiff's 74,500-seat Millennium Stadium: two Pool B games involving Wales, the match between Fiji and Canada and a quarter-final. Ireland was to have hosted matches at Lansdowne Road, Dublin, but opted out because the stadium was being redeveloped.
Two of Scotland's Pool C matches were played at Murrayfield Stadium in Scotland. The Scottish Rugby Union was reportedly having doubts in early 2006 about hosting these games and whether Scotland would generate enough market demand, but confirmed in April 2006 that the games would be played at Murrayfield. In the end, the Scotland v. New Zealand match failed to sell out, and the stadium was less than half-full for the Scotland v. Romania match.
There was a substantial increase in the overall capacity of stadiums compared to the 2003 Rugby World Cup – the smallest venue at the 2007 tournament could seat 33,900 people. The French venues were the same as those used for the 1998 FIFA World Cup. Around 6,000 volunteers helped to organise the competition.
Although the 2007 tournament was the first to be hosted primarily by France, a number of matches during the 1991 and 1999 tournaments were played in France. In 1991, matches in Pool D (which included France) were played in Béziers, Bayonne, Grenoble, Toulouse, Brive and Agen, while Parc des Princes and Stadium Lille-Metropole each hosted a quarter-final. Similarly, in 1999, fixtures in Pool C (which included France) were played in Béziers, Bordeaux and Toulouse, Stade Félix-Bollaert was the venue for one of the quarter-final play-offs, and the Stade de France hosted a quarter-final. The remaining tickets – individual tickets and tickets to the semi-finals – were released in phase three in November 2006. In June 2007, it was announced that 2 million of the 2.4 million tickets had been sold in advance of the tournament.
The Worldwide partners for the tournament were Société Générale, GMF, Électricité de France, Peugeot, Visa and SNCF, and official sponsors include Heineken, Vediorbis, Capgemini, Orange, Toshiba and Emirates. Gilbert provided the tournament balls, with the Gilbert Synergie match ball used throughout the tournament. This continued Gilbert's involvement with the World Cup, the company having provided the Barbarian (1995), Revolution (1999) and Xact (2003) balls in the past. Along with Gilbert, the official suppliers were Adidas, Coca-Cola, Clifford Chance, Goodyear and McDonald's. The host broadcaster for the event was TF1.
Squads
Each country was allowed a squad of 30 players for the tournament. These squads were to be submitted to the International Rugby Board by a deadline of 14 August 2007. Once the squad was submitted a player could be replaced if injured, but would not be allowed to return to the squad.
Match officials
The 2007 Rugby World Cup officials were appointed in late-April 2007, with 12 referees and 13 touch judges being chosen to officiate during the pool stage. In the knockout stage the 12 referees also acted as touch judges, with referee appointments being based on performance from previous matches and selection for neutrality. Referees came from seven different nationalities and three of them made their Rugby World Cup debut. The touch judges came from 10 countries. Tony Spreadbury of England officiated the opening game between France and Argentina at the Stade de France and Irishman Alain Rolland refereed the final.
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Pool format
The competition was contested over 44 days between 20 different nations, over 48 fixtures. The tournament began on 7 September at the Stade de France with a match between the host nation, France, and Argentina. The tournament culminated at the same venue on 20 October for the final between England and South Africa.
Pool stage
{| class="wikitable" style="width:98%"
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!width=25%|Pool A
!width=25%|Pool B
!width=25%|Pool C
!width=25%|Pool D
|-
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<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Bonus points, contributing to a team's cumulative match-point score, were awarded in each of the following instances (one match point for each event):
- a team scores four or more tries (regardless of the match result);
- a team loses by seven points (a converted try) or fewer. Although other teams could theoretically draw level on table points with South Africa, Australia and New Zealand and exceed their points differences at the end of the pool stages, head-to-head results by that time ensured these teams could be declared winners of their respective pools, with a match to spare. This also illustrates the fact that the pool tables do not tell the whole story.
Knockout stage
From this stage onwards, the tournament adopted a knockout format comprising eight fixtures: four quarter-finals, two semi-finals, a bronze medal match, and the final. The winner and runner-up from each of the four pools advanced to the quarter-finals. Pool winners were drawn against opposite pool runners-up in the quarter-finals, e.g. the winner of Pool A faced the runner up of Pool B, and the winner of Pool B faced the runner-up of Pool A.
In the knockout stage, if a match resulted in a draw after 80 minutes of normal play, further periods would be played to determine an outright winner. Initially, there would be two periods of extra time, 10 minutes each way; if there was no winner after this, then play would proceed to a single 10-minute period of "sudden death". If the contest was unresolved after a total 110 minutes of open play, the winner would be determined by a placekicking competition. previously, only the eight quarter-finalists gained an automatic place in the following tournament.
Pool stage
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|bgcolor="#ccffcc"|Qualified for the quarter-finals
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|bgcolor="#ffffcc"|Eliminated, automatic qualification for RWC 2011
|}
All times French time (UTC+2)
Pool A
{| style="width:100%" cellspacing="1"
|-
!width=15%|
!width=25%|
!width=10%|
!width=25%|
|- style=font-size:90%
|align=right|8 September 2007||align=right|||align=center|28–10 ||||Stade Félix Bollaert, Lens
|- style=font-size:90%
|align=right|9 September 2007||align=right|||align=center|59–7 ||||Parc des Princes, Paris
|- style=font-size:90%
|align=right|12 September 2007||align=right|||align=center|15–25 ||||Stade de la Mosson, Montpellier
|- style=font-size:90%
|align=right|14 September 2007||align=right|||align=center|0–36 ||||Stade de France, Saint-Denis
|- style=font-size:90%
|align=right|16 September 2007||align=right|||align=center|15–19 ||||Stade de la Mosson, Montpellier
|- style=font-size:90%
|align=right|22 September 2007||align=right|||align=center|30–25 ||||Stade Félix Bollaert, Lens
|- style=font-size:90%
|align=right|22 September 2007||align=right|||align=center|44–22 ||||Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes
|- style=font-size:90%
|align=right|26 September 2007||align=right|||align=center|25–21 ||||Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, Saint-Étienne
|- style=font-size:90%
|align=right|28 September 2007||align=right|||align=center|36–20 ||||Parc des Princes, Paris
|- style=font-size:90%
|align=right|30 September 2007||align=right|||align=center|64–15 ||||Stade de la Mosson, Montpellier
|}
Pool B
{| style="width:100%" cellspacing="1"
|-
!width=15%|
!width=25%|
!width=10%|
!width=25%|
|- style=font-size:90%
|align=right|8 September 2007||align=right|||align=center|91–3 ||||Stade de Gerland, Lyon
|- style=font-size:90%
|align=right|9 September 2007||align=right|||align=center|42–17 ||||Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes
|- style=font-size:90%
|align=right|12 September 2007||align=right|||align=center|31–35 ||||Stadium de Toulouse, Toulouse
|- style=font-size:90%
|align=right|15 September 2007||align=right|||align=center|20–32 ||||Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
|- style=font-size:90%
|align=right|16 September 2007||align=right|||align=center|29–16 ||||Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
|- style=font-size:90%
|align=right|20 September 2007||align=right|||align=center|72–18 ||||Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
|- style=font-size:90%
|align=right|23 September 2007||align=right|||align=center|55–12 ||||Stade de la Mosson, Montpellier
|- style=font-size:90%
|align=right|25 September 2007||align=right|||align=center|12–12 ||||Stade Chaban-Delmas, Bordeaux
|- style=font-size:90%
|align=right|29 September 2007||align=right|||align=center|37–6 ||||Stade Chaban-Delmas, Bordeaux
|- style=font-size:90%
|align=right|29 September 2007||align=right|||align=center|34–38 ||||Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes
|}
Pool C
{| style="width:100%" cellspacing="1"
|-
!width=15%|
!width=25%|
!width=10%|
!width=25%|
|- style=font-size:90%
|align=right|8 September 2007||align=right|||align=center|76–14 ||||Stade Vélodrome, Marseille
|- style=font-size:90%
|align=right|9 September 2007||align=right|||align=center|56–10 ||||Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, Saint-Étienne
|- style=font-size:90%
|align=right|12 September 2007||align=right|||align=center|24–18 ||||Stade Vélodrome, Marseille
|- style=font-size:90%
|align=right|15 September 2007||align=right|||align=center|108–13 ||||Stade de Gerland, Lyon
|- style=font-size:90%
|align=right|18 September 2007||align=right|||align=center|42–0 ||||Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh
|- style=font-size:90%
|align=right|19 September 2007||align=right|||align=center|31–5 ||||Parc des Princes, Paris
|- style=font-size:90%
|align=right|23 September 2007||align=right|||align=center|0–40 ||||Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh
|- style=font-size:90%
|align=right|25 September 2007||align=right|||align=center|14–10 ||||Stadium de Toulouse, Toulouse
|- style=font-size:90%
|align=right|29 September 2007||align=right|||align=center|85–8 ||||Stadium de Toulouse, Toulouse
|- style=font-size:90%
|align=right|29 September 2007||align=right|||align=center|18–16 ||||Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, Saint-Étienne
|}
Pool D
{| style="width:100%" cellspacing="1"
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!width=15%|
!width=25%|
!width=10%|
!width=25%|
|- style=font-size:90%
|align=right|7 September 2007||align=right|||align=center|12–17 ||||Stade de France, Saint-Denis
|- style=font-size:90%
|align=right|9 September 2007||align=right|||align=center|32–17 ||||Stade Chaban-Delmas, Bordeaux
|- style=font-size:90%
|align=right|11 September 2007||align=right|||align=center|33–3 ||||Stade de Gerland, Lyon
|- style=font-size:90%
|align=right|15 September 2007||align=right|||align=center|14–10 ||||Stade Chaban-Delmas, Bordeaux
|- style=font-size:90%
|align=right|16 September 2007||align=right|||align=center|87–10 ||||Stadium de Toulouse, Toulouse
|- style=font-size:90%
|align=right|21 September 2007||align=right|||align=center|25–3 ||||Stade de France, Saint-Denis
|- style=font-size:90%
|align=right|22 September 2007||align=right|||align=center|63–3 ||||Stade Vélodrome, Marseille
|- style=font-size:90%
|align=right|26 September 2007||align=right|||align=center|30–0 ||||Stade Félix Bollaert, Lens
|- style=font-size:90%
|align=right|30 September 2007||align=right|||align=center|64–7 ||||Stade Vélodrome, Marseille
|- style=font-size:90%
|align=right|30 September 2007||align=right|||align=center|15–30 ||||Parc des Princes, Paris
|}
Knockout stage
Quarter-finals
----
----
----
Semi-finals
----
===Bronze final===<!-- This match is referred to as the Bronze final, not the third place play-off – see here: http://www.rwc2007.irb.com/home/fixtures/knockout.html -->
Final
Statistics
The tournament's top point scorer was South African Percy Montgomery, who scored 105 points. Bryan Habana scored the most tries, eight in total.
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
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!Points!!Name!!Team!!Pos!!Apps!!Tries!!Con!!Pen!!Drop
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|align="left"|Percy Montgomery
|align="left"|||FB||7||2||22||17||0
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|align="left"|Felipe Contepomi
|align="left"|||CE||7||3||11||18||0
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|align="left"|Jonny Wilkinson
|align="left"|||FH||5||0||5||14||5
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|align="left"|Nick Evans
|align="left"|||FH/FB|||4||2||20||0||0
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!
|align="left"|Jean-Baptiste Élissalde
|align="left"|||SH||7||1||12||6||0
|-
!
|align="left"|Chris Paterson
|align="left"|||WG/FH||5||1||10||7||0
|-
!
|align="left"|Pierre Hola
|align="left"|||FH||4||0||7||10||0
|-
!
|align="left"|Lionel Beauxis
|align="left"|||FH||6||1||7||8||0
|-
!
|align="left"|Nicky Little
|align="left"|||FH||3||0||9||8||0
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! <!-- sort key is "401" to place Carter ahead of Giteau (fewer appearances) -->
|align="left"|Dan Carter
|align="left"|||FH||3||1||10||5||0
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!
|align="left"|Matt Giteau
|align="left"|||CE||4||3||8||3||0
|-
!
|align="left"|Bryan Habana
|align="left"|||WG||7||8||0||0||0
|}
See also
- 2007 Rugby World Cup warm-up tests
References
External links
- Official website of the 2007 Rugby World Cup (Archived)