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1995 Rugby World Cup

Tournament details
Host nation	South Africa
Dates	25 May – 24 June 1995
No. of nations	16 (52 qualifying)
Final positions
Champions	South Africa
Runner-up	New Zealand
Third-place	France
Tournament statistics
Matches played	32
Attendance	938,486 (29,328 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Thierry Lacroix (112)
Most tries	Jonah Lomu Marc Ellis (7 tries each)
← 1991 1999 →

The 1995 Rugby World Cup was the third Rugby World Cup. It was hosted and won by South Africa, and was the first Rugby World Cup in which every match was held in one country.

The World Cup was the first major sporting event to take place in South Africa following the end of apartheid. It was also the first World Cup in which South Africa was allowed to compete; the International Rugby Football Board (IRFB, now World Rugby) had only readmitted South Africa to international rugby in 1992, following negotiations to end apartheid. The World Cup would also be the last major event of rugby union's amateur era; two months after the tournament, the IRFB opened the sport to professionalism.

In the final, held at Ellis Park in Johannesburg on 24 June, South Africa defeated New Zealand 15–12, with Joel Stransky scoring a drop goal in extra time to win the match. Following South Africa's victory, Nelson Mandela, the President of South Africa, wearing a Springboks rugby shirt and cap, presented the Webb Ellis Cup to the South African captain François Pienaar.

Qualifying

The eight quarter-finalists from the 1991 Rugby World Cup all received automatic entry, as did South Africa, as hosts. The remaining seven of the 16 positions available in the tournament were filled by regional qualifiers. The qualifying tournaments were broken up into regional associations: Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania. Côte d'Ivoire qualified through Africa, Japan through Asia, Argentina through the Americas, Italy, Romania and Wales through Europe, Tonga through Oceania.

Squads

Venues

The 1995 tournament was the first Rugby World Cup to be hosted by just one country, and thus, all the venues are within the one country. In total, nine stadiums were used for the World Cup, most being owned by local municipalities, and the majority of the venues were upgraded prior to the tournament. Six of the nine stadiums were South African Test grounds. The four largest stadiums were used for the finals, with the final taking place at Johannesburg's Ellis Park.

There were games originally scheduled to have been played in Brakpan, Germiston, Pietermaritzburg and Witbank, but these games were reallocated to other venues. This reduced the number of venues from 14 to 9. The reasons cited for this change had to do with facilities for both the press and spectators, as well as the security. The change in the itinerary occurred in January 1994. Further changes occurred in April, so that evening games were played at stadiums with good floodlighting. It is also thought that Potchefstroom was an original venue.

Venues were paired:

• Pool 1: Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Stellenbosch


• Pool 2: Durban and East London


• Pool 3: Johannesburg and Bloemfontein


• Pool 4: Pretoria and Rustenburg

Johannesburg	Pretoria	Cape Town	Durban	Bloemfontein
Ellis Park	Loftus Versfeld	Newlands	Kings Park Stadium	Free State Stadium
Capacity: 60,000	Capacity: 50,000	Capacity: 50,000	Capacity: 50,000	Capacity: 40,000
Port Elizabeth	Rustenburg	East London	Stellenbosch
Boet Erasmus Stadium	Olympia Park	Basil Kenyon Stadium	Danie Craven Stadium
Capacity: 38,950	Capacity: 30,000	Capacity: 22,000	Capacity: 16,000

Pools & format

The tournament was contested by 16 different nations using the same format that was used in 1987 and 1991 and in total 32 matches were played. The competition began on 25 May, when the hosts South Africa defeated Australia 27–18 at Newlands in Cape Town. The tournament culminated with the final between South Africa and the All Blacks at Ellis Park in Johannesburg on 24 June. In total, the tournament ran for thirty days. The nations were broken up into four pools of four, with each pool consisting of two teams that were automatically qualified and two that went through the qualifying tournaments.

Points System

The points system that was used in the pool stage was unchanged from 1991:

• 3 points for a win


• 2 points for a draw


• 1 point for playing

Knock-out Stage

Pool winners were drawn against opposite pool runners-up in the quarter-finals. For example, the winner of A faces the runner up of B, and the winner of B face the runner-up of A. The whole finals stage adopts a knock-out format, and the winners of the quarter-finals advance to the semi-finals, where winner 1 faces winner 2, and winner 3 faces winner 4. The winners advance to the final, and the losers contest a third/fourth place play-off two days before the final.

A total of 32 matches (24 Pool Stage & 8 Knock-out) were played throughout the tournament over 30 days from Thursday 25 May 1995 to Saturday 24 June 1995.

Pool stage

Pool A

Team	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	Pts
South Africa	3	3	0	0	68	26	9
Australia	3	2	0	1	87	41	7
Canada	3	1	0	2	45	50	5
Romania	3	0	0	3	14	97	3

25 May 1995

South Africa	27–18	Australia
Try: Hendriks Stransky Con: Stransky Pen: Stransky (4) Drop: Stransky		Try: Kearns Lynagh Con: Lynagh Pen: Lynagh (2)

Newlands, Cape Town Attendance: 44,778 Referee: Derek Bevan (Wales)

26 May 1995

Canada	34–3	Romania
Try: Charron McKenzie Snow Con: Rees (2) Pen: Rees (4) Drop: Rees		Pen: Nichitean

Boet Erasmus Stadium, Port Elizabeth Attendance: 8,000 Referee: Colin Hawke (New Zealand)

30 May 1995

South Africa	21–8	Romania
Tries: Richter (2) Con: Johnson Pen: Johnson (3)		Tries: Guranescu Pen: Ivanciuc

Newlands, Cape Town Attendance: 45,000 Referee: Ken McCartney (Scotland)

31 May 1995

Australia	27–11	Canada
Tries: Lynagh, Tamanivalu, Roff Con: Lynagh (3) Pen: Lynagh (2)		Tries: Charron Pen: Rees (2)

Boet Erasmus Stadium, Port Elizabeth Attendance: 16,000 Referee: Patrick Robin (France)

3 June 1995

Australia	42–3	Romania
Tries: Smith, Wilson, Roff (2), Foley, Burke Con: Burke (2), Eales (4)		Pen: Ivanciuc

Danie Craven Stadium, Stellenbosch Attendance: 15,542 Referee: Naoki Saito (Japan)

3 June 1995

South Africa	20–0	Canada
Tries: Richter (2) Con: Stransky (2) Pen: Stransky (2)

Boet Erasmus Stadium, Port Elizabeth Attendance: 31,000 Referee: David McHugh (Ireland)

Pool B

Team	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	Pts
England	3	3	0	0	95	60	9
Western Samoa	3	2	0	1	96	88	7
Italy	3	1	0	2	69	94	5
Argentina	3	0	0	3	69	87	3

27 May 1995

Italy	18–42	Western Samoa
Tries: Vaccari, Cuttitta Con: Dominguez Pen: Dominguez Drop: Dominguez		Tries: Lima (2), Harder (3), Kellett, Tatupu Con: Kellett (2) Pen: Kellett (1)

Basil Kenyon Stadium, East London Attendance: 7,868 Referee: Joël Dume (France)

27 May 1995

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

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

30 May 1995

Western Samoa	32–26	Argentina
Tries: Lam, Leaupepe, Harder Con: Kellett Pen: Kellett (5)		Tries: Penalty try, Crexell Con: Cilley (2) Pen: Cilley (4)

Basil Kenyon Stadium, East London Attendance: 7,960 Referee: David Bishop (New Zealand)

31 May 1995

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

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

4 June 1995

Argentina	25–31	Italy
Tries: Martin, Penalty try, Corral, Cilley Con: Cilley Pen: Cilley		Tries: Vaccari, Gerosa, Dominguez Con: Dominguez (2) Pen: Dominguez (4)

Basil Kenyon Stadium, East London Attendance: 7,571 Referee: Clayton Thomas (Wales)

4 June 1995

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

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

Pool C

Team	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	Pts
New Zealand	3	3	0	0	222	45	9
Ireland	3	2	0	1	93	94	7
Wales	3	1	0	2	89	68	5
Japan	3	0	0	3	55	252	3

27 May 1995

Japan	10–57	Wales
Tries: Ota (2)		Tries: G. Thomas (3), I. Evans (2), Moore, Taylor Con: N. Jenkins (5) Pen: N. Jenkins (4)

Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein Attendance: 15,000 Referee: Efrahim Sklar (Argentina)

27 May 1995

Ireland	19–43	New Zealand
Tries: Corkery, McBride, Halpin Con: Elwood (2)		Tries: Lomu (2), Kronfeld, Bunce, Osborne Con: Mehrtens (3) Pen: Mehrtens (4)

Ellis Park, Johannesburg Attendance: 38,000 Referee: Wayne Erickson (Australia)

31 May 1995

Ireland	50–28	Japan
Tries: Francis, Geoghegan, Corkery, Halvey, Hogan, 2 Penalty Tries Con: Burke (6) Pen: Burke		Tries: Latu, Izawa, Hirao, Takura Con: Yoshida (4)

Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein Attendance: 15,000 Referee: Stef Neethling (South Africa)

31 May 1995

New Zealand	34–9	Wales
Tries: Ellis, Little, Kronfeld Con: Mehrtens (2) Pen: Mehrtens (4) Drop: Mehrtens		Pen: N. Jenkins (2) Drop: N. Jenkins

Ellis Park, Johannesburg Attendance: 45,000 Referee: Ed Morrison (England)

4 June 1995

Japan	17–145	New Zealand
Tries: Kajihara (2) Con: Hirose (2) Pen: Hirose		Tries: Ellis (6), Rush (3), Wilson (3), R. Brooke (2), Osborne (2), Loe, Culhane, Henderson, Dowd, Ieremia Con: Culhane (20)

Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein Attendance: 25,000 Referee: George Gadjovic (Canada)

4 June 1995

Ireland	24–23	Wales
Tries: Halvey, Popplewell, McBride Con: Elwood (3) Pen: Elwood		Tries: Humphreys, Taylor Con: N. Jenkins (2) Pen: N. Jenkins (2) Drop: A. Davies

Ellis Park, Johannesburg Attendance: 40,000 Referee: Ian Rogers (South Africa)

Pool D

Team	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	Pts
France	3	3	0	0	114	47	9
Scotland	3	2	0	1	149	27	7
Tonga	3	1	0	2	44	90	5
Ivory Coast	3	0	0	3	29	172	3

26 May 1995

Ivory Coast	0–89	Scotland
		Tries: G. Hastings (4), Logan (2), Walton (2), Wright, Chalmers, Stanger, Burnell, Shiel Con: G. Hastings (9) Pen: G. Hastings (2)

Olympia Park, Rustenburg Attendance: 20,000 Referee: Felise Vito (Western Samoa)

26 May 1995

France	38–10	Tonga
Tries: Lacroix (2), Hueber, Saint-André Con: Lacroix (3) Pen: Lacroix (3) Drop: Delaigue		Tries: Va'enuku Con: Tu'ipulotu Pen: Tu'ipulotu

Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria Attendance: 22,000 Referee: Steve Lander (England)

29 May 1995

France	54–18	Ivory Coast
Tries: Lacroix (2), Benazzi, Téchoueyres, Viars, Accoceberry, Saint-André, Costes Con: Deylaud (2), Lacroix (2) Pen: Lacroix (2)		Tries: Soulama, Camara Con: Kouassi Pen: Kouassi (2)

Olympia Park, Rustenburg Attendance: 10,000 Referee: Han Moon-Soo (South Korea)

29 May 1995

Scotland	41–5	Tonga
Tries: S. Hastings, Peters, G. Hastings Con: G. Hastings Pen: G. Hastings (8)		Tries: Fenukitau

Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria Attendance: 21,000 Referee: Barry Leask (Australia)

3 June 1995

Ivory Coast	11–29	Tonga
Tries: Okou Pen: Dali (2)		Tries: Penalty try, Latukefu, Otai, Tu'ipulotu Con: Tu'ipulotu (3) Pen: Tu'ipulotu

Olympia Park, Rustenburg Attendance: 15,000 Referee: Don Reordan (United States)

3 June 1995

France	22–19	Scotland
Tries: Ntamack Con: Lacroix Pen: Lacroix (5)		Tries: Wainwright Con: G. Hastings Pen: G. Hastings (4)

Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria Attendance: 39,000 Referee: Wayne Erickson (Australia)

• Three minutes into the match between Ivory Coast and Tonga, the Ivorian winger Max Brito was crushed beneath several other players, leaving him paralyzed below the neck.^[1]
  

Knock-out stage

	Quarter-finals				Semi-finals				Final
	10 June – Ellis Park, Johannesburg
	South Africa	42
					17 June – Kings Park Stadium, Durban
	Western Samoa	14
					South Africa	19
	10 June – Kings Park Stadium, Durban
					France	15
	France	36
									24 June – Ellis Park, Johannesburg
	Ireland	12
									South Africa (a.e.t.)	15
	11 June – Newlands, Cape Town
									New Zealand	12
	England	25
					18 June – Newlands, Cape Town
	Australia	22
					England	29
	11 June – Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
					New Zealand	45			Third place
	New Zealand	48
									22 June – Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
	Scotland	30
									France	19
									England	9

Quarter-finals

10 June 1995

France	36–12	Ireland
Tries: Saint-André, Ntamack Con: Lacroix Pen: Lacroix (8)		Pen: Elwood (4)

Kings Park Stadium, Durban Attendance: 20,000 Referee: Ed Morrison (England)

10 June 1995

South Africa	42–14	Western Samoa
Tries: Williams (4), Rossouw, Andrews Con: Johnson (3) Pen: Johnson (2)		Tries: Tatupu, Nu'uali'itia Con: Fa'amasinp (2)

Ellis Park, Johannesburg Attendance: 54,169 Referee: Jim Fleming (Scotland)

11 June 1995

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

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

11 June 1995

New Zealand	48–30	Scotland
Tries: Little (2), Lomu, Mehrtens, Bunce, Fitzpatrick Con: Mehrtens (6) Pen: Mehrtens (2)		Tries: Weir (2), S. Hastings Con: G. Hastings (3) Pen: G. Hastings (3)

Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria Attendance: 28,000 Referee: Derek Bevan (Wales)

Semi-finals

17 June 1995

South Africa	19–15	France
Tries: Kruger Con: Stransky Pen: Stransky (4)		Pen: Lacroix (5)

Kings Park Stadium, Durban Attendance: 49,773 Referee: Derek Bevan (Wales)

18 June 1995

England	29–45	New Zealand
Tries: Carling (2), R. Underwood (2), Con: Andrew (3) Pen: Andrew	Report	Tries: 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

22 June 1995

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

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

Final

The final was contested by New Zealand and hosts South Africa. Both nations finished undefeated at the top of their pools. South Africa defeated Western Samoa in the quarter finals, and then France in the semi-finals to reach the final; New Zealand defeated Scotland in the quarter-finals, and England in the semi-finals, a game in which Jonah Lomu famously scored four tries for the All Blacks. The final was played at Ellis Park in Johannesburg and refereed by Ed Morrison of England. To this point, New Zealand had led the tournament in production, outscoring their opponents 315–104, while South Africa had outscored its opponents 129–55. The tight Springbok defence would keep the high scoring All Blacks in check – particularly Jonah Lomu and Marc Ellis, who had already scored a then World Cup record 7 tries each in the tournament – with neither team scoring a try in the match.

South Africa led 9–6 at half time, and New Zealand levelled the scores at 9–9 with a drop goal in the second half. Though Andrew Mehrtens almost kicked a late drop goal for the All Blacks, the score remained tied at full-time, forcing the game into extra time. Both teams scored penalty goals in the first half of extra time, but Joel Stransky then scored a drop goal to win the final for South Africa.

What happened after the match has become an iconic moment in the history of the sport. Nelson Mandela, wearing a Springbok rugby jersey and baseball cap, presented the Webb Ellis Cup to South African captain François Pienaar to the delight of the capacity crowd. The moment is thought by some to be one of the most famous finals of any sport.^[2]

24 June 1995

South Africa	15–12 (a.e.t.)	New Zealand
Pen: Stransky (3) Drop: Stransky (2)	Report	Pen: Mehrtens (3) Drop: Mehrtens

Ellis Park, Johannesburg Attendance: 59,870 Referee: Ed Morrison (England)

Broadcasters

The event was broadcast in Australia by Network Ten and in the United Kingdom by ITV.

Commemorative coins

The South African Mint issued a one-ounce gold proof "Protea" coin with a total mintage of 406 pieces to commemorate the event being hosted by South Africa.

Popular culture

Mandela and Pienaar's involvement in the World Cup is the subject of the John Carlin book Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Made a Nation, its 2009 film adaptation Invictus, and the ESPN TV documentary The 16th Man in 2010.

References

External links

• Official Rugby World Cup Site


• 
  1995 Rugby World Cup at ESPN


• 
  Full Results and Statistics at ESPN