2003 Rugby World Cup

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2003 Rugby World Cup
Host Australia
Nations 20
Defending champions Australia
Winners England
Runner-up Australia
Final
Australia 17 - 20 England
(22 November, 2003)

The 2003 Rugby Union World Cup was the fifth world cup in rugby union history. It was won by England. Originally planned to be played in Australia and New Zealand, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the New Zealand Rugby Football Union and Rugby World Cup Limited.The pre-event favourites were England and New Zealand, with France, defending champions Australia and South Africa all expected to make strong showings.

The teams were divided into four pools of five countries, with the top two in each pool moving on to the knockout quarter-final stage. For the first time, a bonus point system was implemented in pool play. This system is identical to that long used in Southern Hemisphere tournaments, and would soon be adopted in most European competitions (though not in the Six Nations):

  • 4 points for a win
  • 2 points for a draw
  • 0 points for a loss (before possible bonus points)
  • 1 bonus point for scoring 4 or more tries, regardless of the final score
  • 1 bonus point for a loss by 7 points or less

Contents

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Venues

Matches were played in these Australian Cities:

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Group stages

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Review

Image:29627532 0967e6bc10.jpg Image:29627548 ba0cf05823.jpgEarly in the competition there was some criticism in the Australian media of mismatches when "minnow" countries were crushed by the rugby superpowers by 60 points or more. On the other hand, Japan, not a favoured team, acquitted themselves well in their opening matches against Scotland and France, although eventually being defeated. There were also reports of the South Pacific island countries of Fiji, Tonga and Samoa being handicapped through several of their players who play abroad being warned that their contracts would not be renewed if they played in the competition.

In the event, the group stage of the competition played out largely as expected, with only some tension as to whether some of the "developing" nations would overtake some of the weaker major countries for the second quarterfinal qualification place in each pool — in pool A, Argentina lost to Ireland by only one point, which would otherwise have carried them into the quarterfinals in Ireland's place; similarly in pool B Fiji lost out to Scotland by only two points, while Italy put up a good performance in pool D. Many matches were rather one-sided, but with a number of exciting matches - with Samoa giving England a fright before conceding points at the end of the match (however, this match could be deemed controversial given the momentary appearance of a sixteenth player on the field by England which, given this not allowed player made a crucial tackle to stop a try, could have made the match result much closer), the South Africa - England match was a classic before England asserted themselves at the end of the match (and showing that the reorganisation of domestic rugby in South Africa since 1997 has tended to weaken the Springboks). Similarly the Australia - Ireland match was a classic match and Wales' performance against New Zealand demonstrated that the All Blacks, who were previously thought to be undefeatable, had a weak defence, while also showing that Wales were reviving from the long decline since their glory days of the 1970s.

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Pool A

Team Won Drawn Lost For Against BP Points
Image:Flag of Australia.svg Australia 40027332218
Image:Flag of Ireland.svg Ireland 30114155315
Image:Flag of Argentina.svg Argentina 20214057311
Image:Flag of Romania.svg Romania 1036519215
Image:Flag of Namibia.svg Namibia 0042831000
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Pool B

Team Won Drawn Lost For Against BP Points
Image:Flag of France.svg France 40020470420
Image:Flag of Scotland.svg Scotland 30110297214
Image:Flag of Fiji.svg Fiji 2029811219
Image:Flag of the United States.svg USA 1038612526
Image:Flag of Japan.svg Japan 0047916300
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Pool C

Team Won Drawn Lost For Against BP Points
Image:Flag of England.svg England 40025547319
Image:Flag of South Africa.svg South Africa30118460315
Image:Flag of Samoa.svg Samoa 202138117210
Image:Flag of Uruguay.svg Uruguay 1035625504
Image:Flag of Georgia.svg Georgia 0044620000
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Pool D

Team Won Drawn Lost For Against BP Points
Image:Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand 40028257420
Image:Flag of Wales.svg Wales 30113298214
Image:Flag of Italy.svg Italy 2027612408
Image:Flag of Canada.svg Canada 1035413515
Image:Flag of Tonga.svg Tonga 0044617811
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Knock-out stages

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Review

The knock-out quarter final stage produced the widely predicted set of semi-finalists, although England again made heavy weather of defeating Wales — England were widely rated the world's best team, but throughout the competition they made a habit of getting the expected results while not particularly impressing with the quality of their play.

The first semi-final produced an upset, when Australia defeated the hugely fancied New Zealand to become the first defending champions ever to reach the following championship final. The second semi-final saw France face England, but bad weather favoured the power of the English forwards over the flair of the French backs and England ground out a win. England scored no tries.

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Results

Quarter finalists automatically qualify for the 2007 Rugby Union World Cup.



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Final

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Review

The final between Australia and England, played at Sydney's Telstra Stadium in front of a crowd of 80,000, 40% of whom were English supporters, was a dramatic match. In the 79th minute England were leading 14-11 when a penalty was awarded in Australia's favour, which Elton Flatley converted with the last kick of normal time to tie the match 14-14 and take it to 20 minutes extra time. With two and a half minutes of extra time remaining, and England leading 17-14, Australia were awarded another penalty which Flatley scored to tie the score again. With 21 seconds of extra time remaining, England's Jonny Wilkinson scored a drop goal to win the match and with it the world championship.

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Post final

Image:England world cup celebration.jpgThree days after the final, the new World Champion England team landed at Heathrow Airport in the early hours of the morning, emerging from their plane to a huge reception despite the time. Scrum-half Matt Dawson described the reception at the airport as "mindblowing". On December 8 a national day of celebration took place in the form of a massive victory parade in the streets of London.

An estimated 40,000 international spectators travelled to Australia in 2003 during the World Cup. A tourism boost was noted, for example; bars in Adelaide experienced an increase of revenue by 30% over the duration of the World Cup. Officials in Melbourne estimated that $100 million would have been injected into the Australian economy. In April of 2004, the International Rugby Board released a review of the tournament which saw records in almost all aspects of the World Cup. The Australian Rugby Union said that revenues exceeded all expectations and it was announced that it had received a tournament surplus of $44.5 million. The hosting of the World Cup in Australia also saw an increase in Super 12 crowds and junior participation.

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References

  1. Walsh, Kerry-Anne Tightest security ever guards World Cup final RugbyHeaven 23 November, 2003. Retrieved on 19 February, 2005.
  2. England rugby heroes arrive home BBC 25 November, 2003. Retrieved on 19 February, 2005.
  3. England honours World Cup stars BBC 9 December, 2003. Retrieved on 19 February, 2005.
  4. ARU make huge profit from RWC Scrum.com 7 April, 2004. Retrieved on 19 February, 2005.
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See also

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External links

Template:Rugby Union World Cupes:Copa Mundial de Rugby de 2003 fr:Coupe du monde de rugby 2003 it:Coppa del Mondo di rugby (2003) no:Verdensmesterskapet i rugby union 2003

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