Rugby World Cup winners

2007 Rugby World Cup South Africa champions & Runners-Up England

Rugby World Cup 2007 Tournament history
Host country: France
Dates: 7 September 2007 – 20 October 2007(44 days)
No. of nations: 20 (91 qualifyings)

Final positions:-
Champions: South Africa (2nd title)
Runner-up: England
Third place: Argentina

Tournament statistics
Matches played: 48
Top scorer(s): South Africa, Percy Montgomery (105)
Most tries: South Africa, Bryan Habana (8)

In the first semi-final of the Rugby World Cup, England vs France 14-9 at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis and qualified for the final to defend their title as world champion.

Winner of Australia in the quarter-finals, England continued their journey to a new title by dismissing the host country of the world cup France in the semi-finals after a close match where both teams relied on strong defenses. In this game, it was the English who won it especially in the scrums and on the defensive phases that his opponent of the day never knew how to punch to score a try.

The only try scored was the work of Josh Lewsey in the first moments of the match, taking advantage of a false rebound that supped Traille at five meters, then it was a fight between scorers, with Wilkinson on one side who scored during the match two penalties and a drop against his counterpart Bauxis, author of three penalties.

The English will meet in the final the winner of South Africa-Argentina on October 20 at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, while France will meet the loser of this match in a ranking match for the account of the third place on October 19 at the Parc des Princes in Paris.

The 2007 Rugby World Cup (sixth edition) was held from 7 September to 20 October 2007 in France, Wales (four matches including one quarter-final), and Scotland (two matches). This is the third final phase of the competition on European soil.

From September 2004 to November 2006, the national teams of 86 countries participated in a qualification phase, with the aim of designating the eleven teams competing in the final tournament together with France, automatically qualified as the host country, as well as the other eight nations automatically qualified on the basis of their results in the 2003 edition.

The World Cup was won by South Africa for the second time. They won against England in a match without a try.

Two nations are in the running for the world cup: England, already hosts in 1991, and France which, on two occasions, has already hosted a few matches in the finals (eight in 1991, at the World Cup organized by England and eight others in 1999, at the edition organized by Wales) More Info.

The 2007 Rugby World Cup Final was a rugby match, on Saturday 20 October 2007 the Stade de France, Saint-Denis, Paris, will determine the 2007 Rugby World Cup winner. South Africa beat England 15–6. South Africa, also won the 1995 tournament, in 1991 and 1999.

England vs South Africa became the second country to win two World Cups after Australia, who won their semi-finals against France and Argentina respectively, with South Africa winning 36-0 during the pool stage of the competition. South Africa started playing the final in the competition. Final Irish referee Alain Rolland.

Managed by. The match itself was a try – each team just scored penalties, with South Africa five-four with fullback Percy Montgomery and one center – François Steyn – and England two, both fly-half Jonny Wilkinson. Each team had one big try-goal opportunity, South Africa came late in the first half, while England came early in the second half as winger Mark Cueto was rejected in the 42nd minute after it was decided he had taken a step. Daniel Rossouwin’s contact with the ball before it touches the ball during a tackle by Television match official Stuart Dickinson stuck to his decision despite facing a language barrier that prevented the French broadcaster from accessing the frame-by-frame pictures.

New Zealand wins the 2015 Rugby World Cup & Runner-up Australia

Tournament details Rugby World Cup 2015

Host country: England
Dates: Sep 18, 2015 – Oct 31, 2015
Teams 20: 20 (96 qualifyings)
Champions: New Zealand
Runners-up: Australia
Third place: South Africa
Fourth place: Argentina
Venue: Eden Park, Auckland

Tournament statistics
Matches played: 48
Top scorer(s): Argentina, Nicolás Sánchez (97)
Most tries: New Zealand, Julian Savea (8)

New Zealand reached the final by winning their group by beating Argentina, Namibia, Georgia, and Tonga before beating France in the quarter-finals and South Africa in the semi-finals. It is the reigning world champion team.

Australia reached the final by winning their group by beating Fiji, Uruguay, England, and Wales before beating Scotland in the quarter-finals and Argentina in the semi-finals. He returned to the final of the Rugby World Cup after losing in 2003.

New Zealand started the game with great intensity but Australia managed to defend well until the eighth minute when a foul gave Dan Carter the chance to bring the All Blacks to 3-0 with a free-kick. Australia tried to react and, when Owen Franks did not tie up in a scrum, in the fourteenth minute Bernard Fowley could give his team the draw at 3-3 with a free-kick. New Zealand dominates as a possession but attacks in a chaotic way and cannot overcome the very good Australian defense. In the twenty-seventh minute, Carter brought the All Blacks back into a 6-3 lead with another free-kick after suffering a high tackle. In the thirty-sixth minute, Carter scored another free-kick following an Australian offside to bring the score to 9-3.

Three minutes later Nehe Milner-Skudder managed to end a good action by New Zealand with a goal that, after Carter’s transformation, ended the first half on 16-3 for the All Blacks.

At the beginning of the second half, New Zealand resumed attacking and Ma’a Nonu with a great running action scored a goal already in the forty-second minute. Dan Carter misses the transformation and the score is 21-3 for the All Blacks. Australia finally managed to attack and at the fifty-second, Ben Smith took a yellow card for a foul tackle. The Wallabies took advantage of this and immediately scored a goal with David Pocock who, after bernard Fowley’s transformation, reduced the disadvantage to 21-10.

New Zealand tried to react but at the sixty-third, Tevita Kuridrani scored a goal for Australia which, after Fowley’s transformation, brought the Wallabies closer to 21-17. Again in 15, New Zealand resumed attacking, and at the seventieth Carter scored a drop to bring the All Blacks to 24-17. At the seventy-fifth, Carter scored again, this time on a free kick from over 50 meters after an Australian collapsed a scrum.

Beauden Barrett scores in an incredible way, almost a coast-to-coast kicking the ball on an Australian attack and bringing it back to the goal. After Carter’s transformation, the score rises to 34-17, which is the final one that marks the victory of New Zealand, which confirms its title as world champion.

Australia had played very well in almost all the matches of this World Cup risking only against Scotland. Today, however, he played insufficiently, with a first half in which he had only a generally good defense but very little attack. In the second half, he took advantage of the yellow card to Ben Smith but in the end, it was too little. The positive note is that after a few years of disappointing results the Wallabies have returned to very high levels.

New Zealand started the World Cup with not very convincing matches but the team showed that they were just waiting for the really important matches. In the final he risked only in the 10 minutes played in 14, otherwise, the All Blacks dominated. Richie McCaw (photo ©Shudde) enters the legend even more by becoming the captain who led New Zealand to two consecutive world titles. For some veterans, this was the last game with the All Blacks so it is more than ever a special moment and the party will certainly be great. Rugby World Cup 2015 About More Information

2011 Rugby World Cup Winners & Runner up: Ten years later, a look back at the lost World Cup final in New Zealand.

Tournament details Rugby World Cup 2011

Host country: New Zealand
Dates: Sep 9, 2011 – Oct 23, 2011
Teams 20: (from 4 confederations)
Champions: New Zealand
Runners-up: France
Third place: Australia
Fourth place: Wales
Venue: Eden Park, Auckland

Tournament statistics
Matches played: 48
Top scorer(s): Morné Steyn (62)
Most tries: England, Chris Ashton
France, Vincent Clerc

It was 10 years ago, exactly. On October 23, 2011, the French national team lost by a small point to New Zealand in the World Cup final (8-7). For Actu Rugby, the winger Alexis Palsson (34 years old 21 caps), who was a starter for the event, agreed to make us relive this incredible moment when France was never so close to be the world champion.

Rugby World Cup 2011: Alexis, this final, it was just ten years ago.

Alexis Palisson : (He cuts). That means that it does not rejuvenate me. That’s what you have to understand? (laughs).

One can imagine that remembering such a match, it must necessarily generate some emotion.

And especially that it passes too quickly. I have the impression that this game was still yesterday. There must not be many of us still active, right? (there are 5 of them, with Maxime Médard, Morgan Parra, Fulgence Ouedraogo, Alexis Palisson and Jean-Marc Doussain, NDLR).

Did you ever see such a game again, with such a cruel scenario?

I never saw that game again. It remains a big injury. I experienced it as an injustice at the time. I never wanted to see the images again, so as not to reopen the wound.

Do you remember the atmosphere within the French team during the week of preparation for this final?

Serene! Frankly, it was a serene atmosphere… It was almost a perfect week in terms of training. We had prepared well. I have images that come back to me, like Morgan Parra in front of his computer analyzing the All Blacks.

During this week, the New Zealand people already saw themselves as world champions. The local press denigrated the level of the French team. The president of the FFR, Pierre Camou, did not like the speech of the New Zealand Minister of Sports. Did you use this environment to turn things around on the field?

From a personal point of view, I admit that I disregarded everything that was said around us. I tried to take only the positive, especially with my family and my friends that I had on the phone. We closed up a lot with the guys on the team during the competition. We were denigrated a lot during this World Cup, and we protected ourselves by turning our backs on all that and focusing only on ourselves. Maybe that’s why we got so far in this competition.

Did you feel like you were alone against the rest of the world?

We could see all week in the streets that the New Zealanders were getting ready to party. We could tell we weren’t the favourites, let’s face it. But it gave us one of those strengths. And I think that’s why France has never been so close to lifting the William Webb-Ellis trophy.

Our pack was impressive. I didn’t even know what I was doing there in the middle of all those guys. I was kind of an intruder.

Alexis Palsson
Winger for the French national team, a starter in the 2011 World Cup final

We follow you…

It’s true that we don’t talk about it enough because our journey is chaotic. We lost in the pool against Tonga (19-14, editor’s note), we won in the semi-final against the Welsh by playing a large part of the match with 15 against 14… Nobody expected us to be there and at this level. But on paper, we still had a crazy team. Our pack was impressive. I didn’t even know what I was doing there in the middle of all those guys. I was a bit of an interloper.

And what was coach Marc Lièvremont’s attitude in the days leading up to the final? Did he really leave the keys to the truck to the players?

Absolutely! Marc told us that this event belonged to us. Frankly, it was a very serene week. We kept the media at bay, as we have done since the beginning of the finals. Afterwards, we had an exceptional team. They worked hard on the day.

Alexis, this final starts with this amazing scene with your arrow opening at the last moment to face the Haka. Were you aware that this gesture was a declaration of war?

Yes, absolutely. And that was the point. We wanted to provoke things. And I think that’s what we did throughout the game…

What was the reaction of the All Blacks, starting their Haka, when you came towards them?

My impression at the time was that they were much more impressed with our gesture than we were with their Haka. We were in an indescribable trance. I have never been stressed before a rugby match, but for this final, I felt the stress rising two days before. When Thierry (Dusautoir, the captain, NDLR) came to see us one by one to tell us that we were going to make this gesture and that it was going to give us strength, everything went off and I told myself: fire!

You came out of 80 minutes of incredible intensity. But did you feel that events were not going your way, that this final was not for you?

In the group stage, the All Blacks gave us a thrashing (37-17, editor’s note). We were not as free in our heads as we were in this final where I feel that many decisions were in their favour and some fouls were not whistled by Craig Joubert. Afterwards, we play a sport where it depends on the referee’s appreciation of rules that are difficult to understand. That’s why I didn’t watch the game again: I’m afraid of having the frustration of reopening the injury and being disgusted. Maybe one day I should watch it anyway.

And yet, you had the opportunity to win this final with a penalty missed at the 65th by François Trinh-Duc.

Yes, that’s for sure. But I’ll come back to our serenity: I felt that our forwards were dominant and that we would get another penalty.

I was young, and disgusted at the time. Yes, it’s a great team that beat us, but I had a huge feeling of regret and helplessness.

Alexis Palsson
Winger of the French national team, a starter in the 2011 World Cup final

Isn’t the post-match ceremony, with the All Blacks lifting the cup in front of your eyes, the hardest moment to live?

It’s very hard! It’s like being told you’re the first guy to go to the moon, and in the end, it’s the others. All I wanted to do was go back to the locker room. And even home. I was young, disgusted for the moment. Yes, it was a great team that beat us, but I had a huge feeling of regret and powerlessness.

Did the All Blacks come to see you in the locker room, or did they have a word for you after the game?

Honestly, I don’t remember, or even anything that happened afterwards. I know one thing: it was long. I couldn’t wait to get home. We enjoyed the last few moments together a little bit, but it was a long way back.

With 10 years of hindsight, Alexis, did the French team deserve to be world champion in 2011?

On this game, yes! That’s why we have a feeling of injustice. But our overall performance in the competition was not “clean”.

Will this match remain the biggest disappointment of your career?

It is not a disappointment. I was happy to play such a final, to be there. The French team was a gift to me. When I was young, I didn’t even dare to dream of playing for the Blues. I just wanted to be a good club player. If I succeeded, it meant that I had succeeded in my life. Everything else was surplus. I forbid myself to be disgusted by that.

10 years later, what do you keep from this adventure in New Zealand and this lost World Cup final?

Honestly? Only positive things. It was a great human adventure. What was hard, however, was the preparation. People see a World Cup over 7-8 weeks. But before that, you have 2-3 months of training with short trips back and forth to your family. It was long and hard, you were physically exhausted all the time. It’s something else than preparation for a club. Final Match about more details.

2023 Rugby World Cup, can it be finally the good year for the XV of France?

I enjoy watching them. What the French XV produces with Fabien Galthié is beautiful. It’s nice to see, even if it doesn’t win all the time. The system of play is very interesting. I am hopeful and I am very confident. I will be their first supporter.

The composition of the French XV during this final: Médard; Clerc, Rougerie, Mermoz, Palisson; (o) Parra, (m) Yachvili; Bonnaire, Harinordoquy, Dusautoir; Nallet, Papé; Mas, Servat, Poux.
Substitutes: Szarzewski, Barcella, Pierre, Ouedraogo, Doussain, Trinh-Duc, Traille.