Twenty countries were represented at this event. The eight quarter-finalists from the 1999 Rugby Union World Cup all received automatic entry, with the other twelve teams selected from a qualifying series around the world.
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.
| Table of contents |
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2 Group tables 3 Results 4 The England squad 5 Previous and future competitions 6 See also |
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, 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.Review of the Tournament
The pre-event favourites were England and New Zealand, with France, defending champions Australia and South Africa all expected to make strong showings.
Group stage
Early 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.
| Pool A | ||||||
| Team | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against | Points |
| Australia | 4 | 0 | 0 | 273 | 32 | 18 |
| Ireland | 3 | 0 | 1 | 141 | 55 | 15 |
| Argentina | 2 | 0 | 2 | 140 | 57 | 11 |
| Romania | 1 | 0 | 3 | 65 | 192 | 5 |
| Namibia | 0 | 0 | 4 | 28 | 310 | 0 |
| Pool B | ||||||
| Team | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against | Points |
| France | 4 | 0 | 0 | 204 | 70 | 20 |
| Scotland | 3 | 0 | 1 | 102 | 97 | 14 |
| Fiji | 2 | 0 | 2 | 98 | 112 | 9 |
| USA | 1 | 0 | 3 | 86 | 125 | 6 |
| Japan | 0 | 0 | 4 | 79 | 163 | 0 |
| Pool C | ||||||
| Team | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against | Points |
| England | 4 | 0 | 0 | 255 | 47 | 19 |
| South Africa | 3 | 0 | 1 | 184 | 60 | 15 |
| Samoa | 2 | 0 | 2 | 138 | 117 | 10 |
| Uruguay | 1 | 0 | 3 | 56 | 255 | 4 |
| Georgia | 0 | 0 | 4 | 46 | 200 | 0 |
| Pool D | ||||||
| Team | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against | Points |
| New Zealand | 4 | 0 | 0 | 282 | 57 | 20 |
| Wales | 3 | 0 | 1 | 132 | 98 | 14 |
| Italy | 2 | 0 | 2 | 76 | 124 | 8 |
| Canada | 1 | 0 | 3 | 54 | 135 | 5 |
| Tonga | 0 | 0 | 4 | 46 | 178 | 1 |
Four points for a win. Two points for a draw. One bonus point for scoring four tries. One bonus point for losing by seven points or less.
Results
Group stage
Knock-out stages
Quarter finalists automatically qualify for the 2007 Rugby Union World Cup.The England squad
Previous and future competitions