Australia at the Rugby World Cup


The Australian national rugby union team, known as the Wallabies, has played all eight Rugby World Cup tournaments. They are one of the three best performing teams, having won two tournaments; with only New Zealand and South Africa having won three tournaments. Australia has hosted or co-hosted the tournament on two occasions – in 1987 and 2003.

By position

By tournament

[1987 [Rugby World Cup|1987 New Zealand & Australia]]

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[[1991 Rugby World Cup|1991 UK, Ireland and France]]

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Quarter final
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1995 South Africa">1995 Rugby World Cup">1995 South Africa

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1999 Wales">1999 Rugby World Cup">1999 Wales

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2003 Australia">2003 Rugby World Cup">2003 Australia

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2007 France">2007 Rugby World Cup">2007 France

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Pool B games -
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2011 New Zealand">2011 Rugby World Cup">2011 New Zealand

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2015 England">2015 Rugby World Cup">2015 England

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2019 Japan">2019 Rugby World Cup">2019 Japan

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Hosting

1987

Australia hosted the first 1987 Rugby World Cup, along with New Zealand. Games were hosted at the following stadiums -
CityStadiumCapacity
BrisbaneBallymore Stadium24,000
SydneyConcord Oval20,000

Most of the pool games were in New Zealand, but the semi-finals, and one of the quarter finals, were played in Australia.

2003

Australia won the right to host the World Cup in 2003 without the involvement of New Zealand after a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the New Zealand Rugby Football Union and Rugby World Cup Limited. The overall stadium capacity was reduced from the 1999 Rugby World Cup in Wales.
The Adelaide Oval underwent a A$20 million redevelopment for the 2003 Rugby World Cup, financed entirely by the South Australian Cricket Association, with two new grandstands built adjacent to the Victor Richardson Gates. The Suncorp Stadium was a new A$280 million venue designed specifically for rugby, and was opened just before the start of the 2003 World Cup. The Central Coast Stadium was also a newly built venue, and opened in February 2000 at a cost of A$30 million.
Aussie Stadium was one of two venues in Sydney that were used for football during the 2000 Olympic Games. The other venue in Sydney was the Telstra Stadium which was the centrepiece of the 2000 Olympic Games. Formerly known as Stadium Australia, Telstra Stadium was built at a cost of over A$600 million and was the biggest stadium used in the 2003 World Cup. The only stadium with a retractable roof used was the Telstra Dome in Melbourne.
StadiumGamesCityStateCapacityBest Crowd
Telstra Stadium7SydneyNew South Wales83,50082,957
Aussie Stadium5SydneyNew South Wales41,15937,137
Central Coast Stadium3GosfordNew South Wales20,11919,653
WIN Stadium2WollongongNew South Wales18,48417,833
Suncorp Stadium9BrisbaneQueensland52,50048,778
Dairy Farmers Stadium3TownsvilleQueensland24,84321,309
Telstra Dome7MelbourneVictoria53,37154,206
Subiaco Oval5PerthWestern Australia42,92238,834
Canberra Stadium4CanberraAustralian Capital Territory24,64722,641
Adelaide Oval2AdelaideSouth Australia33,59733,000
York Park1LauncestonTasmania19,89115,457

Australia intended to bid for the 2015 and 2019 Rugby World Cups, but withdrew from the bidding. The bids were awarded to England and Japan respectively.

Overall record

Team records

; Most points in a tournament
;Most points in a game
;Most World Cup matches
Most points overall
;Most individual points in a game
42 vs - Mat Rogers 2003
30 vs - Elton Flatley 2003
28 vs - Bernard Foley 2015
27 vs - Matt Giteau 2007
25 vs - Matt Burke 1999
25 vs - Chris Latham 2003
;Most tries overall
;Most tries in a game
5 vs - Chris Latham 2003
3 vs - Toutai Kefu 1999
3 vs - Mat Rogers 2003
3 vs - Lote Tuqiri 2003
3 vs - Matt Giteau 2003
3 vs - Rocky Elsom 2003
3 vs - Drew Mitchell 2007
3 vs - Adam Ashley-Cooper 2011
3 vs - Adam Ashley-Cooper 2015
;Most penalty goals overall
;Most penalty goals in a game
8 vs - Matt Burke 1999
7 vs - Matt Burke 1999
5 vs - Michael Lynagh 1995
5 vs - Elton Flatley 2003
;Most drop goals
Australia can be seen playing South Africa in the feature film Invictus based on the 1995 Rugby World Cup.