The 2019 Rugby World Cup is upon us. (PART 2)

The 2003 RWC qualifiers was the first one where Uganda participated in 2001 but the entire qualification process started in 1999 where all the Quarter finalists earned an automatic slot and the other 12 teams had to go through a regional qualification process. The 2003 tournament was initially meant to be hosted by Australia and New Zealand but disagreements over signage at venues led to Australia going it alone.

Holders and hosts Australia, France, New Zealand, Argentina, England, Scotland, Wales and South Africa got the automatic slots while Namibia, Canada, Japan, Uruguay, Ireland, Italy, Romania, Georgia, Fiji and Samoa qualified through the regional slots. The USA and Tonga came to the party through a nerve wrecking repechage process. The English under Sir Clive Ronald Woodward OBE lifted the Webb Ellis in Sydney. They defeated the Wallabies (coached by current England Coach; Eddie Jones)20-17 after Jonny Wilkinson scored a drop goal in the dying seconds of extra time. The teams had drawn 17 all after normal time.  The English became the first Northern Hemisphere team to win the World Cup and they were greeted by approximately 800,000 fans when they returned home with the trophy.

Australia had defeated New Zealand 22-10 in the Semi final and they looked like real favourites to win their 3^rd title. England had beaten France 24-07 in the other Semis. After criticism of the very complex format previously in 1999 in Wales, a new simpler format was introduced and the twenty teams were divided into four pools of five nations, with the top two in each pool moving on to the knock-out quarter-final stage. With forty matches to be played in the pool stage on top of the knock-out matches would make the event the tournament ever to be played to date. For the first time, a bonus point system was implemented in pool play.

The 2007 RWC was held in France with some matches played in Scotland and Wales. There were yet again 20 slots and Africa was yet again represented by South Africa and Namibia. All the 8 Quarterfinalists from the 2003 Tournament got automatic slots. Pool D looked toughest because it had Argentina, France, Ireland, Georgia and Namibia. Argentina topped the pool and were joined by France who managed to beat Ireland 25-03.

The tournament was won by South Africa with Jake White as the Head Coach. They beat England 16-06 in the final. They had beaten Argentina 37-13 in the Semis. England had defeated France 14-09 in the other semis. It was also the first time that Argentina made it to the semis and eventually finished 3^rd overall after beating France 34-10 in the Bronze final match. It was also the first time for both Australia and New Zealand not making it to the Semis. The All Blacks had managed to score most tries (48 in 5 games only) but had lost 18-20 to France at the quarter final stage.

The win was very big for South Africa and probably helped further entrench the transformation policy of quotas. Jake White had made it clear that he was unable to select some ‘white’ players because of the quotas.

The 2011 RWC hosted by New Zealand and won by them by beating France 8-7 in the final. France beat Wales 9-8 in the semis and New Zealand beat Australia 20-06 in the other semi. Australia won the Bronze medal by beating Wales 21-18. The best team to have never won the World Cup; France had lost twice in Pool A to Tonga and New Zealand  and came so close to winning the final.

The qualification process had changed slightly with the top 3 teams from the 2007 pools getting automatic slots. 19 teams apart from Russia had competed before at the tournament and as usual Africa was represented by South Africa and Namibia.

New Zealand became the first Country to win the RWC at home and after some close shaves in previous World Cups it was a great moment to lay the previous upsets to rest.

(Captain Richie McCaw with the All Blacks lifts the Webb Ellis on home soil yet again in 2011)

The 2015 RWC was hosted by England and was won again by the All Blacks hence becoming the first nation to win it for the 3^rd time. They had defeated Australia 34-17 in the final at Twickenham. England as hosts made shocking news by being the first host Nation which failed to make it to the Quarter finals. They were in Pool A which was the dreaded ‘Pool of death’ alongside Australia, Wales, Fiji and Uruguay.

(Australia pack against hosts England on 3^rd October 2015 at Twickenham)

Australia had earlier damped the English hearts with a resounding 33-13 beating at Twickenham and they had earlier lost 25-28 to Wales and hence exited the tournament.

The biggest news was in the form of Japan upsetting South Africa 34-32 in the opening game of Pool B. That win was not enough for the Samurais to proceed from the group since they lost to Scotland 10-45 but they finished 3^rd in their pool and became instant heroes. Their head coach Eddie Jones would take up the English reins as the RFU ringed changes after a disappointing outing.

It was the first time that the All Blacks had won the tournament away from home and also the first time where the ‘home’ Unions didn’t make it to the semis. The All Blacks had defeated South Africa 20-18 in the semis and Australia beat Argentina 29-15 in the other semis.

(Dan Carter and Captain Richie McCaw with the 2015 RWC at Twickenham)

The 3^rd Part will feature the different pools for the 2019 RWC.

We thank the Uganda Rugby Union and the entire rugby fraternity for the all they do for rugby let’s enjoy the International Rugby Union World Cup 2019.  

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