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The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth world cup in rugby union history. It was won by England. Originally planned to be co-hosted by both 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.
Venues
| Venues | ||
|---|---|---|
| City | Stadium | Capacity |
| Sydney | Telstra Stadium | 83,500 |
| Melbourne | Telstra Dome | 53,371 |
| Brisbane | Suncorp Stadium | 52,500 |
| Perth | Subiaco Oval | 43,000 |
| Sydney | Aussie Stadium | 41,159 |
| Townsville | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 31,000 |
| Adelaide | Adelaide Oval | 28,000 |
| Canberra | Canberra Stadium | 25,000 |
| Gosford | Central Coast Stadium | 20,000 |
| Wollongong | WIN Stadium | 20,000 |
| Launceston | York Park | 20,000 |
The Adelaide Oval underwent a AUS$ 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 AUS$280 million state-of-the-art venue designed specifically for rugby. It was opened just before the start of the 2003 Rugby World Cup. The Central Coast Stadium was also a newly built venue. It opened in February 2000 at a cost of AUS$30 million.
Aussie Staudium in Sydney is one of two venues in that city and was the main venue for soccer during the 2000 Olympic Games. The other venue in Sydney was the Telstra Stadium. Originally the centrepiece of the 2000 Olympic Games as Stadium Australia as it was then known, it was built at a cost of over AUS$600 million and was the biggest stadium used during the 2003 Rugby World Cup. The only stadium with a retractable roof used was the Telstra Dome in Melbourne.
Qualification
The following 20 teams, shown by region, qualified for the 2003 Rugby World Cup. Of the 20 teams, eight of those places were automatically filled by the teams that reached the quarter final stages in 1999, including hosts and world champions Australia and did not have to play any qualification matches. A record 80 nations from five continents were involved in the qualification process designed to fill the remaining 12 spots, which began on 23 September 2000.
Format
The teams were divided into four pools of five nations, 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
Summary
First Round
The Australian media criticised the competition early in the tournament as the smaller nations were crushed by the rugby superpowers by 60 points or more. However, some of these smaller, third tier nations, such as Japan acquitted themselves well in their opening matches. The South Pacific island countries of Fiji, Tonga and Samoa were reported to being handicapped as several of their key players who play abroad being warned by their clubs 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. In Pool C, Samoa gave England a fright with an adventurous approach that allowed them to take an early lead. However, England's superior fitness saw them through.
The big clashes ran mainly to form. A disappointing South Africa limped through the pool, eventually capitulating to England to relegate them to a difficult quarter final against New Zealand. Australia just beat Ireland to top their group, whilst Wales pushed the All Blacks to the wire, after adopting an outgoing style of play with a fringe selection. France beat Scotland to round out the quarter finals.
Knock-out stage
The knock-out quarter final stage produced the widely predicted set of semi-finalists, although England again made heavy weather of defeating a resurgent Wales. England were widely rated the world's best team, but they struggled against a Welsh side full of belief after their game against New Zealand. France destroyed an Irish side who had gone into the match hopeful of a win, scoring 31 early points to put the game out of reach. In the other quarter-finals, a disappointing South Africa fell to New Zealand and Australia completed an easy victory over the Scots.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 match was decided by a Stirling Mortlock interception try, after a loose pass from highly-rated All Blacks fly-half, Carlos Spencer. The second semi-final saw France face England. The boot of Jonny Wilkinson was the difference between the two sides, with England coming out victors, but rain and France's willingness to give away penalties to prevent tries, ensured that it was a dour game.
Final
The final between Australia and England, played at Sydney's Telstra Stadium in front of a crowd of 82,957, 40% of whom were English supporters. Security at the final was the tighest ever seen for a Rugby World Cup final. It was a direct response to al-Qaeda threats over the past few years that had specifically named Australia as a terrorist target.Australia opened the scoring after they decided to run a penalty instead of kicking for touch. Lote Tuquiri beat England's right wing, Robinson, to a high cross-field kick and went over for the first try. Elton Flatley was not able to add the conversion though.
England dominated the rest of the half, opening up a 9-5 lead after Australian indiscipline gave away several penalties, but were unable to capitalise on their dominance. They nearly crossed the line on one occasion, when the Australian defence was stretched after a mistake and Ben Kay was given a try scoring pass. He fumbled the ball over the line. Television replays showed Kay's reaction in four letter words. Towards the end of the first half, however, England stretched their lead further. Lawrence Dallaglio made a break and popped the ball inside to Jonny Wilkinson, who drew the defence before putting Robinson away in the corner for a try. The conversion was missed, but England went in at halftime leading by 14-5, a resounding riposte to the Australian media, which had questioned England's try-scoring abilities.
In the second half, Australia tightened their discipline and solid play forced mistakes from England. The game swung from end to end, with both sides having try-scoring opportunities, but neither able to take them. Australia managed to get points on the board and Elton Flatley scored two penalties to make the score 14-11 to England. In the 79th minute, Australia were putting pressure on England in their half. England had a scrum and just needed to keep hold of the ball until time elapsed. Several scrums were reset after the front rows failed to engage properly and finally, the referee, André Watson, gave a controversial penalty to Australia, despite Englands scrum dominating the rest of the game. Elton Flatley converted it with the last kick of normal time to tie the match 14-14 and take it to 20 minutes extra time.
England opened the scoring in extra time with another Wilkinson penalty, but with two and a half minutes of extra time remaining, Australia were awarded another penalty which Flatley kicked successfully. With 21 seconds left before sudden death, England's Jonny Wilkinson scored a drop goal to win the match and with it the world championship.
Results
Pool A
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!width=165|Team Won Drawn Lost For Against BP Points 4 273 32 2 18 3 1 141 55 3 15 2 2 140 57 3 11 1 3 65 192 1 5 0 4 28 310 0 Pool B
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!width=165|Team Won Drawn Lost For Against BP Points 4 204 70 4 20 3 1 102 97 2 14 2 2 98 112 1 9 1 3 86 125 2 6 0 4 79 163 0 Pool C
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!width=165|Team Won Drawn Lost For Against BP Points 4 255 47 3 19 3 1 184 60 3 15 2 2 138 117 2 10 1 3 56 255 4 0 4 46 200 0 Pool D
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!width=165|Team Won Drawn Lost For Against BP Points 4 282 57 4 20 3 1 132 98 2 14 2 2 76 124 8 1 3 54 135 1 5 0 4 46 178 1 1
Knock-out stages
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Third-place play-off
Final
Post final
Three 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.The 2003 Rugby World Cup had a global cumulative audience of 3.5 billion.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.
Statistics
Team
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! colspan="12" bgcolor=#ccffcc align=center |Team statistics Team Played Won Drawn Lost Points Difference Tries Scored Conversions Penalties Drop Goals Yellow Cards Red Cards 7 7 239 36 27 23 8 1 0 7 6 1 267 43 32 21 1 1 0 7 6 1 260 52 40 6 1 1 0 7 5 2 112 29 22 22 4 5 0 5 3 2 104 27 17 7 1 1 0 5 3 2 63 20 16 9 1 1 0 5 3 2 23 17 14 11 1 2 0 5 3 2 -12 12 8 13 1 1 0 4 2 2 83 18 13 6 2 1 0 4 2 2 -16 10 6 12 3 0 4 2 2 21 18 12 8 1 0 4 2 2 -46 5 5 14 2 0 4 1 3 -39 9 7 9 1 0 4 1 3 -81 4 2 9 1 1 0 4 1 3 -127 8 5 5 1 0 4 1 3 -199 6 4 6 0 4 4 -84 6 5 12 1 0 4 4 -132 7 4 1 4 0 4 4 -154 1 1 12 1 2 0 4 4 -282 4 4 1 0 Top point scorers
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! colspan="12" bgcolor=#ccffcc align=center |Top ten point scorers Player Team Position Played Tries Scored Conversions Penalties Drop Goals Total Points Yellow Cards Red Cards Jonny Wilkinson style="text-align:left;" Fly-half 6 10 23 8 113 0 Frédéric Michalak style="text-align:left;" Fly-half 6 2 18 18 1 103 0 Elton Flatley style="text-align:left;" Centre 6 1 16 21 100 0 Leon MacDonald style="text-align:left;" Centre 7 4 20 5 75 0 Chris Paterson style="text-align:left;" Fly-half 5 3 7 13 1 71 0 Mat Rogers style="text-align:left;" Full-back 7 5 16 57 1 0 Mike Hercus style="text-align:left;" Fly-half 4 2 7 9 51 0 Rima Wakarua style="text-align:left;" Fly-half 3 4 14 50 0 Earl Va'a style="text-align:left;" Fly-half 4 1 10 8 49 0 Daniel Carter style="text-align:left;" Fly-half 5 2 19 48 0 Top try scorers
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! colspan="12" bgcolor=#ccffcc align=center |Top ten try scorers Player Team Position Played Tries Scored Conversions Penalties Drop Goals Total Points Yellow Cards Red Cards Doug Howlett style="text-align:left;" Wing 7 7 35 0 Mils Muliaina style="text-align:left;" Full-back 7 7 35 0 Joe Rokocoko style="text-align:left;" Wing 5 6 30 0 Will Greenwood style="text-align:left;" Centre 6 5 25 0 Chris Latham style="text-align:left;" Full-back 1 5 25 0 Josh Lewsey style="text-align:left;" Full-back 5 5 25 0 Mat Rogers style="text-align:left;" Full-back 7 5 16 57 1 0 Lote Tuqiri style="text-align:left;" Wing 7 5 25 0 Pablo Bouza style="text-align:left;" No. 8 2 4 20 0 Christophe Dominici style="text-align:left;" Wing 5 4 20 1 0 Notes and references
External links
- Official site
- BBC account of 2003 World Cup victory
- Video of Caucaunibuca's 2003 World Cup try for Fiji against France (WMV format)
2003 in Australia | 2003 in sports | Rugby World Cup | Category:Sports festivals hosted in Australia | Rugby union in Australia
Copa Mundial de Rugby de 2003 | Coupe du monde de rugby 2003 | Coppa del Mondo di rugby (2003) | Verdensmesterskapet i rugby union 2003
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"2003 Rugby World Cup"