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Story: Rugby union

Rugby World Cup winners

Year Winner Result for New Zealand
1987 New Zealand Defeated France 29–9
1991 Australia Lost to Australia in semi-final 16–6
1995 South Africa Lost in final 15–12
1999 Australia Lost to France in semi-final 43–31
2003 England Lost to Australia in semi-final 22–10
2007 South Africa Lost to France in quarter-final 20–18
2011 New Zealand Defeated France 8–7
2015 New Zealand Defeated Australia 34–17

This table shows the winners of the eight rugby world cups since 1987, and New Zealand’s fate at those cups. For the five tournaments after 1987 New Zealand failed to win the cup and in fact only reached the final once, despite being the favourite on most occasions. The 2015 win was the first successful defence of the title by any team, and New Zealand's first away from home.

Using this item

Te Ara – The Encyclopedia of New Zealand

Source: Rugby World Cup

This item has been provided for private study purposes (such as school projects, family and local history research) and any published reproduction (print or electronic) may infringe copyright law. It is the responsibility of the user of any material to obtain clearance from the copyright holder.

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How to cite this page

Ron Palenski, Rugby union – Rugby World Cup, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/table/40038/rugby-world-cup-winners (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Ron Palenski, published 30 November 2012, updated 1 September 2016.

Comments

Harriet
29 May 2018
These were the national rugby teams. New Zealand - All Blacks; Australia - Wallabies; South Africa - Springboks; and England's national rugby team.
Liam
23 May 2018
Who were the teams
Mel
02 November 2015
Nice work, Julia and/or Matthew!
Logan taylor
03 September 2015
It's funny that New Zealand both times they won it they deafeated France!
Aman Bansal
20 August 2015
New Zealand Rugby team is just a champion side and hopefully team defend world cup title in England in 8th edition of rugby union world cup. Will be eager to see Kiwis lifting third world cup.