A world of rugby to revel in

By rugby standards the World Cup is a Johnny-come-lately colonial upstart but what a rich history the tournament already has. Politics and rugby have never been far apart, but come kick-off, the players take centre stage. From the inaugural match when All Black wing John Kirwan took the Italians apart singlehandedly, each Cup has produced its memorable moments. We recount some of the best.

1987

Remember those years of Closer Economic Relations?

Neighbours stretching hands across the sea and all that? Around that time a group of Australian and New Zealand rugby administrators decided that if soccer and cricket could have a World Cup every four years why not rugby?

So they did, dragging the International Rugby Board along for the ride.

Relatively speaking it was a small acorn, which grew and grew.

The opening event stands apart from its three successors on two counts.

One being its place in the batting order: first, and therefore loaded with novelty.

How would it work, 16 teams split between two host countries; 12 squads rumbling around New Zealand at the same time?

The profits were not big, but the event was a success.

Consider these numbers: In 1987 the net profit was £1 million; four years ago it was £47 million; in 1987, the games drew 600,000 spectators; 12 years later it had grown to 1.75 million; most significantly, the inaugural Cup drew a television audience estimated at 300 million; in 1999 it had soared to more than 3 billion.

The second key point was that the winners, as well as being one of the hosts, were unquestionably the best team on show.

The tournament came after a grim period for New Zealand rugby. The scars of the 1981 Springbok tour were healing; then came the Cavaliers tour of 1986 to the republic, which did not exactly help rugby's position as the country's most popular sport.

So when 1987 rolled around, rugby needed to mend some fences. It did so through the thrilling, scintillating rugby of the All Blacks, under Brian Lochore.

From the opening game, a dreadful mismatch between the All Blacks and Italy, the hosts put their foot to the floor and did not let up until David Kirk was holding the trophy aloft to a roaring Eden Park crowd after beating France in the final.

The tournament heralded the arrival of one of the game's alltime greats, All Blacks flanker Michael Jones, who was the first player to score a try in the Cup, and the first to score in a final; the opening game produced a stunning 80 metre sidestepping run and try by John Kirwan, just the fillip the event needed, even if some of the tackling was of schoolboy standard; the All Blacks made no race of it and players like Kirwan, Grant Fox, Kirk, Wayne Shelford, Jones, Alan Whetton, Steve McDowell and Sean Fitzpatrick carved their names as the flagbearers for one of the great All Black teams.

There were other delights of that Cup: Who could have conceived of Canada playing Tonga in Napier? Or Romania pipping Zimbabwe by a point at Eden Park? Or Italy, so despondent after that opening game, picking themselves up and beating Fiji 18-15 at Carisbrook?

It was a tournament where toes were dipped in uncharted waters, and while there were hiccups along the way, there was a general thumbs up for the concept.

New Zealand should cherish those days.

The way the game is going the World Cup hosting rights aren't coming back this way any time soon.

1991

How do you muck up a decent concept in one easy stroke?

Simple. Split a 16-team tournament between five countries and expect the spirit of togetherness to survive.

That's what the International Rugby Board did in 1991. The result was the occasional memorable moment, fine performance, but precious little else.

Australia won the trophy, with a solid victory over England at Twickenham 12-6, the only try coming in a pushover to prop Tony Daly.

The Wallabies might well feel they effectively won the tournament a week earlier when they outplayed a tired All Blacks 16-6 at Dublin in their semifinal.

And speaking of fine moments, there was none better than David Campese's display that day.

He set up Tim Horan's opening try with a dazzling over-the-shoulder pass, and got the second himself with a diagonal 35m run from centrefield to the lefthand corner, twisting the All Black defence this way and that.

The All Blacks were a year too old. They lacked zip and freshness.

They had also alienated the local support by closeting themselves away all week in the leadup to the semifinal. In some cases, arrogance and surliness had returned and got what it deserved.

By contrast the Australians got about - a large group had a very long night at a popular bar in midweek before focusing on the job ahead. They were more relaxed, infinitely more popular and deserving winners.

Their biggest scare came in the quarter-finals, when Irish flanker Gordon Hamilton's 30m sprint to the corner to give Ireland an 18-14 lead with six minutes left seemed set to tie Bob Dwyer's kangaroos down for good.

But Michael Lynagh kept a cool head, organised the backline and scored the winning try.

The real buzz, however, came from Samoa, at the Cup for the first time and making waves.

First they tipped over Wales at the Arms Park in Cardiff, 16-13; pushed Australia hard before losing 9-3 in the rain at Pontypool; and took Argentina apart 35-12 to make the last eight.

The adventure ended in a 28-6 loss to the Scots at Murrayfield but a reputation for entertainment had been forged, and which remains undiminished.

1995

Politics and sport don't mix? Try telling that to the All Blacks as they prepared for the final against South Africa at Ellis Park in Johannesburg.

If ever a country willed its team to glory this was it.

It was South Africa's first entry in the Cup, with Nelson Mandela having been freed, the dark decades of apartheid officially banished and a spirit of togetherness in the Rainbow Nation.

Were the Springboks the best team at the Cup?

Well, yes, because they won it. But in pure rugby terms, no.

The sight of Mandela wearing captain Francois Pienaar's No 6 Springbok jersey before kickoff was inspirational and in a game bereft of tries, an extra-time dropped goal by Joel Stransky won the day.

South Africa won on heart and resolve, as group wins by 27-18 (over Australia), 21-8 (Romania), 20-0 (Canada), 42-14 (Samoa) and 19-15 over France in a rain-lashed semifinal at Durban suggest.

There was talk of the All Blacks being poisoned by the hand of Suzy, a waitress, before the final. Nothing was proved.

It was, shall we say, a gut feeling among the players, and certainly some were off their game in the final, especially in comparison with the standards they had set earlier in the campaign.

They also unleashed the most dramatic figure in Cup history in Jonah Lomu, who scored twice against Ireland, once against Scotland and four times against England in spearheading a stunning 45-29 demolition.

A star was born and Lomu has been the biggest name in the game since. There is a strong argument that this was the best of all Cups.

It was, and remains, after all, the only one to take place within the boundaries of one country.

1999

Precisely half an hour at Twickenham did for the All Blacks' Cup hopes four years ago. It was as simple as that.

Early in the second half of their semifinal against France, it all seemed plain sailing as the All Blacks bolted to a 24-10 lead.

Then suddenly it all went wrong. France, as they can do to any team, felt the force was with them.

Between the 44th and 74th minutes, there were a brace of penalties and dropped goals by Christophe Lamaison, and tries to Christophe Dominici, Richard Dourthe and Philippe Bernat-Salles. It was exhilarating rugby and when the dust settled it was 43-31. Thank you and goodnight.

There were accusations of eye gouging and rough-house play by the French, allegations repeated by Australia on their way to a convincing win in the final at Cardiff a week later. All Blacks lamented that they had not stood up to the French pack as they feared there would be recriminations through the judicial eyes in the grandstand.

The French simply sailed into their work, got away with merry hell and won the day.

In truth, there were signs of wobbles a week earlier when the All Blacks lost the second half against Scotland in their quarter-final.

Once again, five countries shared the hosting rights. Once again it was a mess, only this time the IRB, with 20 teams to cope with, introduced a playoff system to find their top eight for the quarter-finals - the pool winners and three next best.

Thankfully that's been done away with - and we are back to a single host nation. That too came after rugby's inevitable politics, but now it's time to play on the field.

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