2003 Rugby World Cup: Difference between revisions

| host = Australia

| nations = 20 (80 qualifying)

| runnerup = {{ru|Australia}}

| third = {{ru|New Zealand}}

The '''2003 Rugby World Cup''' was the fifth [[Rugby World Cup]] and was won by [[England national rugby union team|England]]. Originally planned to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the [[New Zealand Rugby Union]] and Rugby World Cup Limited. The pre-event favourites were [[England national rugby union team|England]], regarded by many at the time as the best team in the world. [[New Zealand national rugby union team|New Zealand]], [[France national rugby union team|France]], [[South Africa national rugby union team|South Africa]] and defending champions [[Australia national rugby union team|Australia]] were also expected to make strong showings, with New Zealand being second favourites after victory in the southern-hemisphere Tri-Nations championship.

 

 

==Qualifying==

|

*{{ru|ENG}}

*{{ru|IRE}} (Europe 1)

*{{ru|ITA}} (Europe 2)

==Host==

{{See also|Rugby World Cup hosts}}

 

==Venues==

==Referees==

{{colbegin}}

* {{flagicon|AUS}} [[Stuart Dickinson]]

* {{flagicon|AUS}} Scott Young

* {{flagicon|ENG}} [[Chris White (rugby union)|Chris White]]

* {{flagicon|ENG}} [[Tony Spreadbury]]

* {{Flagicon|IRE|rugby union}} [[Alain Rolland]]

* {{Flagicon|IRE|rugby union}} [[David McHugh]]

;Touch judges and television match officials:

{{colbegin}}

* {{Flagicon|IRE|rugby union}} [[Donal Courtney]]

* {{Flagicon|IRE|rugby union}} [[Alan Lewis (rugby union and cricket)|Alan Lewis]]

{{ru|ROM}}<br />

|

{{ru|USA}}<br />

{{ru|JPN}}<br />

The first semi-final produced the first significant upset of the tournament, when Australia defeated the fancied New Zealand to become the first defending champions to reach the following championship final. Unfortunately, it was the last match for Australian star [[Ben Darwin]], who badly injured his neck in a [[Scrum (rugby)|scrum]]. Although Darwin never played rugby again, the actions of [[Kees Meeuws]] – who immediately stopped exerting pressure when he heard the call "neck neck neck" – may well have saved his opponent's life and certainly prevented further injury. The match was decided by a [[Stirling Mortlock]] interception try, after a loose pass from highly rated All Blacks fly-half [[Carlos Spencer]], and the excellent kicking of inside-centre [[Elton Flatley]]. [[George Gregan]] taunted his opponents in defeat with the comment, "Four more years boys, four more years".<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65xd81cj7pA youtube.com]</ref><ref name="Stuff.co.nz_2398842">{{cite web|url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/sunday-news/opinion/2398842/Cup-won-t-be-empty-for-three-more-years |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090515200314/http://www.stuff.co.nz/sunday-news/opinion/2398842/Cup-won-t-be-empty-for-three-more-years |url-status=dead |archive-date=15 May 2009 |title=Cup won't be empty for three more years |last=Devlin |first=Martin |date=10 May 2009 |work=[[Sunday News (New Zealand)|Sunday News]] |access-date=14 September 2011 }}</ref>

 

 

New Zealand played France in the third-place playoff, and New Zealand avenged their shock defeat to France in the semi-finals at the 1999 World Cup, running in 6 tries in a 40-13 demolition. [[Mils Muliaina]] and [[Doug Howlett]] scored a try a-piece, finishing as the tournament's joint-leading try-scorers with 7 tries.

==Pool stage==

===Pool A===

<section begin="PoolATable" />{{#invoke:sports table|main|style=WDL

|res_col_header=Q

|stadium=[[Central Coast Stadium]], [[Gosford]]

|attendance=19,123

}}

----

|con1=[[Elton Flatley|Flatley]] (11)

|pen1=[[Elton Flatley|Flatley]]

|pen2=[[Ionuț Tofan|Tofan]]

|stadium=[[Suncorp Stadium]], [[Brisbane]]

|attendance=48,778

}}

----

|stadium=[[Sydney Football Stadium (1988)|Aussie Stadium]], Sydney

|attendance=35,382

}}

----

|try1=[[Eben Isaacs|Isaacs]]

|con1=[[Emile Wessels|Wessels]]

|con2=[[Ionuț Tofan|Tofan]] (3)

|pen2=[[Ionuț Tofan|Tofan]] (2)

|stadium=[[York Park]], [[Launceston, Tasmania|Launceston]]

|attendance=15,457

}}

----

 

===Pool B===

<section begin="PoolBTable" />{{#invoke:sports table|main|style=WDL

|res_col_header=Q

|show_bonus_points=y

|for_against_style = points

|team2=SCO|name_SCO={{Ru|SCO}}

|team3=FIJ|name_FIJ={{Ru|FIJ}}

{{Rugbybox

|date=11 October 2003

|score=61–18

|away={{Ru|FIJ}}

{{Rugbybox

|date=18 October 2003

|score=51–29

|away={{Ru|JPN}}

|stadium=[[Suncorp Stadium]], [[Brisbane]]

|attendance=46,796

}}

----

|con1=[[Nicky Little|Little]] (2)

|pen1=[[Nicky Little|Little]] (4)

|stadium=[[Dairy Farmers Stadium]], [[Townsville]]

|attendance=17,269

{{Rugbybox

|date=25 October 2003

|score=51–9

|away={{Ru|SCO}}

{{Rugbybox

|date=31 October 2003

|score=41–14

|away={{Ru|USA}}

===Pool C===

[[File:South Africa vs Georgia - WC 2003.jpg|thumb|[[South Africa national rugby union team|South Africa]] vs [[Georgia national rugby union team|Georgia]], 24 October 2003]]

<section begin="PoolCTable" />{{#invoke:sports table|main|style=WDL

|res_col_header=Q

|stadium=[[Subiaco Oval]], [[Perth]]

|attendance=25,501

}}

----

|score=60–13

|away={{Ru|URU}}

|con1=[[Earl Va'a|Va'a]] (3)<br />[[Paul Tanner Vili|Vili]] (2)

|try2=[[Rodrigo Capó Ortega|Capó]]<br />[[Pablo Lemoine|Lemoine]]

|stadium=[[Subiaco Oval]], [[Perth]]

|attendance=38,834

}}

----

|pen1=[[Paliko Jimsheladze|Jimsheladze]] (2)

|drop1=[[Paliko Jimsheladze|Jimsheladze]]

|con2=[[Earl Va'a|Va'a]] (5)

|pen2=[[Earl Va'a|Va'a]] (2)

|stadium=Docklands Stadium, Melbourne

|attendance=50,647

}}

----

 

===Pool D===

<section begin="PoolDTable" />{{#invoke:sports table|main|style=WDL

|res_col_header=Q

|stadium=Docklands Stadium, Melbourne

|attendance=41,715

}}

----

|score=41–10

|away={{Ru|CAN}}

|con1=[[Iestyn Harris|Harris]] (5)

|pen1=[[Iestyn Harris|Harris]] (2)

|stadium=[[Suncorp Stadium]], [[Brisbane]]

|attendance=47,588

}}

----

|stadium=[[Canberra Stadium]], Canberra

|attendance=22,641

}}

----

|8 November – [[Docklands Stadium|Melbourne]]|'''{{Ru|NZL}}'''|'''29'''|{{Ru|RSA}}|9

|8 November – [[Lang Park|Brisbane]]|'''{{Ru|AUS}}'''|'''33'''|{{Ru|SCO}}|16

|9 November – [[Lang Park|Brisbane]]|'''{{Ru|ENG}}'''|'''28'''|{{Ru|WAL}}|17

<!-- semi-finals -->

|15 November – [[Stadium Australia|Sydney (Telstra)]]|{{Ru|NZL}}|10|'''{{Ru|AUS}}'''|'''22'''

<!-- final -->

|22 November – [[Stadium Australia|Sydney (Telstra)]]|{{Ru|AUS}}|17|'''{{Ru|ENG}}''' ([[Extra time|a.e.t.]])|'''20'''

<!-- third place -->

}}

 

{{Rugbybox

|date=9 November 2003

|score=43–21

|away={{Ru|IRE}}

|try1=[[Olivier Magne|Magne]] 3' c<br />[[Christophe Dominici|Dominici]] 29' c<br />[[Imanol Harinordoquy|Harinordoquy]] 33' c<br />[[Jean-Jacques Crenca|Crenca]] 47' c

|try2=[[Kevin Maggs|Maggs]] 52' c<br />[[Brian O'Driscoll|O'Driscoll]] (2) 65' c, 80+2' c

|stadium=Docklands Stadium, Melbourne

|attendance=33,134

}}

----

{{Rugbybox

|date=16 November 2003

|score=7–24

|away={{Ru|ENG}}

|home={{Ru-rt|NZL}}

|score=40–13

|try1=[[Chris Jack|Jack]] 12' c<br />[[Doug Howlett|Howlett]] 20' c<br />[[Joe Rokocoko|Rokocoko]] 51' c<br />[[Brad Thorn|Thorn]] 54' c<br />[[Mils Muliaina|Muliaina]] 58' c<br />[[Marty Holah|Holah]] 72' m

|con1=[[Leon MacDonald|MacDonald]]<br />[[Dan Carter|Carter]] (4)

|-

|align="left"|[[Frédéric Michalak]]

|[[Fly-half (rugby union)|Fly-half]]

|6||2||17||18||1||! scope=row style="background:#ccc"|'''101'''||0

 

==External links==

*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060507172716/http://www.rwc2003.irb.com/EN 2003 Rugby World Cup Official site] (Archived)

*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_union/rugby_world_cup/fixtures_/default.stm 2003 Rugby World Cup Reports and Statistics]