1987 Rugby World Cup was the inaugural meet of rugby extravaganza hosted in Australia and New Zealand, the result was that New Zealand emerged as the winner with France as runner-up .
The event began on 22 nd May, 1987 and ended on 20 th June, 1987. Sixteen nations participated in the first Rugby World Cup but, there were only three real contenders-Australia, New Zealand and France. The final match was played at the Eden Park, Auckland.
The sixteen nations that participated in 1987 Rugby World Cup were divided into four pools with four nations in each pool. The top two-nations from each pool moved on to the quarter finals . The teams that reached the quarter finals are Australia and England from Pool 1, Wales and Ireland from Pool 2, New Zealand and Fiji from Pool 3 and France and Scotland from Pool 4. The knock-out stage began from the quarter finals . The first quarter final was played between New Zealand and Scotland, where New Zealand won by a margin of 30-3. Two quarter-finals were played on the same day, one between France (31) and Fiji (16) and another between Australia (33) and Ireland (15). The last quarter final was played between Wales and England, where Wales defeated England by a wide margin 16-3.
The real thrill in the event began in the semi-finals . The first semi-final was played between France and Australia. This was considered the best game of the 1987 Rugby World Cup . The result was in favour of France with 30-24. The other semi-final was a pretty one-sided match between New Zealand and Wales, where New Zealand won by a wide gap 49-6. The final match of the event was played between New Zealand and France at the Eden Park, Auckland. The result of the match was in favour of New Zealand winning with a wide margin of 29-9.
