The 1999 Rugby World Cup , the fourth of its kind since the 1987 event, was hosted by Wales along with Scotland, Ireland, England and France.
The result of the event emerged in favor of Australia , who became the world champion for the second time after 1991. The Australian team defeated France in the final match. The 1999 Rugby World Cup was held between 1 st October and 6 th November at various venues of the host nations.
Twenty teams participated in the 1999 Rugby World Cup . The teams were divided into five groups , each consisting of four teams. South Africa, Scotland, Uruguay and Spain were in Pool A, from where, South Africa qualified for the quarter final with 6 points. Scotland with 4 points moved on to the quarter final play-offs from Pool A. the teams included in Pool B were New Zealand, England, Tonga and Italy. New Zealand (6 points) moved on to the quarter final and England (4 points) moved on to the quarter final play-off round from that pool. In Pool C, France, Fiji, Canada and Namibia played for a place in the knock out stage. From this pool, France with 6 points qualified for the quarter final and Fiji with 4 points made it to the quarter final play-off round. In Pool D, Wales, Argentina, Samoa and Japan fought for a place in knock out stage. In this pool, Wales, Argentina and Samoa finished with 4 points each. However, Wales moved forward to the quarter finals and Argentina to the quarter final play-offs. Teams included in Pool E were Australia, Ireland, Romania and the United States of America. From this pool, Australia progressed to the quarter finals with 6 points. On the other hand, Ireland made it to the quarter final play-off round .
The three quarter final play-off matches were played on the same day on 20 th October. The three matches played at the stage were England (45) vs Fiji (24), Scotland (35) vs Samoa (20) and Ireland (24) vs Argentina (28). England, Scotland and Argentina cleared the round and joined the other five teams in the quarter finals. The quarter finals were held over two days. On 23 rd October, the Wales (9) vs Australia (24) match was played. On 24 th October, South Africa (44) vs England (21), France (47) vs Argentina (26) and New Zealand (30) vs Scotland (18) were held. The teams progressing to the semi-finals were South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and France.
The first semi-final was played between South Africa (21) and Australia (27) on 30 th October. The second semi-final between New Zealand (31) and France (43) was scheduled on 31 st October. Australia and France qualified for the final scheduled on 6 th November. The match for the third place was played on 4 th November between South Africa (22) and New Zealand (18). Australia (35) defeated France (12) in the final of the 1999 rugby World Cup and became the winner of the title.
