RWC 2007: France shocked, Springboks triumph

Rugby World Cup 2007 in France was the sixth time the tournament had been held, with 86 nations taking part in qualifying before 20 teams faced off for the Webb Ellis Cup.

The only newcomers in 2007 were Portugal, who took Uruguay's place.

Nine cities in France - as well as Edinburgh and Cardiff - hosted 48 matches.
The opening match, semi-finals and final were all at Stade de France in Paris, the centerpiece venue of the event.

More than 2.46 million fans attended the matches, breaking the attendance tally from 2003 by more than 400,000.

The opening match provided a huge upset with Argentina stunning hosts France.

Lima's record

Ignacio Corleto, who plays his club rugby at Parisian side Stade de Francais, scored the only try in what was France's first defeat in a World Cup pool match.

Samoa's Brian Lima became the first player to appear in five tournaments when he came off the bench against South Africa in the first round.

A record four teams were blanked in 2007.

England failed to score for the first time in any RWC match, losing 36-0 to South Africa. Scotland blotted Romania 42-0 before the All Blacks did the same to the Scots, 40-0 in their next match, and Georgia recorded their first RWC win with a 30-0 whitewash of Namibia.

Tonga won the first two matches of what was their best RWC campaign yet, having recorded just two victories in total at their four previous tournaments.

The Tongans pushed eventual champions South Africa all the way in their pool match, losing by five points (30-25) to give the Springboks the tightest winning margin of their seven matches.

Wales heartbreak

Wales fell to a Pacific Island nation for the third time in their RWC history by losing 38-34 to Fiji and missed the knockout stage for the third time.

Argentina recorded a resounding 30-15 victory to end the dreams of the Irish for the second time at a RWC, having also defeated them 28-24 in the quarter-final play-off at Lens, France, in 1999.

The All Blacks' Sitiveni Sivivatu scored after 37 seconds against Romania as New Zealand showed their class against the Oaks, winning 85-8 in the last round of pool matches in Toulouse.

USA's Thretton Palamo came off the bench in the 75th minute of the last pool match against South Africa to become, at 19 years and eight days, the youngest player at a RWC.
On the last day of pool matches France joined England, New Zealand, Australia and Scotland as the only teams to have always qualified for at least the quarter-final stage at all six RWCs.

For the first time, three teams from the Six Nations Championship failed to progress to the knockout stage of the tournament, with Wales, Ireland and Italy all heading home.

England beat Wallabies again

In the first quarter-final, defending champions England defeated Australia 12-10 in Marseille, cementing their status as Wallaby killers. It was the third time England had beaten Australia in the competition and they became the only team with a winning RWC record against the Wallabies.

The Wallabies' last three defeats at the RWC have all come at the hands of England and each time a fly half has inflicted the pain.

First there was Rob Andrew with a winning drop goal and 20 points in 1995, then Jonny Wilkinson with a winning drop goal and 15 points in 2003 and finally Wilkinson again with all 12 points in 2007.

The French played New Zealand in their quarter-final in Cardiff and won 20-18 to become the first team to bounce the All Blacks from the tournament before the semi-final stage.
In Marseille, the Springboks' runaway train rolled over Fiji 37-20 to make it three semi-final berths in four World Cup appearances.

In the last quarter-final, Argentina impressed again after their opening-match victory over France by taking out Scotland 19-13.

Lewsey makes the difference

Each of the previous five RWC finals had featured either Australia or New Zealand but neither made it to the last four in 2007.

In the first semi-final, England beat France (14-9) for the third time in a World Cup match, making them the team to vanquish Les Bleus most often.

Fly halves Lionel Beauxis and Jonny Wilkinson scored nine points apiece but a Josh Lewsey try sent England into their second successive final.

England are the only team to make a RWC final after losing a pool match, which they have done twice - losing 18-12 to New Zealand in 1991 and 36-0 to South Africa in 2007.
They are also the only team to reach the final after failing to score in a pool match.

In the second semi-final, the Argentina fairy tale crashed as they were brushed aside 37-13 by South Africa.

Bryan Habana scored two tries to raise his tournament total to eight and equal the RWC record set by New Zealand's Jonah Lomu in 1999. Habana scored four tries against Samoa to set the best individual return of the tournament.

Argentina create history

France were soundly defeated in the bronze final 34-10 by Argentina, who posted the best RWC finish by a nation from the Americas.

Omar Hasan's try for Argentina in the 32nd minute made him the oldest try scorer in a knockout match at 36 years and 181 days and third oldest at a RWC behind Uruguay's Diego Ormaechea, who scored a try against Spain aged 40 years and 13 days in 1999, and Tonga's Fakahau Valu, who touched down against Canada aged nearly 38 in 1987.

With Argentina winning 34-10 and finishing third in the tournament, France became the first hosts to lose three matches at a RWC.

In the second try-less final, after the 1995 extra-time decider, England could not repeat their effort of four years earlier and South Africa won their second world title 15-6.

South Africa's Percy Montgomery slotted four penalty goals to finish as the leading points scorer in the tournament with 105 and Francois Steyn became the youngest player to win a RWC (at 20 years and 159 days).

Wilkinson finished the tournament with a record 249 points in a RWC career that started in 1999 and has so far included 53 penalty goals and 13 drop goals, both RWC records.