2015
England 13-33 Australia: Memorable for all the wrong reasons
as their arch-rivals from Down Under pulled England apart at
Twickenham and dumped Stuart Lancaster’s side out of their
home tournament at the pool stage.
Defeat to Wales had made the Wallabies clash must-win, but
England were second best throughout as they crashed out.
2011
England 16-12 Scotland: A try from Chris Ashton two minutes
from full-time saw England edge Scotland in Auckland and
ensure their safe passage as pool winners, while dumping Andy
Robinson’s men out of the tournament.
Off-field problems blighted England’s campaign and their run
was ended in the quarter-finals by France.
2007
Australia 10-12 England: Brian Asdhton’s England were
little-fancied as they scraped out of the pool stage and faced
the Wallabies in the last eight in Marseille. However, their
scrum dominance won penalty after penalty, and Jonny
Wilkinson did the rest to ensure they recorded another
World Cup win over Australia.
England went on to make the final, but were narrowly beaten by
South Africa in Paris.
2003
Australia 17-20 England (after extra-time): Jonny Wilkinson’s
drop-goal ensured England were on top of the world. Martin
Johnson lifted the Webb Ellis Trophy and Sir Clive Woodward’s
mission to take England to the summit of the world game was
complete.
The final itself was a cagey affair, lit up by tries from Jason
Robinson and Lote Tiquiri, but Wilkinson won it with a drop-goal
in the 100th minute.
1999
England 21-44 South Africa: A world record five drop-goals from
South African Jannie de Beer put an end to England’s run in the
1999 Rugby World Cup.
Wins over Tonga, Italy and Fiji got England to the quarter-finals,
but they came unstuck in Paris as the Springboks marched into
the last four.
1995
England 29-45 New Zealand: Having beaten Western
Samoa in the quarter-finals, England took on
pre-tournament favourites New Zealand for a place in the
final against the tournament hosts. Jonah Lomu, though,
had other ideas - the late All Blacks legend scored four
tries to book the All Blacks their place in the final.
1991
Australia 12-6 England: A narrow victory over Scotland in the
last four saw England into the World Cup final on home soil, and
in front of an expectant home crowd at Twickenham, they took
on old rivals Australia.
Tony Daly’s try proved the difference between the sides as the
Wallabies got their hands on the Webb Ellis Trophy.
1987
England 60-7 Japan: Having lost their inaugural Rugby World
Cup match to Australia, England dished out a 10-try hammering
of Japan to record their first-ever win at the tournament. Mike
Harrison scored a hat-trick, while Rory Underwood helped
himself to a brace in Sydney.
England advanced to the quarter-finals before being knocked
out by Wales.
MEMORABLE RUGBY WORLD CUP MOMENTS
Matches played: 44
Wins: 31 Losses: 13
Win percentage: 70%
Total points scored: 1384
Tries: 147 Penalties: 131
Conversions: 107
Drop-goals: 21
World ranking: 5
ENGLAND AT THE
RUGBY WORLD CUP
ISSUE 116 2019 • WWW.SCRUMMAGAZINE.COM • 37
RUGBY WORLD CUP - TOP 10