South Africa’s fourth Webb Ellis Cup sealed 2023
The Men’s Rugby World Cup gathers top rugby union nations every four years under World Rugby. Champions lift the Webb Ellis Cup, named for the schoolboy legend who supposedly picked up the ball and ran. South Africa won a record fourth title by beating New Zealand in the 2023 final.
The inaugural 1987 tournament, co-hosted by New Zealand and Australia, fielded sixteen invited sides; New Zealand beat France 29–9 in the final. England’s 1991 hosting introduced qualifiers, and Australia beat England 12–6. South Africa’s 1995 home triumph—15–12 over New Zealand in extra time—ended with Nelson Mandela, in a Springbok jersey, handing the cup to captain Francois Pienaar after apartheid’s fall reopened test rugby. The field grew to twenty teams in 1999 and stays there until Australia 2027 expands to twenty-four. Japan hosted 2019; France hosted 2023.
Four nations have won: South Africa four times, New Zealand three, Australia twice, England once. England’s 2003 extra-time victory in Australia drew some 750,000 celebrants in London. New Zealand’s 2011 home win squeaked past France 8–7; in 2015 the All Blacks beat Australia to become first three-time and first back-to-back champions after Japan’s shock pool win over South Africa. Argentina’s 2007 third place turbocharged its professional pathway.
IRFB delegates approved the concept 10–6 in 1985 after decades of resistance—Australia, France, New Zealand, and South Africa for; Ireland and Scotland against; England and Wales split. Earlier global stages included Olympic rugby (1900–1924) and the Six Nations lineage from the 1883 Home Nations. From 2021 the women’s event briefly shared the bare “Rugby World Cup” name for equality; after 2023, World Rugby ordered future titles to say Men’s or Women’s explicitly, starting with the 2025 Women’s and 2027 Men’s cups.
Under the twenty-four-team plan, twelve sides qualify by finishing top three in their 2023 pools; remaining berths follow regional quotas across Europe, the Pacific, South America, Africa, and Asia, plus play-offs. Knockouts now run from a round of sixteen through a bronze match to the final, with extra time and sudden death if needed.
Source: Rugby World Cup
