Best & Worst World Cup So Far

[RWC2011Fan]

I'm far too young to remember anything pre-'07, but because I'm biased, I enjoyed RWC 2011 because had a festival-type atmosphere where you couldn't go anywhere without seeing or hearing about. Watching Ireland vs. Australia projected on to the side of a building in the middle of town was incredible! I also enjoyed 2007 for the fact that it felt like a world event. The stands were full and the rugby was fantastic, what can I say.

 

[psychic duck]

RWC 1999 on the field had some of the best and most exciting matches and also included a few upsets, but was terribly run. RWC 2003 was a low point for Tier 2 nations with the most thrashings, but had relatively good crowds which were much better than the empty seats in 1999. RWC 2007 had the best crowds and attendances and had improvement of Tier 2 from 2003, and had some good games in the pool stages, but the entire knockout rounds were basically a dull kick fest. RWC 2011 had okay matches, but no signature standout match like the previous tournaments, and also had decent crowds but not as good as France 2007, I would say it was in the middle for matches and organisation.

 

[Feicarsinn]

I judge a World Cup usually by how many close matches there are. I'd say the most recent World Cup was the most competitive, with there being relatively few blow outs.

 

[Melhor Time]

RWC 1999 on the field had some of the best and most exciting matches and also included a few upsets, but was terribly run. RWC 2003 was a low point for Tier 2 nations with the most thrashings, but had relatively good crowds which were much better than the empty seats in 1999. RWC 2007 had the best crowds and attendances and had improvement of Tier 2 from 2003, and had some good games in the pool stages, but the entire knockout rounds were basically a dull kick fest. RWC 2011 had okay matches, but no signature standout match like the previous tournaments, and also had decent crowds but not as good as France 2007, I would say it was in the middle for matches and organisation.

RWC 2003 was the worst

RWC 2007 was the best.

2003 was a disaster. Poorly organized. Wrong venues for certain matches and a poor match list which saw Argentina eliminated from the Cup before England had played its third match. John O´Neill did it from a business poiint of view not rugby. He wanted Australia vs Ireland to be on the same weekend as the Australia vs Ireland International rules match (Aussie rules and Gaelic football). He went for Melbourne as the venue for this reason with the city hosting a big sporting weekend with two Australia vs Ireland matches. This destroyed the chances of certain teams.

Italy were similarly eliminated a full weekend before the Wales vs New Zealand match from the same pool. Again, John O´Neill was thinking about money as he wanted this match to be played in Sydney at the largest venue. The other slots were full. i.e. week one Aus vs Arg, week 3 Aus vs Sco. Unfair draws was a nice way of putting it. A better explanation would be Australia destroyed the chances of some while the 3N + 5N all had their games spread - all on weekends.


2007 had the best crowds and matches. Tonga vs South Africa, Fiji vs Wales, Georgia vs Ireland, Canada vs Wales, Canada vs Japan, Argentina vs France, Samoa vs Tonga, Portugal vs Italy and Scotland. Solid Quarter Finals. Only issue at all being the use of Cardiff + Edinburgh. 2011 was next best. Well organized, fans were recieved very well. The small venues did well. . Just damn expensive beer in the cities during the matches. A real rip-off.

I judge a World Cup usually by how many close matches there are. I'd say the most recent World Cup was the most competitive, with there being relatively few blow outs.

Good call there. 2007 was much the same. Namibia were the worst both times. Worse in 2011 than 2007. The rain did not help in 2011 with the close games tending to be wet conditions unlike in France.

 

[TRF_Cymro]

1999 For me.

 

[Shovenose]

haha the decision will be biased and will tend to drift more on how well your country did at the tournament. I liked 2007 not because SA won it but because the Argies did so well and beat the home nation twice for a third spot.

 

[Melhor Time]

1999 For me.

Do explain.

A World Cup in Wales with only one pool, one Quarter Final, the Bronze Final and the Final there.

So many bad decisions involved:

- No real host nation.
- Neither France or Scotland should have hosted matches at all. Ireland was also surplus. Wal + England was enough.
- Only three Welsh venues yet five French.
- Five Pools of four rather than four pools of five
- Both Semi Finals in England
- Play-offs matches allocated to advantage the Celts. (e.g. Fra vs Arg in Dublin because Irl lost to Arg)

It was so badly set up that it was an amateur World Cup in the professional era. The good thing to come out of 2003 was a display that one nation can host on its own. Curiously, New Zealand lost out as co-hosts for 2003 because it was et to really understand the nature of professionalism and Australia said we don´t need you.

haha the decision will be biased and will tend to drift more on how well your country did at the tournament. I liked 2007 not because SA won it but because the Argies did so well and beat the home nation twice for a third spot.

The RSA matches were hardly the greatest. South Africa vs Tonga and South Africa vs Fiji were great but the Final and Semi Final were not good. RSA had them won early. RSA vs Samoa was a let down thanks to Samoa being so poor and the other match, vs the USA, was good for Ngwenya´s try not a while lot else.

While Argentina´ contribution was, unquestionably, the key to the tournament and, indeed, the biggest contribution in the professional era France 2007 had a lot more going on. Just ask people at games in Nantes or Bordeaux. The Tier Two delivered. Something not possible in 2003 thanks to the unfair schedule.

 

[psychic duck]

2003 was a disaster. Poorly organized. Wrong venues for certain matches and a poor match list which saw Argentina eliminated from the Cup before England had played its third match. John O´Neill did it from a business poiint of view not rugby. He wanted Australia vs Ireland to be on the same weekend as the Australia vs Ireland International rules match (Aussie rules and Gaelic football). He went for Melbourne as the venue for this reason with the city hosting a big sporting weekend with two Australia vs Ireland matches. This destroyed the chances of certain teams.

Italy were similarly eliminated a full weekend before the Wales vs New Zealand match from the same pool. Again, John O´Neill was thinking about money as he wanted this match to be played in Sydney at the largest venue. The other slots were full. i.e. week one Aus vs Arg, week 3 Aus vs Sco. Unfair draws was a nice way of putting it. A better explanation would be Australia destroyed the chances of some while the 3N + 5N all had their games spread - all on weekends.

The draws have always been unfair since 1999. But they can only sometimes be blamed for not going through.

For example, Argentina in 2003 had a very unfair draw but ... they easily beat Romania and Namibia with a rested side anyway so being tired for the encounter with Ireland isn't an excuse for not going through.

Italy on the other hand, had an unfair draw but played their top side throughout so by the time they played Wales they had some tough encounters with Tonga and Canada.

In 2011, Romania used the tired due to the schedule excuse for losing to Georgia, but this was not valid. As they played a total reserve side against England to save their players for the match against Georgia. They could use the schedule as an excuse for having to play their reserves against England, but because they sacrificed that match it was no excuse against Georgia.

2007 had the best crowds and matches. Tonga vs South Africa, Fiji vs Wales, Georgia vs Ireland, Canada vs Wales, Canada vs Japan, Argentina vs France, Samoa vs Tonga, Portugal vs Italy and Scotland. Solid Quarter Finals. Only issue at all being the use of Cardiff + Edinburgh. 2011 was next best. Well organized, fans were recieved very well. The small venues did well. . Just damn expensive beer in the cities during the matches. A real rip-off.

Best crowds undoubtedly, but best games is debatable. 1999 had some cracking try filled games, and arguably the best of all time. 2007 was more low scoring, and had some notable forgettable games like the final and both semi finals. All the games you mention are in the pool stages or third place playoff.

Good call there. 2007 was much the same. Namibia were the worst both times. Worse in 2011 than 2007. The rain did not help in 2011 with the close games tending to be wet conditions unlike in France.

Any other team from outside the World Cup would have been equally thrashed in Namibia's draw both those years. Give poor Namibia a break!

1999 For me.

I agree for on field there were some great matches and as professionalism was 4 years old at the time, the amateur Tier 2 hadn't yet completely fallen off the pace like they did in 2003, also the schedules were fairer.

But off the field, the multi-country hosting didn't work, hopefully we never see crowds like this at a RWC ever again ...

Samoa v Scotland quarter final only 15,000 people turned up from a 70,000 stadium.

 

[Keithmurdoch]

Had to be 1995 for full stadia, massive public buy-in plus Lomu, Mandela, that jet, and the soap opera with the poisoned All Blacks and the gold watch from SA for the ref!! There's a DECENT movie in there somewhere, maybe they'll make it one day. Based on the quality of the rugby 2007 was the worst I thought when the least woeful team became champions.

 

[TRF_heineken]

Had to be 1995 for full stadia, massive public buy-in plus Lomu, Mandela, that jet, and the soap opera with the poisoned All Blacks and the gold watch from SA for the ref!! There's a DECENT movie in there somewhere, maybe they'll make it one day. Based on the quality of the rugby 2007 was the worst I thought when the least woeful team became champions.

1995 had be the best for me. Because of the signifigance it brought to our country. It was the first major Sporting event hosted in SA after the Apartheid regime... And a lot of my heroes from schoolboy days played then. Ruben Kruger, Krynauw Otto, Andre Joubert and Joost van der Westhuizen....

The worst hands down would be 2003 - Kamp Staaldraad... Nuff said.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

I was very disappointed with 2011.
Not because England were gash, the whole thing was just a bit of a let down after so much hype/build up (not the tournament itself, but rather the rugby).

 

[Gena_ZA]

View attachment 1830

1995 had be the best for me. Because of the signifigance it brought to our country. It was the first major Sporting event hosted in SA after the Apartheid regime... And a lot of my heroes from schoolboy days played then. Ruben Kruger, Krynauw Otto, Andre Joubert and Joost van der Westhuizen....

The worst hands down would be 2003 - Kamp Staaldraad... Nuff said.

***** very biased opinion from a Safa*****
Can't agree more, definitely 1995 and no one ever will be better for the simple reason it was our first, the time South Africa wasn't in a good space and it really did good for inter-race relations. To me it is like that first time you went to the coast as a kid and had the holiday of your life, subsequent visit's are good but the first one remains special

1999 was a let down compared to 1995 - Jannie de Beers 4 drop goals against England was the best moment for us
2003 was real bad as heineken explained - Read Conre Krige's book - "Rigth place, wrong time" to get the bigger picture
2007 was good with Jake White and rugby seemed to be stable at the time, tournamnet was good for rugby reasons, a rarity in South Africa
2011 was bad again with the coach creating more friction than camaraderie and the famous soon to be assassinated NZ ref

 

[dan the man]

Very hard for me to say this but i think that the 2007 World Cup has been the best one so far.
(I was born in 87' so the first three i really cant comment on) although i do remember being so excited during the 1995 RWC i don't really remember too much about it... Apart from a rampaging Jonah Lomu

As far as worst it could be the 1999 RWC I just remember that the Pools were split up funny, cause they increased the number of teams and there were some massive hidings... Like NZ and England scoring over 100 points in their pools matches against Italy and ??? not sure who else, could have been one of the Pacific Island Nations. Then even the Final was a spanking with Aussies hammering the French

Ah, well... look forward to many more World Cups to come! And even though i'll always support the All Blacks I am excited for another Nation who hasn't won it before to take out the ***le... I'm think that the French are probably the most deserving team, they've been in the Finals three times but haven't quite made it, although i'd really love to see Argentina or Wales be the next team to get their hands on ol' Webb Ellis.

 

[nickdnz]

I think objectively that 2007 was one of the best (even though NZ had a terrible World Cup). Great crowds, not many upsets by minows but certainly some attractive rugby by them in pool stages. What did let it down a little was I thought the semi finals and finals were a little anti-climactic.

2011 I thought was the most competitive World Cup to date, the only downside was there wasn't what I'd call an overall star of the tournement. I think to be honest a part of that was because Daniel Carter got injured (I think had he been alright for the final stages we would have destroyed France). In previous years there was someone who you could attribute the RWC's excitement too. In 2007 it was Habana, 2003 Wilkinson, 1995-1999 Lomu, 1992 David Campese and 1999 John Kirwan/Michael Jones. For this one there just isn't really that star player.

 

[Sker]

2007 for me, it was the first World Cup I watched and it was what got me really passionate about rugby. That moment when we won and you could literally hear cheering and whooping from your home as the whole town erupted. Great stuffs. 2011 was pretty good as well, some awesome games there in the pool stages. Was fun watching Tonga,Samoa and Canada, they had a few great games.

Final was a bit of a let-down, I wanted to see the best of the best of the best from NZ, what I got was Stephen Donald

 

[Dizzy]

I think objectively that 2007 was one of the best (even though NZ had a terrible World Cup). Great crowds, not many upsets by minows but certainly some attractive rugby by them in pool stages. What did let it down a little was I thought the semi finals and finals were a little anti-climactic.

2011 I thought was the most competitive World Cup to date, the only downside was there wasn't what I'd call an overall star of the tournement. I think to be honest a part of that was because Daniel Carter got injured (I think had he been alright for the final stages we would have destroyed France). In previous years there was someone who you could attribute the RWC's excitement too. In 2007 it was Habana, 2003 Wilkinson, 1995-1999 Lomu, 1992 David Campese and 1987 John Kirwan/Michael Jones. For this one there just isn't really that star player.

I agree. You could possibly pick one from each team?.. Kaino was pretty impressive for us, Jamie Roberts for Wales until the later stages, Tuilagi for Samoa, I'd say Medard for France just because I like him although most would say Clerc... Actually now that I think about it, it's alot harder to do it this way. So we'll just agree that there wasn't a star player.

 

[Surefire]

I will vote for 1999, because I saw five matches in person. Also no one mentioned the France/NZ Semi, which ranks high in the all time great games. The final was a big non event.

1995, for the historical reasons posters mentioned above should rank pretty high.

2007, was fun to watch and from what I remember the rugby was good.

2011, was great for New Zealand, but the tier 3 team scheduling left a bad taste in the mouth.

2003, dont really remember too many matches other than the final.

1991, 1987- before professionalism, I bet they were a blast to go the stadiums and watch, and the atmosphere was great, but I would not know.

 

[Larksea]

have to go with 2011. For such a small country i think we/NZ did a fantastic job and had great crowds. and overall much better rugby than 2007.

2007 should have been great but as a kiwi it was a total disaster. Seemed to be setup from the start so the best team in the world by a large margin would get embarrassed

for the All Blacks the pool phase was a total waste of time, all the teams they faced were totally useless and made for a totally rubbish buildup to the knockout phase made worse by the fact that Scotland fielded a 2nd string side against the All Blacks. In the pool games, none of the teams had any chance of beating the AB's so for them it was about disrupting them as much as they could to stop the scoreline from blowing out. Gave the AB's the worst possible buildup to the knockout phase.

Then came the quarter final which was dominated by the most bizare reffing display I think I will ever see in my life, forget the blatant forward pass in Frances winning try or the ridiculous card that McAlister got. The fact that the ref went an entire half of rugby without awarding a penalty to the AB's when experts have reviewed the game and found as many as 23 incidents where the ref could/should have awarded a penalty but did not. Mind blowing in a world cup where most games were totally dominated by the refs whistle.

1995 was amazing but as a kiwi I will remember it for images of Jeff Wilson vomiting and reaching on the sideline and stories of players that had crapped their shorts from food poisoning during that final. We will never know if it was deliberate or not and so long after it doesn't really matter if it was anymore but the fact is that AB team were only functioning at a fraction of their potential that day that combined with how close the final result was you would have to say that NZ would have done it pretty easy if they weren't affected by the poisoning. We will never know but for sure it was not a fair contest.

on the bright side it was a great moment in history for SA, for that it takes 2nd place in my books. As a NZ disregarding the final result, the way the AB's got the the final they were I think one of the most impressive sides in test history - everything just came together.

87 & 91 I was too young to remember well... 99 & 2003 I really don't remember. I was too busy chasing tail in my teens to remember in 99 lol and 03 I was discovering the world on OE and had no interest in rugby. I do know from those years that NZ just was not good enough (91,99,03)

 

[FlukeArtist]

Well said Larksea.

I would say '95 and '11 were the best, and '07 was the worst.

'95 was heartbreaking as a ABs fan, but the whole tournament was amazing, and its no conincidence that the 2 best tournaments were held in 2 of the most rugby mad countries.

It helped that the rules in '95 allowed for some fantastic free-flowing rugby.
The inverse can be said of '07 when the rules pretty much catered to teams that played a dour, kick and clap style.

Look forward to SA getting a RWC again... i'll definitely save up for that one!
In the meantime, I'm looking forward to visiting family in Wales for '15... hopefully the ABs will play Wales at Millenium Stadium. That would be a dream match-up for me. I don't think i'd even be that gutted if the ABs lost to Wales in an encounter like that... imagine the party afterwards!

 

[LittleGuy]

Hmmmm for the rugby action I have to go with 2011, or 95....91 I also hear had some tight games and the pool stages were quite exciting but I'm too young to remember much of anything.

For crowds and atmosphere, 2007 has to take it other than the poor decision to have games in Wales and Scotland which ended up having medium size crowds in huge buildings which looked terrible. Canada vs. Fiji was the biggest example of that and ended up being a good game. Canada had an abysmal world cup that year by far our worst which also reduced my enthusiasm.

For worst I'm not sure since I didn't see it but it should probably be 1987 from what I've read, the highlights and match reports as well as talking to older fans...it's a little hard to bash the very first edition but I think it has to be the lowest.

-Smallest attendance(by a wide margin)
-Lot's of lopsided margins
- No qualification, somehow Zimbabwe got invited but Samoa didn't, which to this day angers plenty of Samoan fans
- Two hosts one of the pools actually got split between the countries as well.