what was the best rugby world cup

[ruck987]

?

 

[TRF_Olyy]

It'd be easy for me to say 2003 - first one I watched live (on TV, but not years after the fact) plus.....yeah.

As a whole product, and it could be recency bias, but 19 and 15 were the ones I enjoyed most.
15 didn't have the typhoon but 19 didn't have England bombing out in the pools.
So 19.

 

[Kiwiwomble]

I went for 1995

all the ones since are really only in my memory as moments, bad calls by the refs, amazing tries etc

1995 i just remember as this huge spectacle with a whole lot of meaning in the background with an amazing final

 

[TRF_heineken]

1995, 2007 & 2019

Equally Great!!

 

[TRF_Olyy]

2007

Really?
I know the Boks won so obviously it's rose tinted, but the standard of rugby across the board was in the toilet in that era.

 

[ncurd]

Gone for '19, typhoon aside it was a great tournament probably the most competitive we've had without the teams being equally poor.

I barely remember '95. '99 I only remember England getting drop goaled out and a final that my parents went to but I did not. '03 was great from an English perspective but didn't have any real upsets or classic matches that I remember. The only reason the final was close was because the ref decided in the second half to change how he was officiating the matach to penalise England for everything. '07 was a tyre fire in terms of quality England were shite yet made it to the final. '11 was just an NZ coranation run. '15 I had to erase from from memory.

 

[TRF_Cymro]

1995, 1999 or 2019 for me.

All had their exciting parts. Being lucky enough to attend the 1999 RWC Final will always be special to me.

 

[Scotty]

I was torn between 2003 and 2019, 2003 being first one i watched when i just got into rugby and have rewatched it since but 2019 i really enjoyed, we looked strong and had that amazing game vs the ABs then lost in the final to a better team, had Sinks not gone off it would have been closer but i just dont think we would have won. But as a whole i enjoyed it alot and that is my choice.

 

[Kiwiwomble]

1995, 1999 or 2019 for me.

All had their exciting parts. Being lucky enough to attend the 1999 RWC Final will always be special to me.

I wondered if you had some personal reason for 99, don't often hear it in the list of greats, pretty uneventful from memory

 

[ncurd]

I was torn between 2003 and 2019, 2003 being first one i watched when i just got into rugby and have rewatched it since but 2019 i really enjoyed, we looked strong and had that amazing game vs the ABs then lost in the final to a better team, had Sinks not gone off it would have been closer but i just dont think we would have won. But as a whole i enjoyed it alot and that is my choice.

Sinks not going off and not making a multitude of unforced handling errors early on set the tone for that match. It would of been a much closer affair had that not happened and its frustrating from an English fans perspective. Agree still think the might of the SA scrum would of been the telling point of view but it was disappointing for England to not be as clinical in handling as they were the week before.

 

[TheOvalBall]

I enjoyed the last two a lot.

 

[TRF_heineken]

Really?
I know the Boks won so obviously it's rose tinted, but the standard of rugby across the board was in the toilet in that era.

Every World Cup is great when the Boks won. Plus we smashed England 36-0 in the our first match. Plus Bryan Habana scored 4 tries against Samoa in the QF's. I thought it was a pretty good World Cup.

Oh and the only thing I fondly remember of the 1999 World Cup was when Jannie De Beer drop goaled 5 times against England.

 

[ncurd]

Plus we smashed England 36-0 in the our first match.

It speaks volumes to the quality of that England side and the world cup they managed to get to the final and potentially could of won it all....

 

[Yulia]

. Plus we smashed England 36-0 in the our first match

Really 36-0? Can't even imagine such a score have to watch it. 2007 World Cup RSA-England, right?

 

[ncurd]

Really 36-0? Can't even imagine such a score have to watch it. 2007 World Cup RSA-England, right?

Make sure you get the group match not the final. I don't remember the game that much but I probably bleached my brain afterwards. Blowouts also tend to note be that exciting unless your support the winning team.

 

[Which Tyler]

'87 Didn't really appear on the horizon as an 11 year old
'91 Fond memories as the first that I paid any attention to, and a great England side, but I couldn't say it was a great RWC
'95 For what it meant, and being the last fully amateur tournament
'99 Was just a great tournament, but kinda ruined by an obsession with drop goals even when they weren't on - because it worked in 1 match
'03 As an Englishman, I'm biased - was a very well organised tournie, and the swan song of Australia as a true power
'07 Bit of a cripple fight TBH; fading England, faded Aus, stubborn NZ. SA deserved winners, but probably the "worst" RWC winning team
'11 Forgone conclusion with no real challengers - biggest talking point was a red card. Probably the "best" winning team
'15 As an Englishman, I'm biased - a bit too caught up in the goings on with my own team
'19 Was a great, and well organised tournie, no real whipping boys, no godawful matches...


'95 > '19 > '99

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

Thought Japan was outstanding but 91 for me. 87 was really a trial and 91 was the first proper RWC. Went to 3 Eng games including the quarter and semi. The QF against France in Paris is unlikely to be topped as my favourite live match for a whole host of reasons. Shame the final was one that got away, but a great day - played in the morning, bolted down a quick curry, watched the match through a haze of Grolsch (quite why is a mystery as I never liked the stuff) and back to the curry house in the evening.

Worst - 99. Multi host country tournaments don't really work. With one glorious exception - the NZ v Fra semi - I can barely remember a thing about it. I think the most exciting aspect was whether the Millennium would be completed on time.

 

[TRF_Cymro]

Thought Japan was outstanding but 91 for me. 87 was really a trial and 91 was the first proper RWC. Went to 3 Eng games including the quarter and semi. The QF against France in Paris is unlikely to be topped as my favourite live match for a whole host of reasons. Shame the final was one that got away, but a great day - played in the morning, bolted down a quick curry, watched the match through a haze of Grolsch (quite why is a mystery as I never liked the stuff) and back to the curry house in the evening.

Worst - 99. Multi host country tournaments don't really work. With one glorious exception - the NZ v Fra semi - I can barely remember a thing about it. I think the most exciting aspect was whether the Millennium would be completed on time.

2015 (Host Nation England) ... 2007 (Host Nation France) ...1999 (Host Nation Wales) ... 1991 (Host Nation England, France, Ireland, Scotland and Wales) ... 1991 was really the true multi host nation, it was given to all those nations to host. 2015, 2007 and 1999 were given to a host nation who asked other nations to help stage (this does not mean they are the host nation) ... just want to point this out so there is no confusion.

1999 ... host nation lost to Samoa in the group stage too. Australia vs South Africa went into Extra Time in the Semi's. Some good rugby on display too.

Will argue 1991 and 2007 were not the greatest but had their entertaining parts.

 

[TRF_heineken]

Wow, so many bad remarks about 2007?

Argentina going to the Semi's - Losing to SA in a match where Bryan Habana scored one of his typical intercept tries.
Argentina "upsetting" France in the World Cup opener, stunning the home crowd.
Takudzwa Ngwenya burning Bryan Habana in the SA vs USA match.
Fiji qualifying for the QF's and nearly beat South Africa.

Only France, England and Scotland qualified for the knockouts from the NH (wait, I get it now, why so many NH guys hated that tournament).

 

[ncurd]

That would be a fine theory if most English fans weren't saying it was a bad tournament when they made the final and Wales did appalling. That's like super double treat bonus land yet we still think it wasn't up to snuff.