who won the first rugby union world cup
Rugby World Cup The inaugural tournament, jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand, was held in May and June 1987, with sixteen nations taking part.[16] New Zealand became the first ever champions, defeating France 29–9 in the final.[17] The subsequent 1991 tournament was hosted by England, with matches played throughout Britain, Ireland and France. This tournament saw the introduction of a qualifying tournament; eight places were allocated to the quarter-finalists from 1987, and the remaining eight decided by a thirty-five nation qualifying tournament.[1] Australia won the second tournament, defeating England 12–6 in the final.[18]