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The history of the Rugby World Cup goes long back to 1950s with the thought of initiating a tournament took shape in the minds of many. In 1968, the International Rugby Board turned down the proposal of a competition that would be similar to a world cup.
Later, the idea was put into practice after 1980 and in 1983; Australia put a scheme that revealed their wish to host the first rugby world cup. Rugby World Cup 1987 was the first official world cup that was played.
The first Rugby World Cup 1987 was hosted by both New Zealand and Australia and was won by New Zealand. Around 32 matches were played in the Rugby World Cup 1987 that was held from May 22 to June 20. One African nation, three Americas nations, one Asian nation, seven European nations and four Oceanic nations participated in the Rugby World Cup 1987.
Seven of the 16 places in the Rugby World Cup 1987 were automatically filled by the International Rugby Football Board members - New Zealand, Australia, England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales and France with South Africa unable to compete because of the international sports boycott due to apartheid. There was no qualification process to fill the remaining nine spots. Instead invitations were sent out to Argentina, Fiji, Italy, Canada, Romania, Tonga, Japan, Zimbabwe and the United States.
New Zealand won the final in the Rugby World Cup 1987 against France at Eden Park in Auckland by 29 points to 9. The New Zealand team was captained by David Kirk, substituting for an injured Andy Dalton, and included such rugby greats as Sean Fitzpatrick, John Kirwan, Grant Fox and Michael Jones.
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Travel.mapsofworld.com provides information on Rugby World Cup 1987 and other necessary information about the Rugby World Cup 2007.
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