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Rugby World Cup 2003 was the fifth rugby union world cup and England was declared to be the champions of the tournament. The pre-event favorites were England and New Zealand, with France, defending champions Australia and South Africa all expected to make strong footholds. Australia won the right to host the World Cup in 2003. The teams were grouped into four pools of five nations, with the top two in each pool moving on to the knockout quarter-final stage. For the first time, a bonus point system was initiated in pool play.
Following team took part in Rugby world Cup 2003
Americas
Argentina (automatic qualifier)
Canada
United States
Uruguay
Asia
Japan
Oceania
Australia (automatic qualifier and host)
Fiji
New Zealand (automatic qualifier)
Samoa
Tonga
Africa
Namibia
South Africa (automatic qualifier)
Europe
England (automatic qualifier)
France (automatic qualifier)
Georgia (first-time qualifier)
Ireland
Italy
Romania
Scotland (automatic qualifier)
Wales (automatic qualifier)
Rugby world Cup 2003 Record
Host nation |
Australia |
No. of nations |
20 |
Champions |
England |
Runner-up |
Australia |
Matches played |
48 |
Attendance |
1,837,547[1] (38,282 per match) |
Top scorer |
Jonny Wilkinson (113) |
The final between Australia and England was hosted at Sydney's Telstra Stadium with 82,957 spectators witnessing the memorable match. Security at the final was the strongest ever for a Rugby World Cup final. With 21 seconds left before sudden death, England's Wilkinson scored a drop goal to win the match and with it the world championship of Rugby World cup 2003.
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