Rugby World Cup Firsts

A list of firsts for the Rugby World Cup. See other Rugby World Cup trivia.

The FIRST World Cup was held in 1987 in Australia and New Zealand
The FIRST winner of the World Cup was New Zealand in 1987.
The FIRST player to be sent off (red carded) was Welsh lock Huw Richards, while playing against New Zealand in 1987.
The FIRST World Cup to be held in a single country was the 1995 World Cup hosted by South Africa.
The FIRST country to win the World Cup twice was Australia in 1999.
The FIRST non-southern hemisphere country to win the world cup was England in 2003.
The FIRST tournament in which no country made its debut was in 2015. The teams for 2015 were the same as in 2003.
The FIRST time Hawkeye technology will be used by rugby officials is at the 2015 Rugby World Cup, to improve decision-making by the television match official (TMO) and also assist with player safety.
The FIRST time all the teams in the final four were from the southern hemisphere was in 2015.
The FIRST defending champion to win the World Cup was New Zealand in 2015.
The FIRST time the tournament was held in Asia was Japan 2019.
The FIRST cancellation of matches at the Rugby World Cup was in 2019 with Typhoon Hagibis affecting three matches.
The FIRST team to win the title after losing a match in the pool stage was South Africa in 2019.

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