International Rugby Board (IRB) chairman Bernard Lapasset on Monday praised an “exceptional” World Cup after hosts New Zealand delighted their rugby-mad public with a gripping final win. Lapasset said the tournament's seventh edition had achieved all its targets, calling it a “sporting and operational success” which had “set the bar” for future World Cup hosts, [...]

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New Zealand ended 24 years of misery when they edged France 8-7 to win the Rugby World Cup on home soil for a second time here on Sunday. The All Blacks, who had also won the inaugural 1987 tournament, beating the French in that final too, were made to work hard at Eden Park by [...]

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Australia rebounded from their semi-final loss to New Zealand to defeat Wales 21-18 in a frenetic but scrappy third place playoff at Eden Park on Friday. Although it was little consolation to the Wallabies after missing out on Sunday's final, they did show some occasional glimpses of their ability to run the ball by adopting [...]

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Wales aim to finish their World Cup campaign on a high in the third place playoff against Australia on Friday after the bitter disappointment of their one-point loss in the semi-finals to France.  The Welsh, reduced to 14 men after their captain Sam Warburton was sent off in the first 20 minutes for a dangerous [...]

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Brutal efficiency and relentless pace from the New Zealand All Blacks on Sunday set up a repeat of the 1987 World Cup final against France.   The All Blacks set the tone of their 20-6 semi-final win over Australia with some of the most breath-taking rugby they have produced in several years, recycling quick ball and [...]

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France beat Wales 9-8 in a Rugby World Cup semi-final at Eden Park here on Saturday. Wales had to play most of the match a man down after captain Sam Warburton was sent off in the 19th minute for a dangerous tackle on Vincent Clerc that ended with the France wing landing head-first on the [...]

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New Zealand beat Argentina 33-10 in a World Cup quarter-final here on Sunday. The tournament hosts will now play Australia in the last four when they return to Eden Park next weekend after the Wallabies beat reigning champions South Africa 11-9 in Wellington earlier on Sunday. But the All Blacks, already without star playmaker Dan [...]

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Australia beat defending champions South Africa 11-9 in a World Cup quarter-final here on Sunday. South Africa dominated territory and possession yet it was Australia who turned round 8-3 in front at half-time after Wallaby captain James Horwill scored the only try of the match. But South Africa, who had two potential tries disallowed for [...]

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A mesmerising French team beat England 19-12 at Eden Park on Saturday night to reach the rugby World Cup semi-finals and an appointment with Wales. The Welsh had earlier beaten Ireland 22-10 in a pulsating clash in Wellington. France were unrecognisable from the team which lost two group stage games and had been written off [...]

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Centre Jonathan Davies scored an opportunistic try with 15 minutes left to help Wales beat Ireland 22-10 and reach their first rugby World Cup semi-final since 1987 on Saturday. Davies' try gave the Welsh a 12-point lead they never relinquished after winger Shane Williams and scrumhalf Mike Phillips had scored earlier tries. Flyhalf Rhys Priestland [...]

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Ireland advanced into the quarter-finals of the World Cup with a crushing 36-6 victory over Italy in their winner-takes-all clash at the Otago Stadium here Sunday. Pool C winners Ireland will now face old rivals Wales in the knockout phase in Wellington on Saturday with Italy, in what was coach Nick Mallett's last game in [...]

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Dark horses Wales charged into the World Cup quarter-finals Sunday with a classy 66-0 win over Fiji which suggested they may be hitting form at the perfect time. In wet and blustery conditions at Waikato Stadium, Wales buried 2007's shock loss to the Pacific islanders with a nine-try romp to set up a last-eight clash [...]

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Zac Guildford did his best to lift the Dan Carter-induced gloom hovering over New Zealand when he scored four tries on his World Cup debut as the All Blacks hammered Canada 79-15 in their final Pool A game on Sunday. New Zealand, still reeling from the announcement earlier in the day that flyhalf Carter's tournament [...]

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Argentina secured their place in the quarter-finals of the rugby World Cup with a 25-7 win over Georgia on Sunday. Coming into the game in Palmerston North needing only a bonus point to progress to the knockout stages, Argentina's victory cemented second spot in Pool B behind England and set up a clash with New [...]

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England set up a World Cup quarter-final against France with a 16-12 victory over old rivals Scotland in a nervy Pool B match at Eden Park on Saturday. England trailed from the ninth minute but winger Chris Ashton crossed for the game's only try in the 78th to claim victory and Pool B in a [...]

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Tonga produced the upset of the rugby World Cup when they beat France 19-14 on Saturday but were unable to advance to the quarter-finals as they failed to secure a bonus point after some poor decision making cost them at least five tries. Tonga flyhalf Kurth Morath slotted four penalties and converted Sukanaivalu Hufanga's try [...]

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Australia crushed Russia 68-22 to secure their place in the rugby World Cup quarter-finals on Saturday but suffered another injury blow when winger Drew Mitchell, who scored two of their 10 tries, pulled a hamstring as they lost their way in the second half. The Wallabies join New Zealand and South Africa in the last [...]

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Defending champions South Africa scraped past Samoa 13-5 in a bruising and highly-charged encounter to reach the quarter-finals of the World Cup as Pool D winners on Friday. The Springboks faced by far the toughest test of their seven meetings with the Pacific islanders but a converted try from winger Bryan Habana and a penalty [...]

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Georgia beat Romania 25-9 in a World Cup Pool B match on Wednesday to triumph in what was the first ever World Cup clash between two teams from eastern Europe. In a penalty-strewn encounter, fly-half Merab Kvirikashvili grabbed 17 points with the boot as flanker Mamuka Gorgodze scored the only try of the match early [...]

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Flyhalf Ander Monro slotted a 79th minute penalty as Canada overcame an eight-point deficit in the last eight minutes to snatch a 23-23 draw with Japan in their rugby World Cup Pool match at McLean Park on Tuesday. It was the second successive draw at the World Cup between the two sides who ended locked [...]

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