The third World Cup was for many more emotional than either of the first two. It officially proclaimed the return of South Africa to the world rugby stage, and was held in South Africa. Australia were favorites to win after 12 months of unbeaten test rugby.
However, the Springboks proved they hadn’t lost their touch during their years of isolation as they beat defending champions Australia 27-18 in the opening match.
Pool play saw some incredible performances but the joy of the Cup was marred when the Ivory Coast's Max Brito was paralyzed in a game against Tonga.
The tournament continued and the man who was to become the icon of the 1995 World Cup and rugby union turned out to be New Zealand's youthful, massive left wing, Jonah Lomu. The 20 year old certainly left his mark on international rugby and scored tries practically at will.
England played Australia in the quarter final. Ron Andrew's drop goal in the final minutes knocked Australia out of the cup and they then went on to destroy Wales, Scotland and Ireland.
The highlight og Jonah Lomu's RWC was probably against England when he practically tore them apart.
In an amazing first 20 minutes of rugby he first scored a try after running over two England players and scored 4 tries in 15 minutes to put a promising England run to an end and put New Zealand in the final again.However, in the other semi-final South Africa had beat France after a terrible rain storm. Interestingly if the game had not been played, France would have gone through due to a better disciplinary record.
The final played at Ellis Park in Johannesburg between New Zealand and the hosts saw the match stand at 9-9 after 80 minutes. The match would go into extra-time and it came down the Springboks flyhalf Joel Stransky, who kicked the winning drop goal for 15-12 South Africa victory.
And then who can forget Nelson Madela released after 27 years in prison, wearing a copy of the springbocks captain's shirt with a number 6 on the back presenting the trophy in Johannesburg on Saturday June 24th to Francois Pienaar the South African Captain and thanking the SA team for what they had done for the country. “1 team 1 country”. Then a party started that lasted for days.
Interestingly two things happened 2 weeks after the final, firstly news of a mystery illness impacting all but 4 of the NZ team and management emerged and secondly 500 of the world’s best players were signed up by super league after being offered large sums of money, the amateur game was cracking at the seams.
RUGBY WORLD CUP RESULTS 1995 POOL A POOL B POOL C POOL D South Africa 27 - 18 Australia W Samoa 42 - 18 Italy Wales 57 - 10 Japan Scotland 89 - 0 Côte d'Ivoire Canada 34 - 3 Romania England 24 - 18 Argentina New Zealand 43 - 19 Ireland France 38 - 10 Tonga South Africa 21 - 8 Romania W Samoa 32 - 26 Argentina Ireland 50 - 28 Japan France 54 - 18 Côte d'Ivoire Australia 27 - 11 Canada England 27 - 20 Italy New Zealand 34 - 9 Wales Scotland 41 - 5 Tonga Australia 42 - 3 Romania Italy 31 - 25 Argentina New Zealand 145 - 17 Japan Tonga 29 - 11 Côte d'Ivoire South Africa 20 - 0 Canada England 44 - 22 W Samoa Ireland 24 - 23 Wales France 22 - 19 Scotland
POOL A P W D L F A PTS South Africa 3 3 0 0 68 26 9 Australia 3 2 0 1 87 41 7 Canada 3 1 0 2 45 50 5 Romania 3 0 0 3 14 97 3
POOL B P W D L F A PTS England 3 3 0 0 95 60 9 Western Samoa 3 2 0 1 96 88 7 Italy 3 1 0 2 69 94 5 Argentina 3 0 0 3 69 87 3
POOL C P W D L F A PTS New Zealand 3 3 0 0 222 45 9 Ireland 3 2 0 1 93 94 7 Wales 3 1 0 2 89 68 5 Japan 3 0 0 3 55 252 3
POOL D P W D L F A PTS France 3 3 0 0 114 47 9 Scotland 3 2 0 1 149 27 7 Tonga 3 1 0 2 44 90 5 Côte d'Ivoire 3 0 0 3 29 172 3
QUARTER-FINALS
SEMI-FINALS
3rd PLACE PLAY-OFF
FINAL France 36 - 12 Ireland South Africa 19 - 15 France France 19 - 9 England SOUTH AFRICA 15 - 12 NEW ZEALAND South Africa 42 - 14 W Samoa England 25 - 22 Australia New Zealand 45 - 29 England New Zealand 48 - 30 Scotland Semi-finals:
South Africa
AJ Joubert, JT Small, JC Mulder, HP le Roux, CM Williams, JT Stransky, JH van der Westhuizen, JP du Randt, CLC Rossouw, IS Swart, JJ Wiese, JJ Strydom, JF Pienaar(c), MG Andrews, RJ Kruger
Replacements : JP Roux for van der Westhuizen(52m)
Try: Kruger, Conversion: Stransky, Penalty Goals: Stransky (4)
France
J-L Sadourny, E Ntamacl, P Sella, T Lacroix, P Saint-Andre (c), C Deylaud, F Galthie, L Armary, J-M Gonzalez, C Califano, O Merle, O Roumat, A Benazzi, M Cecillon, L Cabannes
Penalty Goals: Lacroix (5)
New Zealand
GM Osbourne, JW Wilson, FE Brunce, WK Little, JT Lomu, AP Mehrtens, GTM Brooke, CW Dowd, SBT Fitzpatrick (c), OM Brown, ID Jones, RM Brooke, MR Brewer, ZV Brooke, JA Kronfield
Replacements : BP Larsen for Z Brooke(64m)
Tries: Lomu (4), Kronfield, Bachop, Conversions: Mehrtens (3), Penalty Goal: Mehtens, Dropped Goals: Z Brooke, Mehrtens
England
MJ Catt, T Underwood, WDC Carling (c), JC Guscott, R Underwood, CR Andrew, CD Morris, J Leonard, BC Moore, VE Ubogu, MO Johnson, MC Bayfield, TAK Rodber, D Richards, BB Clarke
Tries: R Underwood (2), Carling (2), Conversions: Andrew (2), Penalty Goal: AndrewFinal:
SOUTH AFRICA 15 (Joel Stransky 3 penalty goals, 2 field goals) bt. NEW ZEALAND 12 (Andrew Mehrtens 3 penalty goals, field goal.) at Ellis Park. Crowd: 62,000. Referee: Ed Morrison (England).
South Africa: 1. Os Du Randt, 2. Chris Rossouw, 3. Balie Swart, 4. Hannes Strydom, 5. Kobus Wiese, 6. Francois Pienaar (c), 7. Ruben Kruger, 8. Mark Andrews, 9. Joost Van Der Westhuizen, 10. Joel Stransky, 11. Chester Williams, 12. Hennie Le Roux, 13. Japie Mulder, 14. James Small, 15. Andre Joubert.
New Zealand: 1. Olo Brown, 2. Sean Fitzpatrick (c), 3. Craig Dowd, 4. Robin Brooke, 5. Ian Jones, 6. Mike Brewer, 7. Josh Kronfeld, 8. Zinzan Brooke, 9. Graeme Bachop, 10. Andrew Mehrtens, 11. Jeff Wilson, 12. Frank Bunce, 13. Walter Little, 14. Jonah Lomu, 15. Glen Osborne.
