First Cup gets French polish

Prior to the start of the inaugural Rugby World Cup in 1987, there was a great sense of excitement and anticipation. As we awaited what was, for rugby football, a step into the unknown. The then chairman of RWC (Rugby World Cup) the late John Kendal Carpenter, told us to stand by for "the greatest rugby show on earth".

Was he right? Well it was certainly a novel event and did produce some great matches, none better than the semi-final between Australia and France in Sydney - that match is the abiding memory of the inaugural World Cup.

There were flaws in the organisation of the tournament, as was inevitable with such a new and bold venture. The cup matches were played in New Zealand and Australia, which caused difficulties as countries flew over and back across the Tasman Sea, and the tournament was not the financial success that had been forecast. The whole package had been put together very quickly and opposition to the concept initially had been very strong, especially in the Northern Hemisphere. Some saw it as inevitably leading to professionalism: they were right.

By comparison with the subsequent tournaments, the inaugural offering was modest in terms of sponsorship and corporate involvement, nor were attendances at many of the matches as large as hoped and anticipated. The qualifying competition, too, was much more modest in size than in subsequent tournaments. Yet the flegdling competition was, on a broad base, a success.

The South Africans were excluded and the other major international Board countries, Australia, New Zealand, France, Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales, were joined by Argentina, USA, Japan, Fiji, Italy, Romania, Zimbabwe, Fiji and Tonga. Four groups of four contested the pool stages with the top two qualifying for the quarter-finals.

The Australians, with Alan Jones as coach and Andy Slack as captain, were marginal favourites ahead of New Zealand. They had most of the team that had swept through Britain and Ireland in 1984 and seen off New Zealand in the Bledisloe Cup in 1986 with a 2-1 series victory.

The Australians came through their group, which included England, with full points and then outplayed Ireland in the quarterfinals at Sydney's Concord Oval. It was not an auspicious tournament for Ireland, who were in pool two with Wales, Canada and Tonga. Ireland lost to Wales in the opening match on a wet and windy day in Wellington, but beat Tonga and Canada. That meant a quarter-final against Australia, who broke the Irish challenge by the interval. Happily, Ireland coach Mick Doyle, who was taken ill before the start of the tournament, recovered and was able to prepare his team.

Australia, Wales, New Zealand and France qualified for the semi-finals, with the Welsh having ended England's hopes in the quarter-finals in a very poor match in Brisbane. New Zealand hammered Wales in one semi-final and then, in one of the greatest rugby matches I have seen, France snatched a dramatic late victory over Australia at the Concord Oval, with Serge Blanco scoring a memorable try.

The outstanding memory of the whole tournament was that magnificent match and the sight of the shell-shocked Wallabies leaving the field with bewilderment and disappointment etched on their faces. The dispirited Australians went on to lose the play-off for third place.

In the final, played in Auckland, New Zealand were crowned World Champions in front of their own faithful, beating France 29-9, a scoreline that did scant justice to the French challenge. Whatever the organisational flaws it was clear the World Cup was here to stay.