1999 EuropeThe fourth Rugby World Cup was strangely reminiscent of the first.
Back in 1987, France had booked their place there with a thrilling semi-final victory over Australia only to be overawed in the final by New Zealand.
Twelve years on they suffered a similar fate after stunning the All Blacks, the tournament favourites, in the last four.
And, as they had done previously, they simply lacked the same bite and enthusiasm in the final.
France were let down throughout the final, their indiscipline allowing Matt Burke a host of kickable opportunities.
The Wallabies full-back made no mistake. France had earlier moved themselves 6-3 ahead and almost stretched it further but Abdel Benazzi's try was subsequently disallowed because of a knock-on.
As the game headed to half-time, Australia relied on the boot of Burke to keep them 12-6 in front.
After the restart a new-look Australia piled on the pressure on the French, only initially gaining further Burke penalties for their efforts.
And, with a 21-12 deficit, France were still clearly in the game until the first of two second-half tries.
Ben Tune pulled off the killer blow when he ran into the corner virtually unchallenged.
Wallaby replacement Owen Finegan made the margin of victory even bigger deep into injury time when he followed Tune's lead to pick a gap in the French defence and force his way over the line.
Burke, who had enjoyed a stunning day with his kicking, converted both tries as Australia became the only two-time winners of the William Webb Ellis Trophy.
For the first time the big eight nations did not qualify automatically. Only the champions, the runners-up, the third place play-off winners from 1995 and the host nation was afforded that luxury.
Another innovation for the 1999 tournament, which also featured matches in England, France, Scotland and Ireland, was the introduction of a Repechage, a second chance for teams that had finished runners-up in each qualifying zone.
Twenty nations watched by a record TV audience of 3.1 billion participate in RWC 1999 which was held in Wales.
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RUGBY WORLD CUP RESULTS 1999
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POOL A
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POOL B
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POOL C
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POOL D
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POOL E
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Spain 15 - 27 Uruguay
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England 67 - 7 Italy
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Fiji 67 - 18 Namibia
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Wales 23 - 18 Argentina
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Ireland 58 - 8 USA
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Scotland 29 - 46 South Africa
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New Zealand 45 - 9 Tonga
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France 33 - 20 Canada
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W Samoa 43 - 9 Japan
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Australia 57 - 9 Romania
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Scotland 43 - 12 Uruguay
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England 16 - 30 New Zealand
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France 35 - 13 Namibia
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Wales 64 - 15 Japan
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USA 25 - 27 Romania
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South Africa 47 - 3 Spain
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Italy 25 - 28 Tonga
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Fiji 38 - 22 Canada
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Argentina 32 - 16 W Samoa
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Ireland 3 - 23 Australia
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South Africa 39 - 3 Uruguay
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England 101 - 10 Tonga
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Canada 73 - 11 Namibia
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Wales 31 - 38 W Samoa
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Australia 55 - 19 USA
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Scotland 48 - 0 Spain
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New Zealand 101 - 3 Italy
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France 28 - 19 Fiji
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Argentina 33 - 12 Japan
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Ireland 44 - 14 Romania
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POOL A
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P
|
W
|
D
|
L
|
F
|
A
|
PTS
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|
South Africa
|
3
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
132
|
35
|
9
|
|
Scotland
|
3
|
2
|
0
|
1
|
120
|
58
|
7
|
|
Uraguay
|
3
|
1
|
0
|
2
|
42
|
97
|
5
|
|
Spain
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
18
|
122
|
3
|
|
POOL B
|
P
|
W
|
D
|
L
|
F
|
A
|
PTS
|
|
New Zealand
|
3
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
176
|
28
|
9
|
|
England
|
3
|
2
|
0
|
1
|
184
|
47
|
7
|
|
Tonga
|
3
|
1
|
0
|
2
|
47
|
171
|
5
|
|
Italy
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
35
|
196
|
3
|
|
POOL C
|
P
|
W
|
D
|
L
|
F
|
A
|
PTS
|
|
France
|
3
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
108
|
52
|
9
|
|
Fiji
|
3
|
2
|
0
|
1
|
124
|
68
|
7
|
|
Canada
|
3
|
1
|
0
|
2
|
114
|
82
|
5
|
|
Namibia
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
42
|
186
|
3
|
|
POOL D
|
P
|
W
|
D
|
L
|
F
|
A
|
PTS
|
|
Wales
|
3
|
2
|
0
|
1
|
118
|
71
|
7
|
|
Western Samoa
|
3
|
2
|
0
|
1
|
97
|
72
|
7
|
|
Argentina
|
3
|
2
|
0
|
1
|
83
|
51
|
7
|
|
Japan
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
36
|
140
|
3
|
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POOL E
|
P
|
W
|
D
|
L
|
F
|
A
|
PTS
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|
Australia
|
3
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
135
|
31
|
9
|
|
Ireland
|
3
|
2
|
0
|
1
|
100
|
45
|
7
|
|
Romania
|
3
|
1
|
0
|
2
|
50
|
126
|
5
|
|
USA
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
52
|
135
|
3
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QUARTER FINALS PLAY-OFF ROUNDS
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QUARTER-FINALS
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SEMI-FINALS
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3rd PLACE PLAY-OFF
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FINAL
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England 45 - 24 Fiji
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Wales 9 - 24 Australia
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South Africa
21 - 27
Australia
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South Africa
22 - 18
New Zealand
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AUSTRALIA
35 - 12
FRANCE
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Scotland 35 - 20 W Samoa
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South Africa 44 - 21 England
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Ireland 24 - 28 Argentina
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New Zealand 30 - 18 Scotland
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New Zealand
31 - 43
France
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3 Matches only in QF Playoffs.
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France 47 - 26 Argentina
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AUSTRALIA 35 (Ben Tune, Owen Finegan tries; Matt Burke 7 penalty goals, 2 conversions) bt FRANCE 12 (Christophe Lamaison 4 penalty goals). Crowd: 72,000. Referee: Andre Watson (South Africa).
Australia: 1. Andrew Blades, 2. Michael Foley, 3. Richard Harry, 4. John Eales (c), 5. David Giffin, 6. Matt Cockbain, 7. David Wilson, 8. Toutai Kefu, 9. George Gregan, 10. Steve Larkham, 11. Joe Roff, 12. Tim Horan, 13. Dan Herbert, 14. Ben Tune, 15. Matthew Burke.
France: 1. Cedric Soulette, 2. Raphael Ibanez (c), 3. Franck Tournaire, 4. Abdelatif Benazzi, 5. Fabien Pelous, 6. Marc Lievremont, 7. Olivier Magne, 8. Christophe Juillet, 9. Fabien Galthie, 10. Christophe Lamaison, 11. Philippe Bernat-Salles, 12. Richard Dourthe, 13. Emile Ntamack, 14. Christophe Dominici, 15. Xavier Garbajosa.
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