|
|
Congratulations to Australia
the winners of the
1999 World Cup
Twenty teams from six continents (Asia, Australasia, North America, South America, Africa and Europe) are participating in the 1999 Final Tournament which started on 1st October 1999 culminating in the Final on 6th November 1999 which was won by Australia.
This is the Link to the Official World Cup Site
World Cup Round Up
A superb opening ceremony; Wales beat Argentina in the opening game
of the World Cup. Canada give France a scare; England look impressive;
Tonga stretch New Zealand.
England lose to New Zealand - that man Lomu does it again! Click on
Blacks
Wales smash Japan; Canada lose to Fiji; New Zealand crush Italy; Samoa
repeat of '91;
England notch up century against Tonga; Wales to meet Australia in
QF; England beat Fiji in Play-offs;
Ireland out; Scotland to face New Zealand in QF;Wales no match for
Aussies; England thrashed by South Africa - or was it Jannie
De Beer; Scotland titans but no match for NZ; France beat Argentina;
NZ, France, Australia and Boks contest for place in Final;Larkham de
Beer' de Beer; Australia through to Final; French
beat NZ in Sem-Final thriller - The game of the tournement;
Australia beat France in the Final to win the 1999 World
Cup
Thank goodness for France
The BBC's voice of Rugby, Bill McLaren, sums up his experience of the World Cup after the two thrilling - but contrasting - semi-finals. I've had the privilege to see all four World Cups and I've commentated on international rugby since 1953, but I don't think I've ever seen a greater spectacle than France beating New Zealand 43-31 in the second semi-final.
It was the kind
of match that had you standing up in jubilation and the thing that startled
everybody was that it wasn't just the All Blacks being beaten, they were
being taken apart in a display of vintage French rugby.
Bruising confrontation
The French forwards were an inspiration, taking on a very good New Zealand pack and getting the better of it much of the time. Then there was Christophe Dominici's 40 yard zig-zag run that ended in the first try. Just brilliant. It showed that without Jonah Lomu, the All Blacks are not quite the awesome force that their aura would suggest they are. Lomu is a very special one-off kind of player and he demonstrated what a tremendous powerhouse he is.
But take away his two tries and New Zealand were already beaten by a handsome margin.
Australia's epic 27-21 semi-final victory over South Africa was a total contrast, with hard, bruising confrontation where the France game had magnificent passages of interplay. It was not a great spectacle, because the match was limited by the conditions and the tightness of the passages of play, but it was a wonderful contest of nailbiting rugby football nonetheless.
It was ironic that stand-off Stephen Larkham slotted the drop goal that lifted the Wallabies, when it was the Springboks' fly-half Jannie de Beer who knocked England out with an incredible five drop goals in the quarter-finals.
Drop goal reborn
Larkham's was an innebriated, drunken drop-goal, but it did the job and put Australia through, in much the same way that Christophe Lamaison's two quick drop goals put France back in touch in the other semi-final. One thing this World Cup has done is repopularise the drop goal. A lot of people would get rid of it, but I believe it is part and parcel of the game of rugby and its return is welcome. And don't be fooled into thinking it's an easy option. The forwards and their half-backs have to work their butts off to get into a position to take one. This competition has shown the value of the drop goal, because it has been crucial in so many matches.
It took something like these two semi-finals to set the World Cup alight and get people sitting on the edge of their seats. The problem with this tournament has been that so many of the matches were too one-sided. Thank goodness for France. Crowds are not too fired up by scores of 101-3 and I think the organisers will have to reschedule the next competition so there are fewer mismatches.
(Source: BBC On-Line)
Player of the Tournament
Tim Horan was named best player in the Competition.
His centre play was superb, both in defence and
attack.
Who will forget his thrusts through the mid field
and his tremendous pace.
Selected Matches
The Final - Australia v France
All the Results:
FRI OCT 1 D WALES 23 ARGENTINA
18 CARDIFF
C FIJI 67
NAMIBIA 18
BEZIERS
SAT OCT 2 C FRANCE 33 CANADA 20
BEZIERS
A SPAIN 15 URUGUAY 27
GALASHIELS
B ENGLAND 67 ITALY 7
TWICKENHAM
E IRELAND 53 USA 8
DUBLIN
SUN OCT 3 D SAMOA 43 JAPAN 9
WREXHAM
B NEW ZEALAND 45 TONGA 9
BRISTOL
A SCOTLAND 29 SOUTH AFRICA 46 MURRAYFIELD
E AUSTRALIA 57 ROMANIA 9
BELFAST
FRI OCT 8 A SCOTLAND 43 URUGUAY 12
MURRAYFIELD
C FRANCE 47 NAMIBIA 13
BORDEAUX
SAT OCT 9 D WALES 64 v JAPAN 15
CARDIFF
C FIJI 38 v CANADA 22
BORDEAUX
B ENGLAND 16 v NEW ZEALAND 30 TWICKENHAM
E USA 25 v ROMANIA 27
DUBLIN
SUN OCT 10 D ARGENTINA 32 SAMOA 16
LLANELLI
E IRELAND 3 AUSTRALIA 23
DUBLIN
A SOUTH AFRICA 47 SPAIN 3
MURRAYFIELD
B ITALY 25 TONGA 28
LEICESTER
THU OCT 14 B NEW ZEALAND 101 ITALY 3
HUDDERSFIELD
D WALES 31 SAMOA 38
CARDIFF
E AUSTRALIA 55 USA 19
LIMERICK
C CANADA 72 NAMIBIA 11
TOULOUSE
FRI OCT 15 B ENGLAND 101 TONGA 10
TWICKENHAM
A SOUTH AFRICA 39 URUGUAY 3
GLASGOW
E IRELAND 44 ROMANIA 14
DUBLIN
SAT OCT 16 C FRANCE 28
FIJI 19
TOULOUSE
A SCOTLAND 48 SPAIN 0
MURRAYFIELD
D ARGENTINA 33 JAPAN 12
CARDIFF
QUARTER-FINAL PLAY-OFFS
WED OCT 20 1 ENGLAND 45 FIJI 24
TWICKENHAM
2 SCOTLAND 35 SAMOA 20
MURRAYFIELD
3 IRELAND 24 v ARGENTINA 28 LENS
QUARTER-FINALS
SAT OCT 23 WALES 9 v AUSTRALIA
24
CARDIFF
SUN OCT 24 SOUTH AFRICA 41 v ENGLAND
21
PARIS
FRANCE 47 v ARGENTINA 26
DUBLIN
NEW ZEALAND 30 v SCOTLAND 13
MURRAYFIELD
SEMI-FINALS
SAT OCT 30 SOUTH AFRICA 21 AUSTRALIA 27 TWICKENHAM
SUN OCT 31 NEW
ZEALAND 31 FRANCE 43
TWICKENHAM
3RD PLACE PLAY-OFF
NOVEMBER 4 NEW ZEALAND 18
SOUTH AFRICA 22
CARDIFF
THE FINAL
NOVEMBER 6 AUSTRALIA 35 FRANCE 12
CARDIFF
