Interesting facts about the just-concluded Rugby World Cup
It’s quite lucky that the 200th year anniversary of Rugby and the 10th edition of the men’s Rugby World Cup fell on the same year. So, even without considering all the interesting things that happened at the event, you would have to agree that the just concluded Rugby World Cup was an iconic one.
However, and especially for those that placed their bet with William Hill, the tournament managed to get even more iconic.
For one, it was the first time that the tournament ran for seven weeks, instead of six, running from 8 September to 28 October. The extra week was added back in 2021 to provide players with additional rest days.
So, those that watched the matches might have noticed that the players seemed better rested and more energetic.
This tournament was also the last to feature 20 teams, as every tournament from the 2027 one will feature 24 teams.
That’s not where the iconicity of the 2023 Rugby World Cup ends, though.
South Africa came into the competition as the defending champions, having defeated England in the 2019 final. And they were kind of the favorites to win, considering that they had won 3 titles up to that point.
Well, they ended up winning this tournament as well, defeating New Zealand this time around, 12-11. That became South Africa’s fourth win, making them the first team to win the Rugby World Cup that many times.
This win was also the second time that South Africa was defeating New Zealand in a final, which must have hurt the Kiwis a lot. They put in a strong fight, though
However, South Africa’s road to the top was not exactly paved with gold. They managed to finish second at the pool stage, even after suffering defeat at the hands of Ireland. And then their knock-out matches were very narrow wins, winning 29-28 against France in the quarters, 16-16 against England in the semis, and 12-11 against New Zealand in the finals.
Italy, on the other hand, surprised people but not in a good way. After beating Namibia 52-8 and Uruguay 38-17, they suffered an embarrassing 7-60 defeat to France, knocking them out at the Pool Stage.
Ireland was another not-so-good surprise. They managed to defeat defending champion South Africa, 13-8, at the Pool Stage, but couldn’t defeat New Zealand to move past the Quarter finals.
In the end, the final and bronze final results were not all that surprising. As was mentioned earlier, South Africa took home the gold and New Zealand the silver. England then managed to win the bronze final, earning them the bronze, with Argentina coming in fourth.
It wasn’t all bad for England, though, as the top scorer for the tournament turned out to be their very own Owen Farrell with 75 points.
In all, about 2.4 million people attended the matches live, with each match averaging an audience number of about 50,000. Considering all that happened this year, the 2027 World Cup will surely be looked forward to with high anticipation.