Representing your country at a World Cup is usually the pinnacle of a sportsperson’s career. However, male rugby union players had to wait until 1987 for the inaugural Rugby World Cup to be held, 57 years after the first FIFA World Cup. The current men’s World Cup holders are South Africa, whose 2023 tournament win saw them become the first country to win four
. Recent tournaments have attracted increasing global audiences, as seen with the
growing from approximately 678 million in 2015 to 800 million in 2023. The 2023 tournament also pulled in substantial live crowds, with
Who have been the competition’s standout performers?
In the list of
all-time highest point-scorers in the Rugby World Cup, England fly-half Jonny Wilkinson sits at the top, with 277 points in four campaigns. Wilkinson’s outstanding kicking ability was key to his success, having famously drop-kicked England to its first World Cup trophy in 2003. Meanwhile, wingers Jonah Lomu and Bryan Habana are tied as the
all-time top try scorers in the Rugby World Cup, with 15 tries each; Lomu notably reached this figure in just 11 games, seven fewer than Habana. Regarding the defensive side of the game, former New Zealand captain Richie McCaw was the player with the
most tackles in the Rugby World Cup as of 2019, with 226. McCaw also holds the distinction of being the first player to captain their side to back-to-back Rugby World Cup titles; however, South Africa's Siya Kolisi matched McCaw's achievement with tournament wins in 2019 and 2023.
How has rugby union evolved?
Being held once every four years, the Rugby World Cup offers the chance to see macro changes in the sport that are not as obvious during regular domestic seasons. One particularly stark development since the inaugural tournament has been in the
average number of tackles per game at the Rugby World Cup, which went from 48 per team in 1987 to 169 in 2023. This figure had an especially large jump following the decision in 1995 to professionalize the sport. Since then, the
average ball-in-play time per game during the Rugby World Cup has also increased, going from 25 minutes and 45 seconds in 1995 to 34 minutes and 18 seconds in 2023. Teams have also found new approaches to kicking, as seen in the
share of kick types at the Rugby World Cup, with box kicks growing from five percent in 1987 to 23 percent in 2019, while territorial kicks decreased from 48 percent to 32 percent in the same period.
This text provides general information. Statista assumes no
liability for the information given being complete or correct.
Due to varying update cycles, statistics can display more up-to-date
data than referenced in the text.
