SA Rugby magazine looks back at the 1991 World Cup, which was won by the Wallabies.
One of the criticisms of the 1987 World Cup was that it was hosted by two nations, Australia and New Zealand. The general consensus afterwards was that the tournament should be staged in one country for logistical, concentration and management reasons.
However, everyone in Europe wanted a share of the action in 1991, so the second World Cup was hosted jointly by the Five Nations unions. Once again, the Springboks were not welcome at the global showpiece, although they would return to international rugby the following year.
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Australia went into the World Cup as slight favourites, having beaten the All Blacks in Sydney earlier that year before suffering a narrow loss in Auckland. As far as the European nations were concerned, only England were given a realistic chance of winning the title.
The 1991 World Cup kicked off with the All Blacks beating England 18-12 at Twickenham, but the most memorable match of the pool stage was in Cardiff. Wales had finished third at the 1987 World Cup and were expected to cruise into the second round. However, in one of the biggest World Cup upsets, they lost 16-13 to Western Samoa (many Welshmen had to look up Samoa on a map afterwards).
The islanders almost repeated their heroics against the Wallabies, going down 9-3, and they hammered Argentina 35-12 before losing 28-6 to Scotland in the quarter-finals.
Meanwhile, the All Blacks qualified for the last four with an unconvincing 29-13 win against Canada, and England ground out an uninspiring 19-10 victory against France.
The pick of the quarter-finals was in Dublin, where the Wallabies edged Ireland 19-18. A try from flank Gordon Hamilton had raised the roof and given Ireland an 18-15 lead with two minutes remaining, but the Wallabies hit back almost immediately when David Campese sent Michael Lynagh over for the match-winner.
The semi-finals pitted old foes against each other – Scotland vs England and Australia vs New Zealand.
As expected, the first semi at Murrayfield was decided by the boot, with Jonathan Webb out-kicking Gavin Hastings for a dull 9-6 win.
The second semi lived up to all the pre-match hype, with the Wallabies totally outplaying the defending champions. The Australians’ 16-6 victory at Lansdowne Road will always be remembered for one of the greatest tries in World Cup history.
Campese took the ball at first receiver and, running on a diagonal arc towards the left-hand touchline, went for the corner. The All Blacks stood back and waited for him to change his line of running or do the ‘goose step’. By the time they had woken up, the Aussies had added another four points and were on their way to Twickenham.
England had reached the final by playing conservative, 10-man rugby, and had they kept faith in their game plan, Will Carling and not Nick Farr-Jones may have lifted the Webb Ellis Cup at Twickenham on 2 November 1991. However, the host nation inexplicably decided to run the ball at every opportunity in the decider, but with little success.
In the end, only one try was scored when Wallabies prop Tony Daly was driven over from a lineout, and the Wallabies won 12-6.
1991 Player of the Tournament
A constant risk-taker, Wallabies wing David Campese was the undisputed star of the 1991 World Cup.
Campese began with two tries against Argentina, scored a brace against Ireland in their quarter-final and added another in the semi-final against the All Blacks.
Some credit for Campese’s success should go to coach Bob Dwyer, who brought his wing into play as much as possible. In fact, most of the Wallabies’ backline tactics revolved around Campese, an unusual ploy back in 1991.
Campese’s World Cup will always be remembered for his famous ‘goose step’ – a hitch-kick motion that left opponents stumbling to try to tackle him. After the tournament, thousands of children around the world were imitating the legendary Wallabies wing.
1991 Playoff results
Quarter-finals
Scotland 28 Western Samoa 6
England 19 France 10
Australia 19 Ireland 18
New Zealand 29 Canada 13
Semi-finals
England 9 Scotland 6
Australia 16 New Zealand 6
Third-place playoff
New Zealand 13 Scotland 6
Final
Australia 12 England 6
By Simon Borchardt