Rugby World Cup Trivia
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57 free Rugby World Cup trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Sep 2026.
The Rugby World Cup has only been going since 1987, but ten tournaments have packed in more drama than most competitions manage in a century. This quiz walks through all of them: the All Blacks' first title at Eden Park, the Wallabies' wins in 1991 and 1999, Nelson Mandela in a Springbok jersey at Ellis Park, Jonny Wilkinson's drop goal in Sydney, the Springboks' triumphs in Paris, Yokohama and Paris again, and the one-point knockout wins that carried them to a record fourth title in 2023. Along the way it covers the people and numbers that make the tournament: the Webb Ellis Cup and why Australians call it Bill, Grant Fox's 126 points, Simon Culhane's 45 on debut, the 142-0 rout of Namibia, Japan's upset of the Springboks in 2015, Typhoon Hagibis, the first red card in a final, the Black Ferns' six women's titles and the expansion to 24 teams for Australia 2027. If you want the wider game, our general rugby quiz covers the laws, the Six Nations and the clubs. Roughly a third of the questions are easy for anyone who watches every four years, a third are medium and the rest are for people who remember who refereed which final. Every answer is checked against the tournament and match reference pages, and each question carries its source.
30 of 57 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which two nations co-hosted the inaugural Rugby World Cup in 1987?
New Zealand and Australia
New Zealand and Australia co-hosted the first tournament, which had no qualifying: the seven board member nations took part automatically and the rest were invited.
Q 02What is the men's Rugby World Cup trophy called?
The Webb Ellis Cup
The Webb Ellis Cup honours William Webb Ellis, the Rugby School pupil credited in an 1876 account with first running with the ball.
Q 03Which rugby anthem, set to Holst's 'Jupiter' melody, did Kiri Te Kanawa first record in 1991?
World in Union
World in Union became the Rugby World Cup's theme song, with lyrics by Charlie Skarbek set to Holst's hymn tune Thaxted.
Q 04Which Springbok fly-half kicked all 12 of his side's points in the 2023 final?
Handré Pollard
Handré Pollard wasn't in the original squad and was called up mid-tournament to replace injured hooker Malcolm Marx.
Q 05Which stadium hosted both the 1987 and 2011 finals?
Eden Park
Eden Park staged both finals, and both times New Zealand beat France there.
Q 06Who captained the All Blacks to the first title in 1987?
David Kirk
David Kirk only led the side because captain Andy Dalton was injured in training, and he retired soon after to take up a Rhodes Scholarship.
Q 07Which All Black set the record for most points in a single tournament, 126, in 1987?
Grant Fox
Grant Fox also kicked a record 30 conversions that year, and his son Ryan became a professional golfer.
Q 08Which coach took Australia to the 2003 final and England to the 2019 final, losing both?
Eddie Jones
Eddie Jones's Wallabies lost 2003 to a drop goal in the last minute of extra time, and his England side lost 32-12 in 2019.
Q 09Which debutants shocked hosts Wales 16-13 in the pool stage of the 1991 World Cup?
Western Samoa
Western Samoa went on to reach the quarter-finals, where Scotland beat them 28-6.
Q 10Which scrum-half captained the Wallabies to their first title in 1991?
Nick Farr-Jones
Nick Farr-Jones led Australia to a 12-6 final win in which prop Tony Daly scored the match's only try.
Q 11Which stadium hosted the finals of both 1991 and 2015?
Twickenham
Twickenham saw England lose the 1991 final 12-6 to a Tony Daly try, and hosts England miss the 2015 knockout stage.
Q 12Which Springbok, the only non-white player in the team, scored four tries in a 1995 World Cup quarter-final?
Chester Williams
Chester Williams's four tries came in a 42-14 win in Johannesburg, the city where South Africa later won the final.
Q 13Who presented the trophy in 1995 wearing a Springbok jersey and cap?
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela's gesture is told in John Carlin's book Playing the Enemy and its film adaptation.
Q 21The Millennium Stadium, purpose-built for the 1999 tournament, stands in which city?
Cardiff
Cardiff's stadium was built on the site of the old National Stadium at Cardiff Arms Park, demolished in 1997 to make way for it.
Q 22Who presented the trophy to Wallaby captain John Eales in 1999?
Queen Elizabeth II
Queen Elizabeth II presented it after the Wallabies beat France 35-12, making Australia the first team to win the tournament twice.
Q 23Who refereed the 2015 final, the highest-scoring World Cup final?
Nigel Owens
Nigel Owens followed Derek Bevan, who refereed the 1991 final, as the second Welshman to take charge of a World Cup final.
Q 14Who captained the Springboks to the 1995 title?
Francois Pienaar
Francois Pienaar won all 29 of his caps as captain, but was dropped in 1996 and became player-coach at Saracens.
Q 15Whose extra-time drop goal won the 1995 final?
Joel Stransky
Joel Stransky scored all 15 of South Africa's points and Andrew Mehrtens all 12 of New Zealand's, in the first final to need extra time.
Q 16Which All Black wing scored four tries against England in the 1995 semi-final?
Jonah Lomu
Jonah Lomu ran straight over England's Mike Catt on the way to one of those four tries.
Q 17Which England coach led his side to the 2003 title and was knighted soon afterwards?
Clive Woodward
Clive Woodward then coached the 2005 British and Irish Lions, who lost the test series 3-0 in New Zealand.
Q 18Which All Black scored a record six tries in one World Cup match in 1995?
Marc Ellis
Marc Ellis's six tries came in a 145-17 win, still the highest team score in World Cup history.
Q 19The 2009 film Invictus, about the 1995 Rugby World Cup, was directed by whom?
Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood directed Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon, who were both Oscar-nominated, and the title comes from a William Ernest Henley poem.
Q 20Which coach took over the Springboks in 2018 and won the World Cup the following year?
Rassie Erasmus
Rassie Erasmus replaced the sacked Allister Coetzee, and was director of rugby when South Africa won again in 2023.
Q 24Which Springbok kicked a record five drop goals in a single match against England in 1999?
Jannie de Beer
Jannie de Beer's five drop goals came in a 44-21 quarter-final win at the Stade de France, a world record for any test.
Q 25The Wallabies inflicted the Rugby World Cup's biggest margin, 142-0 in 2003, on which team?
Namibia
Namibia conceded 22 tries at Adelaide Oval, five of them to Chris Latham, while Mat Rogers kicked 16 conversions.
Q 26Which Wallaby kicked the last-minute penalty that took the 2003 final into extra time?
Elton Flatley
Elton Flatley then levelled it again at 17-17 in extra time, but England still won 20-17.
Q 27Whose right-footed drop goal in the last minute of extra time won the 2003 final?
Jonny Wilkinson
Jonny Wilkinson finished his career with 277 World Cup points, still the tournament record.
Q 28Who captained England in the 2003 final, his 84th and last test?
Martin Johnson
Martin Johnson became the first man to captain the British and Irish Lions twice, on the 1997 and 2001 tours.
Q 29Which city hosted the 2003 final, played in front of 82,957 fans?
Sydney
Stadium Australia in Sydney staged it, after New Zealand lost its co-hosting rights in a dispute over stadium signage.
Q 30Which South African referee took charge of both the 1999 and 2003 finals?
André Watson
André Watson, a civil engineer, said he was happy with his performance despite criticism of his 2003 scrum decisions.