Past pool statistics by country for RWC 2023 Draw Past pool statistics by country for RWC 2023 Draw RUGBY WORLD CUP POOL STAGE STATISTICS Statistics by country on their pool campaigns at Rugby World Cups ahead of the France 2023 Draw on 14 December, 2020 in Paris. SOUTH AFRICA - South Africa have successfully negotiated the pool stage at all seven Rugby World Cups they have participated in, losing only three matches. The Springboks were beaten by England (2003), Japan (2015) and New Zealand (2019) during the pool stage. - At Rugby World Cup 2019, South Africa became the first team to lift the Webb Ellis Cup after losing a pool match. In their opening game, they lost 23-13 against New Zealand. - The Springboks have scored a try in 25 of their 26 Rugby World Cup pool matches. The exception is their 25-6 defeat by England at Rugby World Cup 2003. - South Africa's biggest Rugby World Cup victory was by 87 points (87-0) against Namibia in the pool stages of Rugby World Cup 2011. - South Africa's biggest comeback win during a Rugby World Cup pool stage was in their opening match at Rugby World Cup 2011. After going 16-10 down against Wales in the 55th minute, the Springboks came back to win 17-16. - Bryan Habana is the record try scorer in Rugby World Cup pool matches. Habana scored 13 tries across three Rugby World Cups (2007, 2011, 2015). - The record points scorer for South Africa in Rugby World Cup pool matches is Handré Pollard with 68 points. He went past Percy Montgomery (67) during South Africa's match against Italy at Rugby World Cup 2019. - Jaque Fourie and Bryan Habana have each scored a try in a record seven different Rugby World Cup pool stage matches. - Victor Matfield and Schalk Burger both played in a South Africa record four Rugby World Cups. Burger and John Smit have played in most Rugby World Cup pool matches for the Springboks (12). - South Africa have never fielded a teenager in a Rugby World Cup (pool) match. The youngest Springbok in a Rugby World Cup match is Frans Steyn who debuted in the tournament aged 20 years and 118 days old against Samoa at RWC 2007. - Aged 38 years and 145 days old, Schalk Brits became the oldest player for a Rugby Championship or Six Nations team to play at a Rugby World Cup match when he faced Canada at RWC 2019. - Brits broke a record set by Argentina's Mario Ledesma at Rugby World Cup 2011 and matched by Brits' compatriot Victor Matfield at Rugby World Cup 2015 by seven days. England's Simon Shaw is the only other player from a Six Nations or Rugby Championship team to play a Rugby World Cup match after his 38th birthday. - South Africa have been drawn with Samoa the most in Rugby World Cup pools, meeting Samoa in the pool stage at four of South Africa's seven Rugby World Cups. - South Africa have never been drawn in the same Rugby World Cup pool as Argentina, France, Ireland or Russia. 1 Past pool statistics by country for RWC 2023 Draw NEW ZEALAND - New Zealand's biggest Rugby World Cup win was their 145-17 pool stage victory against Japan at Rugby World Cup 1995. This was the competition record until Australia beat Namibia 142-0 during the pool stage of Rugby World Cup 2003. - New Zealand's 145-17 win against Japan still holds the record for the highest total number of points in a Rugby World Cup match. - There have been six Rugby World Cup pool stage matches in which one team has scored at least 100 points. New Zealand have been responsible for three of them – 145-17 v Japan, 101-3 v Italy in 1999 and 108-13 v Portugal in 2007. - New Zealand have won all 31 Rugby World Cup pool matches they have played and have topped their pool at all nine of the previous Rugby World Cups. - New Zealand have been behind in only eight of their Rugby World Cup pool matches and have never gone more than seven points down. At Rugby World Cup 1995, Ireland went 7- 0 up against the All Blacks but New Zealand went on to win 43-19. That seven-point deficit remains the biggest New Zealand have ever faced during a Rugby World Cup pool match. - New Zealand's record try scorer in Rugby World Cup pool matches is Doug Howlett with 12 tries. - Marc Ellis's six tries against Japan at Rugby World Cup 1995 remains the competition record for most tries scored in a match by one player. Australia's Chris Latham and England's Josh Lewsey both got closest to this at Rugby World Cup 2003 by scoring five. - Ellis scored one more try during the Rugby World Cup 1995 pool stage. His record of seven tries in the pool stage of one Rugby World Cup remains today but has since been matched by Australia’s Drew Mitchell. - Dan Carter holds the record for most points for New Zealand during pool stage play with 129. - Dan Carter, Richie McCaw and Keven Mealamu all played for the All Blacks at a New Zealand record four Rugby World Cups. The quartet all played pool matches at the Rugby World Cups of 2003, 2007, 2011 and 2015. - McCaw holds the record for most pool stage matches for New Zealand (12), but Dan Carter started the most Rugby World Cup pool matches (10). - New Zealand have never fielded a teenager in a Rugby World Cup match. The youngest player to appear for the team is Jonah Lomu who was 20 years and 15 days old when he debuted in the tournament in a pool match against Ireland at Rugby World Cup 1995. - Jonah Lomu became New Zealand's youngest Rugby World Cup try scorer on his competition debut against Ireland in 1995. - Brad Thorn was 36 when he played in all four pool matches at Rugby World Cup 2011 and is therefore the oldest All Black to play at a Rugby World Cup. Keven Mealamu is the only other 36-year-old to play in the tournament for New Zealand. - Aged 35, prop Richard Loe is New Zealand's oldest Rugby World Cup try scorer during the pool stage, scoring against Japan at Rugby World Cup 1995. Brad Thorn was older when he scored against Argentina at Rugby World Cup 2011 but that was during the knockout stages. - Sonny Bill Williams holds the record for most tries scored as a replacement at a Rugby World Cup. Williams scored four tries, all during the pool stage, against Japan (2), France and Tonga in 2011 and 2015. No other player has scored more than two Rugby World Cup tries as a replacement. - Replacement players for both New Zealand and Australia have scored 23 Rugby World Cup tries in pool matches. 2 Past pool statistics by country for RWC 2023 Draw - New Zealand have been drawn in the same pool as Italy at six of the nine Rugby World Cups. No other pair of teams have been drawn together more than four times. - New Zealand have never been drawn in the same Rugby World Cup pool as Australia. Russia, Samoa and Uruguay have also never been pool opponents for the All Blacks. 3 Past pool statistics by country for RWC 2023 Draw ENGLAND - England's biggest Rugby World Cup win was by 98 points (111-13) against Uruguay in the pool stages of Rugby World Cup 2003. - The 111 points scored is also England's highest return in a match. - Josh Lewsey scored five tries in that match, a record for an England player in any Rugby World Cup game. - Paul Grayson's 36 points against Tonga in England's 101-10 pool victory at Rugby World Cup 1999 is the record number of points scored by an England player in a RWC match. - Jonny Wilkinson's 160 points in pool matches is second only to Scotland's Gavin Hastings (181). - Jonny Wilkinson is one of three players – Gareth Rees (CAN) and Merab Kvirikashvili (GEO) are the others – to kick points in the pool stage of four different Rugby World Cups. - Jonny Wilkinson scored eight drop goals in World Cup pool matches. No other player has managed more than five. - Rory Underwood scored a try in five different Rugby World Cup pool matches at three different tournaments. Neil Back also scored a try in the pool stage of three different Rugby World Cups. - Rory Underwood's eight tries in Rugby World Cup pool stage matches is the most by an England player. - Lewis Moody, Jason Leonard and Dan Cole hold the England record for playing in most Rugby World Cup pool matches (11) but Jonny Wilkinson (10) was in the starting XV in most pool matches for England. - Jason Leonard, Mike Catt and Jonny Wilkinson are the only England players to have appeared in pool matches at four different Rugby World Cups. - England's biggest comeback win in a pool game was the 35-23 win against Samoa at Rugby World Cup 2003. After eight minutes, England were 10-0 down in that match. - England are the only team to have scored four tries against Argentina in a Rugby World Cup pool match since Rugby World Cup 1991. At RWC 2019, England scored six tries against the Pumas in a 39-10 pool victory. - England have been drawn into a pool with the USA on four occasions. - Argentina, Italy, Samoa and Tonga have all been in the same pool as England three times.