Famous World Cup upsets
SPOTLIGHT: In the wake of Uruguay’s shock 30-27 win over Fiji, we look at some notable upsets through the years.
‘Upset’ is such a loosely defined term in sport.
While there are some tangible markers that can aid the equation (a lower ranked team beating a higher ranked one, for example), defining an upset is, in some cases, largely subjective.
Whatever markers you consider, few will argue against calling Uruguay beating Fiji in the 2019 Rugby World Cup on Wednesday an upset.
In their opening game of the tournament, Fiji pushed Australia close in the first half. Uruguay aren’t rugby rookies, but the game isn’t even fully professional in the South American country.
Los Teros had only ever won two games at the World Cup and are ranked nine places below the Fijians. Add to that the fact that they have never beaten Fiji – and we’ve got all the ingredients for a big upset.
Sure, Fiji were tired after their opening fixture and Uruguay had fresh legs, but that’s splitting hairs.
The Rugby World Cup is not unfamiliar territory for upsets, though. Ever since the tournament was first played, there have been a few notable ones.
Below, you’ll find a timeline of some of the tournament’s notable triumphs. South African fans – it does mention that game, so look away now. A brief summary of each of the upsets follow below the graphic.
A timeline of notable Rugby World Cup upsets
Drag the slider to move through the years.
QF = Quarter-Final.
SF = Semi-Final
F = Final
No letter denotes pool stage fixture.
1987
France 30-24 Australia: The Wallabies were the fancied team to face New Zealand in the final, but one moment of brilliance helped them steal a win in the semi-final. Australia were at the receiving end of another upset in the tournament when they were beaten by 21-22 by Wales in the third-place playoff.
1991
Western Samoa 16-13 Wales: Wales have the honour of being the first top tier rugby nation to be beaten by a rank outsider at a World Cup. The match was played in Cardiff to boot. Put that in your upsets pipe and smoke it.
1995
South Africa 15-12 New Zealand: Now we’re getting in that whataboutery territory. Do your Madiba jive as much as you like, that final was an upset.
1999
France 43-31 New Zealand: These two again. France were 24-10 at the break, but came back to win the quarter-final and impressed everyone so much, that TF1, France’s biggest news channel, ran a newsflash.
Another notable result from that tournament was Samoa beating Wales 31-28. After losing to Western Samoa almost a decade prior, the joke was “well at least we didn’t play Samoa”. Ouch.
2003
New Zealand 10-22 Australia: The Wallabies became the first defending champions to reach the final of the tournament when they beat the All Blacks in the semi-final.
2007
New Zealand 18-20 France: And these two again. At what point do upsets not become upsets? The hard rules for the timeline is only one match can be visualised. It is almost always an upset when the All Blacks are beaten, especially in a knockout match – so this one is the pin. But 2007 was The World Cup of Upsets. Argentina beat Ireland and France in the group stage (which is why the result against New Zealand stands out so much), and Fiji beat Wales.
2011
Ireland 15-6 Australia: Ireland might be one of the top teams in the world in 2019, but they weren’t quite as refined back then. The Wallabies, reigning Tri-Nations champions, were beaten by Ireland for the first time in the history of the tournament.
2015
Japan 34-32 South Africa: Ja, well, look, no fine.
2019
Fiji 27-30 Uruguay: You already know this story.
