Five biggest shocks at the Rugby World Cup

Japan’s victory over South Africa on the opening weekend of this year’s Rugby World Cup was a massive upset. But where did it rank in the all-time list of shock results? We pick out five of the biggest.

2015: SOUTH AFRICA 32 JAPAN 34

Shocks don’t come much bigger than this. South Africa, among the tournament favourites and twice champions, knocked over by a team which had won just one game at Rugby World Cup finals.

The Japanese hadn’t won a game at the World Cup since defeating Zimbabwe back in 1991, but this was their time as they took full advantage of Springbok complacency. It was a dismal performance from South Africa, but one in which you would still expect them to get over the line. Full credit to Japan, who twice rejected the chance to kick penalties and secure a guaranteed draw in order to go for a match-winning try. They got it, and with it a place in the Rugby World Cup folklore.

1995: SOUTH AFRICA 15 NEW ZEALAND 12

You don’t expect a shock in the Rugby World Cup final itself, but this was certainly an upset as New Zealand’s All Blacks were beaten in extra-time by hosts South Africa.

The Springboks had come into their first World Cup following the end of apartheid as the eighth-best ranked team. The fairytale run was expected to end in the final against an impressive All Blacks unit and the star of the tournament Jonah Lomu. But a brute of game in front of a sell-out and partisan Johannesburg crowd resulted in victory for the hosts as Joel Stransky kicked a winning drop goal. The scenes afterwards as Nelson Mandela presented the Webb Ellis Cup make it THE moment in World Cup history.

1991: WALES 13 WESTERN SAMOA 16

Playing in front of their own fans inside Cardiff Arms Park, Wales suffered the ignominy of an embarrassing defeat at the hands of Western Samoa. It was the first of big the Rugby World Cup shocks.

In what was only the second edition of the tournament, just four years after Wales had finished third in the inaugural competition causing an minor upset of their own against hosts Australia, the giant Samoans claimed a surprise victory as the boot of Mathew Vaea proved to be the difference between the two nations. The shock prompted the now famous quote: “Thank heavens Wales weren’t playing the whole of Samoa.” It was the whole of Samoa eight years later when the islanders repeated the trick with a 38-31 victory over Wales.

2007: FRANCE 12 ARGENTINA 17

More than 80,000 Frenchmen turned up at Stade de France expecting to witness France get the 2007 Rugby World Cup up and running with victory over Argentina. How wrong they were.

The French were never at the races as an inspired, and frankly huge, Pumas side dominated. There was just one try in the game as Ignacio Corleto crossed the whitewash, but it was enough to give Argentina one of their biggest World Cup successes. The two sides met again in the bronze medal play-off with Argentina recording a 34-10 to claim their best-ever World Cup result.

2007: WALES 34 FIJI 38

A double edged sword for Wales as not only did they suffer an upset at the hands of Fiji, but the defeat also saw them dumped out of the Rugby World Cup to boot.

In a winner-takes-all game, it was Fiji who secured a quarter-final spot in one of the most memorable encounters. Fiji led 25-3 in the opening half, only for Wales to recover and take what appeared to be a match-winning lead. But a dramatic Semisi Naevo with four minutes remaining on the clock won it for Fiji and saw them progress to the last eight for only the second time. The defeat cost Gareth Jenkins his job and resulted in the start of the current era of Warren Gatland.