With the 2003 World Cup in full swing, the ASRL Weekly Magazine decided to take its readers on a walk down memory lane to the last World Cup. The 1999 World Cup was played in Europe, with France, England, Wales, and Lebanon all co-hosting the tournament. Although Australia eventually won the tournament with a 26-12 humbling of England, it was the astounding success of the tournament in general that signalled the death knell of Rugby Union. It seems ironic though, that now the best Union players are leading nations like South Africa and Japan out of the wilderness.

GROUP A- France
1st- Australia: The Aussies dominated all comers, but met stiff resistance from France.
2nd- France: The host nation sought to impress, and Freddie Banquet delivered.
3rd- Fiji: The Fijian flair was sadly absent, but they did upset the Scottish.
4th- Scotland: A woeful World Cup showing.

GROUP B- Lebanon
1st- New Zealand: Went into the finals as competition favourites after dominating their pool.
2nd- Lebanon: In a weak pool, the Cedars were able to down their lesser known opposition.
3rd- South Africa: Won a tight game against the USA to make an impression.
4th- USA: In their first World Cup, the US side were outclassed.

GROUP C- Wales/Ireland
1st- Wales: The Dragons had a solid pool stage, suffering a shock loss, but solid othewise.
2nd- Ireland: After being stunned by AA/TSI, the Irish rallied to make the finals.
3rd- AA/TSI: The AA/TSI squad underperformed by their own standards.
4th- Tonga: Without any first grade footballers, the Tongans were cannon fodder.

GROUP D- England
1st- England: Another side who looked more impressive than the Aussies.
2nd- Papua New Guinea: Couldn't match England, but did enough.
3rd- Samoa: The Samoans struggled like their Tongan neighbours.
4th- Morocco: The failure to win a game signalled the end of Morocco's international funding.

Round One Results
Australia 36 def. Scotland 12
France 16 def. Fiji 12
New Zealand 88 def USA 10
Lebanon 20 def. South Africa 2
Wales 38 def. Tonga 14
AA/TSI 10 def. Ireland 7
England 112 def. Morocco 14
Papua New Guinea 11 def. Samoa 10

Round Two Results
Australia 36 def. Fiji 8
France 22 def. Scotland 8
New Zealand 42 def. South Africa 6
Lebanon 14 def. USA 6
Wales 14 def. AA/TSI 0
Ireland 22 def. Tonga 16
England 28 def. Samoa 10
Papua New Guinea 32 def. Morocco 0

Round Three Results
Australia 31 def. France 16
Fiji 22 def. Scotland 14
New Zealand 44 def. Lebanon 18
South Africa 10 def. USA 8
Ireland 9 def. Wales 8
Tonga 11 def. AA/TSI 8
England 22 def. Papua New Guinea 0
Samoa 56 def. Morocco 24

Quarter Finals
Australia 24 def. Ireland 6
New Zealand 30 def. Papua New Guinea 8
Wales 16 def. France 12
England 48 def. Lebanon 14

The Australians were surprised by the tenacity of the Irish squad, who were ably lead by Aussies Kevin Campion and Luke Ricketson. Up 6-0 early on after a Brian Carney try, the Irish were then out-gunned in the remainder of the game.

New Zealand didn't show Papua New Guinea any mercy, but the national holiday down south must have softened the blow. Robbie and Henry Paul absolutely dominated the slow Papua New Guinea forwards, scoring 22 points between them.

The Welsh found that French passion and a big Paris crowd can turn the tables, and found themselves down 12-10 with five minutes to go, before Lee Briers' famous short chip found Iestyn Harris for a length of the field try. Many attribute France's demise in international league came from this shock loss.

The English made sure Lebanon didn't get any ideas into their heads, soundly thrashing the Cedars and retiring their then coach, Adam Mills. The combination between Sean Long and Paul Sculthorpe continually thwarted the Lebanese, whose only star at the time was Hazem El Masri (then playing for the Sydney Oilers).

Semi Finals
Australia 17 def. New Zealand 16 (Extra Time)
England 20 def. Wales 10

In an absolutely unforgettable World Cup semi, the Aussies and Kiwis played to a 16 all dead-lock after eighty minutes of intense football. When Robbie Paul left the field with a broken arm in the 9th minute the Aussies looked to run away with it, but Lesley Vainakolo's double almost sparked a miracle comeback. A 96th minute golden point field goal from captain, Brad Fittler, sealed the game.

England showed the Welsh how to play football, getting away to a 20 nil lead by the 50th minute on the back of the Long/Sculthorpe combination that had crushed Lebanon. The Welsh scored late consolation tries, but even these came from dubious calls.

Third Place Play-Off
New Zealand 30 def. Wales 6

The Kiwis let their anger at the loss to Australia vent on the Welsh Dragons, disassembling them and putting them to the sword. Stand in five eighth Nigel Vagana was in champaigne form, but it was Matthew Ridge who won Man of the Match honours, his boot faultless and his defence at the back inspirational.

Grand Final
Australia 26 def. England 12

The game didn't match the hype, with the Aussies clicking and the English putting on a poor show under the guidance of Tony Bush. Long and Sculthorpe were nullified perfectly by Johns and Fittler, whilst the backline of Sailor, Tuqiri, Girdler, and Gidley played all over their bigger opposition. The man of the match award went, deservedly, to Brad Fittler.

Top Point Scorer
Andrew Johns- Australia

Top Try Scorer
Keith Senior- England

Player of the Tournament
Brad Fittler- Australia

The Emerging Nations
To coincide with the tournament, six 'emerging' nations took part in a one pool mini World Cup.

FINAL STANDINGS
Italy
Cook Islands
Russia
Germany
Japan
Canada

In the final, the Cook Islands took care of first placed Italy 16-0, whilst the third place play-off between Russia and Germany ended with a 66-14 win by the Russian side. Both Japan and Canda failed to down one of the 'top four', with Japan beating Canada 26-8 in their match.

Now....
So, will the 2003 World Cup be able to match the intensity that the 1999 World Cup finals provided? For sure the likes of England, Australia, and New Zealand are still firing, the tri-series is proof of that, and with the emergence of Scotland, Ireland, Europe, and South Africa- this tournament could see a finals series where every game is a nail-biter.

One can only hope that the Kangaroos can defend their crown on Aussie turf. And if not, just don't let the bloody Kiwis or Poms win it.

David Eddings,
ASRL Weekly Magazine