2011 Rugby Union World Cup
| Ipu o te Ao Whutupōro 2011 | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Tournament details | |
| Host nation |
 New Zealand
|
| Dates | 9 September – 23 October |
| No. of nations | 20 (91 qualifying) |
| Final positions | |
Champions 
|
New Zealand
|
Runner-up 
|
 France
|
Third-place 
|
 Australia
|
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 48 |
| Attendance | 1,477,294 (30,777 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) |  Morné Steyn (62) |
| Most tries |
 Chris Ashton Vincent Clerc(6 tries each) |
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The 2011 Rugby World Cup was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South Africa at a meeting in Dublin on 17 November 2005. The tournament was won by New Zealand, who defeated France 8–7 in the final. The defending champions, South Africa, were eliminated by Australia 11–9 in the quarter-finals. The result marked the third time that the tournament was won by the country that hosted the event (following New Zealand in 1987 and South Africa in 1995).
It was the largest sporting event ever held in New Zealand, eclipsing the 1987 Rugby World Cup, 1990 Commonwealth Games, 1992 Cricket World Cup and the 2003 America's Cup. Overseas visitors to New Zealand for the event totalled 133,000, more than the 95,000 that the organisers expected. However, there was a drop in non-event visitors, meaning the net increase in visitors over the previous year was less than 80,000.
The games ran over six weeks, commencing on 9 September 2011 with the Opening Ceremony showcasing New Zealand's history and diverse cultures. The final was played on Sunday 23 October 2011, a date chosen because it fell on a long weekend of New Zealand's Labour Day holiday. The final was played at Eden Park in Auckland.
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