2015 Rugby World Cup final

Twickenham Stadium hosted the match
Event	2015 Rugby World Cup
New Zealand Australia 34 17
Date	31 October 2015
Venue	Twickenham Stadium,London
Man of the Match	Dan Carter (New Zealand)
Referee	Nigel Owens (Wales)[1]
Attendance	80,125
←2011 2019 →

The2015 Rugby World Cup final was arugby union match to determine the winner of the2015 Rugby World Cup, played between reigning championsNew Zealand and theirrivalsAustralia on 31 October 2015 atTwickenham Stadium in London. New Zealand beat Australia 34–17, winning the World Cup for a record third time, and becoming the first team to retain theWebb Ellis Cup. The 51 points scored in this final is the highest of all Rugby World Cup finals.

This match saw a new record fortries in a Rugby World Cup final with the teams combining for five, surpassing the previous record of four scored in the1987 final. It was only the second final between two teams from the Southern Hemisphere, the previous one beingSouth Africa's win over New Zealand in1995.^[2]

New Zealand		Round	Australia
Opponent	Result	Pool stage	Opponent	Result
Argentina	26–16	Match 1	Fiji	28–13
Namibia	58–14	Match 2	Uruguay	65–3
Georgia	43–10	Match 3	England	33–13
Tonga	47–9	Match 4	Wales	15–6
Pos Team v t e Pld W D L PF PA PD T B Pts Qualification 1  New Zealand 4 4 0 0 174 49 +125 25 3 19 Advanced to the quarter-finals and qualified for the2019 Rugby World Cup 2  Argentina 4 3 0 1 179 70 +109 22 3 15 3  Georgia 4 2 0 2 53 123 −70 5 0 8 Eliminated but qualified for 2019 Rugby World Cup 4  Tonga 4 1 0 3 70 130 −60 8 2 6 5  Namibia 4 0 0 4 70 174 −104 8 1 1 Source:[citation needed]		Final standing	Pos Team v t e Pld W D L PF PA PD T B Pts Qualification 1  Australia 4 4 0 0 141 35 +106 17 1 17 Advanced to the quarter-finals and qualified for the2019 Rugby World Cup 2  Wales 4 3 0 1 111 62 +49 11 1 13 3  England 4 2 0 2 133 75 +58 16 3 11 Eliminated but qualified for 2019 Rugby World Cup 4  Fiji 4 1 0 3 84 101 −17 10 1 5 5  Uruguay 4 0 0 4 30 226 −196 2 0 0 Source:[citation needed]
Opponent	Result	Knockout stage	Opponent	Result
France	62–13	Quarter-finals	Scotland	35–34
South Africa	20–18	Semi-finals	Argentina	29–15

Having been in band 1 in the draw, New Zealand were placed as the top team participating inPool C. They began their tournament with a steady performance against Argentina, earning a 26–16 victory (though having been 13–12 down at half time) in front of a then-record crowd of 89,019 atWembley on 20 September. On that day, their starting XV was the most experienced ever.^[3] Their performance remained steady four days later with a 58–14 win overNamibia in which they scored nine tries.^[4] On 2 October, they facedGeorgia – their first ever encounter – at theMillennium Stadium, withJulian Savea scoring ahat-trick to help New Zealand to a 43–10 win. New Zealand's last pool match was on 9 October, with their performance improving to reach a successful 47–9 victory overTonga, which included a try byMa'a Nonu who earned his 100th test cap during the match.^[5]

In the quarter-finals, the All Blacks facedFrance, the last team to beat New Zealand in a Rugby World Cup match (in the quarter-final stage of the2007 Rugby World Cup, also at the Millennium Stadium). However, New Zealand crushed France 62–13, the highest winning margin in a World Cup knockout game since their win overWales in 1987.^[6] Julian Savea scored a second hat-trick in the rout, equalingJonah Lomu andBryan Habana's record of eight tries in a World Cup.^[7] New Zealand reached the final after defeating South Africa 20–18 in a tight semi-final on 24 October, where New Zealand became the first ever nation to make four Rugby World Cup finals, having previously made the1987,1995 and2011 tournament deciders.^[8]

Having also been in band 1 in the draw, Australia were placed as the top team inPool A, and began their campaign with a 28–13 win overFiji inCardiff. Head CoachMichael Cheika, who had only been in charge of the team since 22 October 2014, had been open about the short four-day turn-around between Fiji andUruguay, and openly admitted he would field two different starting XVs against either team.^[9] Had it not been for an injury toJames Slipper in the Fiji game, Cheika would have followed this through; instead, he made 14 changes for the match against Uruguay.^[10] On 27 September, they crushed Uruguay 65–3, scoring 11 tries, including two each forSean McMahon,Ben McCalman andDrew Mitchell. They then went on to defeat hostsEngland at Twickenham, withBernard Foley scoring two tries, kicking all three conversions and scoring all four penalties in a record 33–13 win. On 10 October, Australia won 15–6 against Wales in the last game of the pool stage; no tries were scored in the match — the first time this had happened since 1947 — but Foley scored five of the six penalties that he took. During the match, Australia successfully defended for nearly 10 minutes with two players in the sin bin, a period of play that was widely referred to in the media as potentially "defining" the Australian campaign.^{[citation needed]}

Australia nearly lost their quarter-final match on 18 October, requiring a controversial last-minute penalty from Foley to beat Scotland 35–34.^[11] The decision by refereeCraig Joubert to award a penalty was later deemed incorrect byWorld Rugby, who issued a statement saying Joubert should have given a scrum instead.^[12] Despite this, Australia went on to the semi-final and facedArgentina. They defeated the Pumas 29–15, to reach the final,^[13] to become the second team, after New Zealand, to make four Rugby World Cup finals, having previously played in the1991,1999 and2003 finals.

New Zealand played with most of the possession and territory early in the match. After eight minutes,Dan Carter scored the first points in the match, putting New Zealand ahead 3–0.^[14] In the 15th minute New Zealand fullbackBen Smith knocked the ball on, and from the resulting scrum New Zealand were penalised when their front row collapsed allowingBernard Foley to tie the scores. Referee Nigel Owens awarded a penalty to New Zealand afterSekope Kepu made a high tackle on Dan Carter.^[15] Carter successfully kicked a penalty goal, and gave New Zealand a three-point lead. At the kick off Wallabies lockKane Douglas injured his knee jumping for the ball, and was replaced byDean Mumm. At 26 minutes Wallabies centreMatt Giteau suffered concussion tackling All Blacks lockBrodie Retallick and was replaced byKurtley Beale. At 27 minutes Carter stretched New Zealand's lead with another penalty goal. The first try was scored just before halftime with New Zealand wingerNehe Milner-Skudder touching down in the corner. Carter converted giving New Zealand a lead of 16–3 at the end of the first half.^[16]

Two minutes into the second half, New Zealand's replacement centreSonny Bill Williams offloaded the ball toMa'a Nonu who beat a handful of Australian defenders to score a try, extending the lead to 21–3. In the 52nd minute, New Zealand fullback Ben Smith wassin-binned aftertip-tackling Australia'sDrew Mitchell.^[17] While Smith was in the sin-bin, Australia ran in two tries – the first to number eightDavid Pocock from a driving maul, and the second to centreTevita Kuridrani following a kick to score. Foley converted both tries to bring Australia within four points with 16 minutes remaining. With 10 minutes left on the clock, Carter kicked adrop goal from 40 metres to open up the gap to seven points. Several minutes later, New Zealand were awarded a penalty, with Carter converting long range to give New Zealand a 27–17 lead. Needing to score quick tries to stay in the match, Australia lost the ball, which was kicked ahead by Ben Smith, allowingBeauden Barrett to chase and score the clinching try. Carter converted the try with his right (non-dominant) foot, to make the final score 34–17.^[18][19]

New Zealand became the first team in theHistory of the Rugby World Cup to successfully defend their title after eight editions of the tournament. They also became the first team to win three Rugby World Cups, previously winning the1987 and2011 editions, both of which were held on home soil, making this occasion the first time that New Zealand won the tournament on foreign soil.^[20]

31 October 2015 16:00GMT (UTC+00)

New Zealand	34–17	Australia
Try:Milner-Skudder 39' c Nonu 42' m Barrett 79' c Con:Carter (2/3) 40', 80' Pen:Carter (4/4) 8', 27', 36', 75' Drop:Carter 70'	Report	Try:Pocock 53' c Kuridrani 64' c Con:Foley (2/2) 54', 65' Pen:Foley (1/1) 14'

Twickenham Stadium,London Attendance: 80,125 Referee:Nigel Owens (Wales)

New Zealand

Australia

FB 15 Ben Smith  52' RW 14 Nehe Milner-Skudder  65' OC 13 Conrad Smith  40' IC 12 Ma'a Nonu LW 11 Julian Savea FH 10 Dan Carter SH 9 Aaron Smith  71' N8 8 Kieran Read OF 7 Richie McCaw (c)  80' BF 6 Jerome Kaino  71' RL 5 Sam Whitelock LL 4 Brodie Retallick TP 3 Owen Franks  54' HK 2 Dane Coles  65' LP 1 Joe Moody  59' Replacements: HK 16 Keven Mealamu  65' PR 17 Ben Franks  59' PR 18 Charlie Faumuina  54' N8 19 Victor Vito  71' FL 20 Sam Cane  80' SH 21 Tawera Kerr-Barlow  71' FH 22 Beauden Barrett  65' CE 23 Sonny Bill Williams  40' Coach: Steve Hansen

FB 15 Israel Folau RW 14 Adam Ashley-Cooper OC 13 Tevita Kuridrani IC 12 Matt Giteau  26' LW 11 Drew Mitchell 66' to 71' FH 10 Bernard Foley SH 9 Will Genia  70' N8 8 David Pocock OF 7 Michael Hooper BF 6 Scott Fardy  61' RL 5 Rob Simmons LL 4 Kane Douglas  15' TP 3 Sekope Kepu  59' HK 2 Stephen Moore (c)  55' LP 1 Scott Sio  59' Replacements: HK 16 Tatafu Polota-Nau  55' PR 17 James Slipper  59' PR 18 Greg Holmes  59' LK 19 Dean Mumm  15' N8 20 Ben McCalman  61' SH 21 Nick Phipps  70' CE 22 Matt To'omua  66'  71' CE 23 Kurtley Beale  26' Coach: Michael Cheika

Notes:

• New Zealand became the first team to retain the Rugby World Cup title, and win a third World Cup title.
• This was the first time New Zealand won the World Cup on foreign soil.^[21]
• The aggregate 51 points scored was the most in a Rugby World Cup final.
• Ben Smith became the first player to receive a yellow card in a Rugby World Cup final.
• New Zealand'sSonny Bill Williams,Jerome Kaino andSam Whitelock played in a record 14th consecutive World Cup win.^[22]
• Fourteen New Zealand players joined five Australians and one South African astwo-time winners of the World Cup.^[23]

At the closing ceremony on 31 October, English singerLaura Wright sangWorld in Union. This was followed by the handover to Japan for the2019 Rugby World Cup.Prince Harry presented theWebb Ellis Cup to winning captain Richie McCaw after the match, once the team's name had beenengraved on the base of the trophy.

• 2015 Rugby World Cup
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• Australia at the 2015 Rugby World Cup
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• Australia national rugby union team matches
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• History of rugby union matches between Australia and New Zealand

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