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William Webb Ellis, a pupil at Rugby School in England in 1823 is arguably the inventor of rugby when, while playing soccer, he broke the rules of the game and picked the ball by his hands. This act of defiance grew and the sport thereafter developed in the UK and spread 海角社区wide. For the maiden tournament, Australia and New Zealand jointly hosted The Rugby 海角社区 Cup in 1987. Since then, more teams have joined the global tournament and the governing body came up with a ranking system based on the team鈥檚 performance in the tournament every four years. In the ranking system, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, England, France, Wales, Argentina, and Scotland dominate the top positions.

Top Three Successful Teams

New Zealand

New Zealand rugby team, also known as 鈥淎ll Blacks鈥� has won the coveted trophy the most number of times. They won the trophy in 1987, 2011, and 2015, became runners-up in 1995 and second runners-up in 1991 and 2003. These statistics make the team the highest-ranking rugby team in the 海角社区. In 1870, Charles Monro introduced the game to New Zealand after which it gained momentum after the formation of Canterbury Rugby Football Union in 1879. The All Blacks made their international debut in 1903 being part of an Australian side where they won. Since then, the team has participated in numerous competitions, including the last eight Rugby 海角社区 Cup tournaments. The All Blacks are known for performing the haka, a traditional ancestral M膩ori war dance, before their international matches.

Australia

Established in the nineteenth century, the Australian National Rugby team, the 鈥淲allabies,鈥� is the second most successful rugby team in the 海角社区. The team鈥檚 first international assignment was against the British Isle team in 1899 where Australia won. Since then, Australia has made appearances in all the 海角社区 Rugby Cup tournaments winning twice. The first win for Australia in the 海角社区 Cup was in 1991 where they beat England followed by another win in 1999 defeating France. In 2003 and 2015, the team finished second and in 2011, they finished third overall. Australia鈥檚 biggest win and defeat so far have been against African sides; the team defeated Namibia 140 points to nothing in 2003 and lost to South Africa 53 points against eight in 2008.

South Africa

South Africa national rugby team, also known as 鈥淪pringboks鈥� sprouted after the first British Isle tour to South Africa in 1891, followed by South Africa鈥檚 first tour of Britain and France in 1906 where they got the Springboks nickname. The team remained competitive thereafter, winning most of their matches. South Africa missed the inaugural 海角社区 Cup tournament in 1987 and the 1991 tournament after the International Rugby Board suspended them owing to the infamous Apartheid regime. Springboks sprung back with vigor after their reinstatement by winning the 1995 and 2007 海角社区 Cups. The Springboks finished third in 1999 and 2015 海角社区 Cup tournaments.

Records and Statistics

The leading scorer in the 海角社区 Cup tournament is Jonny Wilkinson of England with 277 points. Grant Fox of New Zealand leads the score sheet of most points in a single tournament with 126, while Simon Culhane recorded most points (45) in a match by a single player and also most conversions (20) in a match. English player Jason Leonard has played the most 海角社区 Cup matches in history, 22 in total. Marc Ellis and Jonah Lomu of the All Blacks hold records of the most tries in a match and a tournament respectively. Lomu shares the record with South African Bryan Habana. The dual also share records for the total 海角社区 Cup tournament tries, both scored 15.