Sporting Bygones: Inaugural Rugby World Cup set the sport up for a successful integration into professional era

While millions are expected to tune in to this year’s tournament, there was no guarantee that the initial World Cup would be a success, as the England captain at the time Mike Harrison remembers.

“There was a feeling of excitement to be involved in the first World Cup, but it had never happened before,” he said.

“It might not have been successful and people weren’t sure whether the crowds would turn up or if any money could be made out of it.”

Sixteens teams competed, with the seven international Rugby Football Board members; New Zealand, Australia, England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales and France qualifying automatically.

The remaining nine spots were filled with nations selected by invitation. South Africa were, however, excluded because of the international sports boycott relating to their apartheid policy.

England opened their Pool 1 campaign with a disappointing 19-6 defeat to Australia, though Harrison insists they remained confident they could do well.

“We thought we could be successful,” he said. “Even though it was a different format we had a good team and those in the squad who had been on tour before had an idea of what was to be expected.”

The Wakefield winger scored England’s only try against the Aussies and it is a moment he has fond memories of.

“It was a good old-fashioned try. It was an excellent team move and I was happy to touch down in the corner,” he recalled.

England regrouped and went on to secure high-scoring victories over Japan and the United States to seal their passage into the knock-out stages.

The Japanese were emphatically dispatched 60-7, with Harrison scoring a hat-trick in just 13 minutes. Rory Underwood also added two tries.

The margin of victory was not as wide against the United States, but England still ran out comfortable 34-6 winners.

Harrison got another try, while Headingley (which would later merge with Roundhay to become Leeds Carnegie) flanker Peter Winterbottom touched down twice.

England finished second behind Australia – who won all three of their matches – to set up a quarter-final clash with Wales.

The Welsh, led by Tony Gray and featuring the likes of Jonathan Davies and Adrian Hadley, had qualified top of Pool 2 with maximum points.

This was to be England’s last appearance at the tournament, as they crashed out, losing 16-3.

The contest was a largely uninspiring affair. Gareth Roberts, Robert Jones and John Devereux scored the Welsh tries, with England’s three points coming courtesy of a Jonathan Webb penalty.

Harrison was left frustrated by the defeat and disappointed at England’s relatively early exit.

“It was quite sad to be getting on the plane so soon,” he said. “We thought we had a good chance to progress further. We didn’t even get the chance to play in New Zealand, which we would have done if he had reached the semi-finals.”

Despite their disappointment, England’s experience at the first World Cup held them in good stead for the next edition four years later. A largely unchanged squad would progress through to the final on home soil, where they lost to Australia.

Harrison believes the experience the players gained from the first World Cup set the tone for later editions.

“That first World Cup was a catalyst for a more professional attitude in rugby,” he said. “The players had individual training regimes and the coaches understood better how to prepare a team for a World Cup.”

Overall, the 1987 tournament was largely considered to be a success. The host nations Australia and New Zealand progressed to the semi-final and final respectively, with the Kiwi’s winning the competition, defeating France in the final.

Australia’s 30-24 semi-final defeat to France is considered one of the best matches ever seen at a Rugby World Cup, while even games between the less-heralded nations, such as Romania’s 21-20 victory over Zimbabwe, generated excitement.

The one criticism the tournament faced was that the difference in quality between the member nations and those invited. Harrison said: “These games helped invited nations develop. They could only get better. In our group, Japan were an unknown quantity, but the US were a good team. Playing against the big nations was their cup final.”