Zimbabwe at the Rugby World Cup

Zimbabwe have made two Rugby World Cup appearances – in 1987 and 1991.

In the 1987 Rugby World Cup, Zimbabwe's national rugby team was invited as the African entrant. No other African countries were invited, as South Africa was disqualified from the tournament due to a sporting boycott adopted by the international community in response to apartheid.

However, Zimbabwe succeeded in getting through 1991 Rugby World Cup qualifying, and hosted the Africa qualifications. In more recent years, the Namibia national rugby union team has generally defeated Zimbabwe in African qualifying rounds.

Nation	Number of appearances	First appearance	Most recent appearance	Streak	Best result
Zimbabwe	2	1987	1991	2	No games won

By position edit

1987 Rugby World Cup Eliminated in pool stages
1991 Rugby World Cup Eliminated in pool stages
1995 Rugby World Cup Did not qualify.
1999 Rugby World Cup Did not qualify.
2003 Rugby World Cup Did not qualify.
2007 Rugby World Cup Did not qualify.
2011 Rugby World Cup Did not qualify.
2015 Rugby World Cup Did not qualify.
2019 Rugby World Cup Did not qualify.

Matches edit

1987 Rugby World Cup edit

Pool 4 games –

Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	T	Pts	Qualification
France	3	2	1	0	145	44	+101	25	5^[a]	Knockout stage
Scotland	3	2	1	0	135	69	+66	22	5^[a]	Knockout stage
Romania	3	1	0	2	61	130	−69	6	2
Zimbabwe	3	0	0	3	53	151	−98	5	0

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Notes:

^ ^a ^b France qualify as pool winner having scored three tries to Scotland's two in their drawn match.

23 May 1987

Romania	21–20	Zimbabwe
Try: Paraschiv Toader Hodorcă Pen: Alexandru (3)		Try: Tsimba (2) Neill Con: Ferreira Pen: Ferreira (2)

Eden Park, Auckland
Attendance: 4,500
Referee: Stephen Hilditch (Ireland)

30 May 1987

Scotland	60–21	Zimbabwe
Try: Tait (2) Tukalo (2) Duncan (2) Paxton (2) Oliver Hastings Jeffrey Con: Hastings (8)		Try: Buitendag Con: Grobler Pen: Grobler (5)

Athletic Park, Wellington
Attendance: 12,000
Referee: David Burnett (Ireland)

2 June 1987

France	70–12	Zimbabwe
Try: Modin (3) Camberabero (3) Charvet (2) Rodriguez (2) Dubroca Estève Laporte Con: Camberabero (9)		Try: Kaulback Con: Grobler Pen: Grobler (2)

Eden Park, Auckland
Attendance: 3,000
Referee: Derek Bevan (Wales)

1991 Rugby World Cup edit

Pool 2 games –

Team v t e	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
Scotland	3	3	0	122	36	+86	6
Ireland	3	2	1	102	51	+51	4
Japan	3	1	2	77	87	−10	2
Zimbabwe	3	0	3	31	158	−127	0

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

6 October 1991

Ireland	55–11	Zimbabwe
Tries: Robinson (4), Popplewell (2), Geoghegan, Curtis Con: Keyes (4) Pen: Keyes (5)		Tries: Dawson, Schultz Pen: Ferreira

Lansdowne Road, Dublin
Referee: Keith Lawrence

9 October 1991

Scotland	51–12	Zimbabwe
Tries: Tukalo (3), Turnbull, S. Hastings, Stanger, Weir, White Con: Dods (5) Pen: Dods (2) Drop: Wylie		Tries: Garvey (2) Con: Currin (2)

Murrayfield, Edinburgh
Referee: Don Reordan

14 October 1991

Japan	52–8	Zimbabwe
Tries: Yoshida (2), Mashuho (2), Kutsuki (2), Horikoshi, Luaiufi, Matsuo Con: Hosokawa (2) Pen: Hosokawa (4)		Tries: Tsimba, Nguruve

Ravenhill, Belfast
Referee: Rene Hourquet

1995 Rugby World Cup edit

Did not qualify.

1999 Rugby World Cup edit

Did not qualify.

2003 Rugby World Cup edit

Did not qualify.

2007 Rugby World Cup edit

Did not qualify.

2011 Rugby World Cup edit

Did not qualify.

2015 Rugby World Cup edit

Did not qualify.

2019 Rugby World Cup edit

Did not qualify.

Overall record edit

Country	Pld	L	F	A	+/-
Romania	1	1	20	21	−1
Ireland	1	1	11	55	−44
Japan	1	1	8	52	−44
France	1	1	12	70	−58
Scotland	2	2	33	113	−80
TOTAL	6	6	105	373	−268

Team Records edit

Most Points in a Tournament

53 (1987)
31 (1991)

Most Points in a Game

21 vs Scotland (1987)
20 vs Romania (1987)
12 vs Scotland (1991)
12 vs France (1987)

Biggest Winning Margin

NIL

Highest Score Against

70 vs France (1987)
60 vs Scotland (1987)
55 vs Ireland (1991)
52 vs Japan (1991)
51 vs Scotland (1991)

Biggest Losing Margin

58 vs France (1987)
44 vs Ireland (1991)
44 vs Japan (1991)
39 vs Scotland (1987)
39 vs Scotland (1991)

Most Tries in a Game

3 vs Romania (1987)
2 vs Scotland (1991)
2 vs Ireland (1991)
2 vs Japan (1991)

Individual records edit

Most appearances

6 Michael Martin (1987, 1991)
5 Richard Tsimba (1987, 1991)
4 Andy Ferreria (1987, 1991)
4 Craig Brown (1987, 1991)
4 Alex Nicholis (1987, 1991)

Most points overall

25 Marthinus Grobler (1987)
12 Richard Tsimba (1987, 1991)
11 Andy Ferreria (1987, 1991)
8 Adrian Garvey (1991)

Most points in a game

17 vs Scotland – Marthinus Grobler (1987)
8 vs Scotland – Adrian Garvey (1991)
8 vs Romania – Andy Ferreria (1987)
6 vs Romania – Richard Tsimba (1987)

Most tries overall

2 Richard Tsimba (1987, 1991)
2 Adrian Garvey (1991)

Most penalty goals

7 Marthinus Grobler (1987)
3 Andy Ferreria (1987, 1991)

Most penalty goals in a game

5 vs Scotland – Marthinus Grobler (1987)
2 vs France – Marthinus Grobler (1987)
2 vs Romania – Andy Ferreria (1987)
1 vs Ireland – Andy Ferreria (1991)

Hosting edit

So far Zimbabwe has not hosted any World Cup games.

References edit

Davies, Gerald (2004) The History of the Rugby World Cup (Sanctuary Publishing Ltd, (ISBN 1860746020)
Farr-Jones, Nick, (2003). Story of the Rugby World Cup, Australian Post Corporation, (ISBN 0-642-36811-2)

[table_hth_FRA0.90045028175248-1] France qualify as pool winner having scored three tries to Scotland's two in their drawn match.

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