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World Records – Rugby

Next on our sport in records is the great game of Rugby Union.

Originated in England in the first half of the 19th century, by 2014 there were more than 6 million people playing worldwide, of whom 2.36 million were registered players.  The sport was made professional in 1995 after the World Cup.

Now let’s look at some rugby records.

World Rugby Rankings

  • 1.  New Zealand 92.54
  • 2.  Ireland 91.17
  • 3. Wales 87.24
  • 4. England 86.22

World Cup Wins

World Records Rugby

New Zealand lead this one with 3 wins since the World Cup was introduced in 1987.

  • New Zealand 3 wins in 1987, 2011, 2015
  • South Africa 3 wins in 1995, 2007, 2019.
  • Australia 2 wins in  1991, 1999
  • England 1 wins in 2003

Australia hold the biggest win margin in a World Cup beating Namibia 142-0 at the 2013 World Cup

Brian Habana (SA) and Jonah Lomu (NZ)  hold the overall records for most tries scored in the World Cup with 15 each.

The Highest Paid Rugby Players in 2018

Highest Points Scorer

Dan Carter has scored an incredible 1598 points between 1993 – 1015 in 112 caps and this record is unlikely to be beaten

World Records Rugby

Jonny Wilkinson is in at #2 with 1246 points in 97 caps

Highest Try Scorer

  • 1. Daisuke Ohata (Japan) 69 tries, 58 caps
  • 2. Bryan Habana (South Africa) 67 tries, 124 caps
  • 3. David Campese (Australia) 64 tries 101 caps
  • 4. Shane Williams (Wales) 60 tries, 91 caps
  • 5. Hirotoki Onozawa (Japan) 55 tries, 81 caps

The 10 Greatest Rugby Players of all time

Most Prolific Referee

Johnatan Kaplan (South Africa) 70 matches

Allain Rolland (Ireland) 68 matches

Nigel Owen (Wales)  61 matches

The Richest Rugby Clubs in the World

Most Capped Players

World Records Rugby

  • 1. 142 Richie Mc Caw – New Zealand.  Mc Caw also holds the record for most test wins at 125 over his career.
  • 2. 141 Brian O’Driscoll – Ireland
  • 3. 139 George Gregan – Australia
  • 4. 130 Ronan O’Gara – Ireland
  • 5. 126 Keven Mealamu New Zealand

Red Cards

New Zealand’s Cyril Brownlie became the first player to be sent off in an international when he was dismissed during his side’s final tour clash with England in 1925

Uruguay’s Mario Cagnani, Samoa’s  and the United States’ Paul Emerick lead the pack with 2 red cards each!

Six Nations

Brian O’Driscoll holds the 6 nations try scoring record with 26, Shane Williams is #2 with 22 tries. Here’s the full list – Top 6 Nations try scorers of all time

England lead the way with 6 nation wins, here are the 6 nations winners from 2000-2018

Champions Cup

World Records Rugby

Leinster and Toulouse are the most successful rugby clubs in the Champions Cup with 4 tournament wins each

Champions Cup winners since 1995

Leinster also hold the title of most Pro 14 wins with 5 tournament titles.


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