2007 Rose Bowl, Pre-game
A moment of silence prior to the national anthem was held in memory of former Michigan center, 38th President of the United States, and 1978 Tournament of Roses Grand Marshal Gerald Ford, who died six days earlier. George Lucas, Southern California alum, the creator of the Star Wars series of films, and 2007 Tournament of Roses Grand Marshal, flipped the coin. The coin used featured Southern California's logo on one on side and Michigan's logo on the other. Neither team called a side as the team's logo that landed up won the coin toss. Southern California deferred after winning the coin toss, and Michigan elected to receive the ball on the kickoff. The game officially started at 2:00 pm PST (UTC−8).


2007 Rose Bowl, Game notes
Many times the participants of the Rose Bowl game have been the winners of the respective UCLA–USC rivalry and Michigan-Ohio State rivalry games, although there have been instances where the loser of the rivalry game still won the conference championship. In the 2007 Rose Bowl game, the participants both were the losers of those games, and Michigan was an at-large BCS participant with a second place Big Ten finish.


2007 Rossendale Borough Council election
Elections to Rossendale Borough Council were held on 3 May 2007. One third of the council was up for election and the Conservative party stayed in overall control of the council.


2007 Rother District Council election
The 2007 Rother District Council election took place on 3 May 2007 to elect members of Rother District Council in East Sussex, England. The whole council was up for election and the Conservative Party stayed in overall control of the council.


2007 Rother District Council election, Background
At the last election in 2003 the Conservatives retained control of the council with 25 councillors, while the Liberal Democrats had 8, Labour had 3 and there were 2 independents. However, by the time of the 2007 election the Liberal Democrat group had been reduced to 6 councillors, while 2 of the 3 Labour councillors, Helen and Keith Bridger, had left the Labour party in December 2006 and stood at the election as independents. Meanwhile, the Conservative leader of the council Graham Gubby stood down at the election.


2007 Rother District Council election, Election result
The Conservatives increased their majority on the council after making a net gain of 2 seats to have 28 of the 38 councillors. The Conservatives narrowly defeated Liberal Democrat councillor John Kemp in Crowhurst by 2 votes after 3 recounts, while also taking out the only Labour councillor Samuel Souster in Rye. This meant Rother was one of more than 10 councils in which Labour lost their last presence on the council in the 2007 local elections.


2007 Rother District Council election, Election result
The Liberal Democrats also gained 2 seats to have 8 councillors, after defeating Conservative councillors in Bexhill St Michael's and Battle Town ward. Meanwhile, the independents were reduced from 5 to 2 councillors, with Keith and Helen Bridger being defeated in Bexhill Sidley, while Eric Armstrong lost in Bexhill Old Town.


2007 Rother District Council election, Election result
Following the election Conservative Carl Maynard became the new leader of the council.


2007 Rother District Council election, By-elections between 2007 and 2011, Bexhill Collington
A by-election was held in Bexhill Collington on 12 June 2008 after the death of Conservative councillor Ron Dyason. The seat was held for the Conservatives by Gillian Wheeler with a majority of 677 votes over the Liberal Democrats.


2007 Rother District Council election, By-elections between 2007 and 2011, Bexhill Sackville
A by-election was held in Bexhill Sackville on 3 July 2008 after Conservative councillor Keith Standring resigned from the council. The seat was held for the Conservatives by Richard Carroll with a majority of 80 votes over the Liberal Democrats.


2007 Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council election
Elections to Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council were held on 3 May 2007. The Labour party kept overall control of the council. One third of the council was up for election and no boundary changes were made.


2007 Rotterdam Sprint Cup
The 2007 Rotterdam Sprint Cup was held from 4 to 9 January 2007 in Rotterdam Ahoy Sportpaleis in Rotterdam. The event was held for the first time and scheduled together with the 2007 Six Days of Rotterdam. Six of the world's best track sprint cyclists challenged each other in several sprint disciplines over six days, resulting in a total ranking.


2007 Royal Bank Cup
The 2007 Royal Bank Cup is the 37th Junior "A" 2007 ice hockey National Championship for the Canadian Junior A Hockey League. The 2007 National Champions were the Aurora Tigers, winning their second title in four years.


2007 Royal Bank Cup
The Royal Bank Cup was competed for by the winners of the Doyle Cup, Anavet Cup, Dudley Hewitt Cup, the Fred Page Cup and the host city, the Prince George Spruce Kings of the British Columbia Hockey League.


2007 Royal Bank Cup
The tournament was hosted by the Prince George Spruce Kings and ran in May 2007 with games played at the CN Centre in Prince George, British Columbia.


2007 Royal Bank Cup
The defending 2006 champions were the Burnaby Express of the British Columbia Hockey League, but they failed to make it out of their league playdowns. This year's frontrunners were the Camrose Kodiaks and the Aurora Tigers. The Kodiaks were the top ranked team in the CJAHL for the first part of the season, while the Tigers were the nation's top team from the point that Camrose gave it up until now.


2007 Royal Bank Cup
The Pembroke Lumber Kings dominated the Central league and squeaked out of the regionals, while being known as a dangerous team they are still looking for their first National Title. The Selkirk Steelers are a tough team and have been thought to be a contender since early in the season. The host Prince George Spruce Kings should be well rested for the competition after a month off since being eliminated, the host is rarely not a factor at the Royal Bank Cup.


2007 Royal Bank Cup, Details
The tournament opened up on May 5, 2007. The first game took place between Prince George and Pembroke. Pembroke came out strong, but the first period closed out with a 1–1 tie. Prince George took control in the second, running up three goals, and eventually took the game 5–2. Historically, it is not uncommon for a well rested host team to surprise any of the four war-torn and jet-lagged regional champions at the Royal Bank Cup. Since the first Royal Bank Cup was awarded in 1996, the host team has won the championship four times in eleven tries.


2007 Royal Bank Cup, Details
On May 6, the Aurora Tigers started their tourney off strong, taking an early 3–0 lead against the Selkirk Steelers. The Tigers ran into some penalty troubles, but the game still ended up 4–2 in their favour. In the late game, Prince George came out strong against the Camrose Kodiaks and took an early 2–0 lead. The Kodiaks put on the heat in the second and from that point on scored four unanswered goals to take the game 4–2.


2007 Royal Bank Cup, Details
Day 3: May 7. The early game was between the Aurora Tigers and the Pembroke Lumber Kings. Aurora came out strong and took an early lead, but ran into rather lopsided penalty trouble and found themselves down 3–1 in the third. The Pembroke lead corresponded with a string of nine minor penalties, eight of which were given to the Tigers. The Tigers roared back to tie it at 3 late in the third, just to allow another Pembroke goal and then later a Pembroke empty netter. The Lumber Kings proved their worth with a 5–3 victory over the nation's top ranked team, although inconsistent refereeing may have also been a factor. Despite a hard-fought game and a great effort, the Selkirk Steelers were topped 3-1 by the Camrose Kodiaks.


2007 Royal Bank Cup, Details
On Day 4, three teams got to rest, but not Prince George and Aurora. Both teams coming off losses, this game was undeniably important. Despite outshooting the Tigers, the Spruce Kings were just out-gunned and were defeated by a 6–3 score.


2007 Royal Bank Cup, Details
May 8 started off with a duel between Camrose and Pembroke. Pembroke, flying high from a victory over top seated Aurora, ran into a brick wall and were shut down 3-0 by the Kodiaks. The late game was between Prince George and Selkirk. A win for either team would guarantee a semi-final spot for the victor. The game remained scoreless until the third where Prince George squeezed out a 2–1 victory. With the win Prince George clinched a playoff spot with a 2–2 record.


2007 Royal Bank Cup, Details
On the final day of the round robin came the much anticipated showdown between the top seeded Aurora Tigers and the second seeded Camrose Kodiaks. The Tigers jumped out to an early 2–0 lead, just to lose it on a pair of quick power-play goals by the Kodiaks. The Tiger went up 4–2 in the second. In the third it was very back and forth, but the Tigers out scored them in rather violent third period 3–2 to win the game 7–4. This may be the preview for a much anticipated rematch in the championship game.


2007 Royal Bank Cup, Details
With the win, the Tigers climbed to 3–1 to clinch the top seed and the Kodiaks dropped to 3-1 and due to a tie breaker are relegated to 2nd seed and a semi-final against Prince George. Camrose chose to start back-up goaltender Keanan Boomer in the game while Aurora chose to stay the course with starter Tyler Gordon. Boomer had only played in one game since the end of the regular season up to this point. In the final game of the round robin, it was winner move on, loser go home. Pembroke and Selkirk battled it out in a tight and hard-fought game. Despite the Steelers outshooting the Lumber Kings, the Kings won 4–2. This sets up a rematch for Aurora and Pembroke in the Semi-final.


2007 Royal Bank Cup, Details
After a days rest, May 12 was semi-final day at the RBC tournament. The early game was 1st seed Aurora in a rematch against the only team to beat them in the round robin, 4th seed Pembroke. Part two of the battle of Ontario saw Pembroke carrying a 2–1 lead late in the second period. With less than 3 minutes to go in the second, Aurora knotted the game at 2 and a scoreless third forced an overtime period. At 2:21 of the overtime period tournament MVP Daniel Michalsky popped in a rebound to win the game for the Tigers.


2007 Royal Bank Cup, Details
The second semi-final was between 2nd seed Camrose and 3rd seed Prince George. Alain Joanette got Prince George on the board first, snapping a shot past Kodiaks goaltender Allen York almost 15 minutes into the opening period, and Vinny Muchalla got his first of the tournament three minutes into the middle frame on a controversial goal, putting the Spruce Kings up by a pair halfway through the game.


2007 Royal Bank Cup, Details
The goal came as Muchalla slid into the net and knocked the net off the moorings, and the ref blew the whistle and had his arm in the air, calling the play dead. Then the puck was shot in the net and the ref called it a goal. Joe Colborne got the Kodiaks to within one just past the midway point of the second period, finishing off a beautiful set-up from linemates Scott Kobialko and Mike Connolly on a Camrose power play. After being stoned on numerous chances by the Spruce Kings' goalie Jordan White for more than 18 minutes in the third period, Jesse Todd undressed a Prince George defender and had a little breakaway, blasting a highlight reel goal past White, pulling the Kodiaks even with just 1:51 to go.


2007 Royal Bank Cup, Details
The game ended up being the longest game in Royal Bank Cup history at 146 minutes and 1 second as the Spruce Kings broke a 2–2 tie just over six minutes into the fifth overtime period to win 3-2 and clinch a berth in the RBC Cup Final against the Aurora Tigers. Jason Yuel of the Spruce Kings scored the winner while goaltender Jordan White stopped 91 of 93 shots for the victory.


2007 Royal Bank Cup, Details
The final was a nail-biter to the end. The Tigers were up 1–0 at the end of the first and 2–0 at the end of the second. Both teams were tired and in their sixth game of the tournament, but hitting was heavy and both teams battled hard. The Tigers scored early in the third on the power play, and the Spruce Kings scored with less than five minutes to play to keep the game close and interesting. The Tigers shut them down from there and clinched their second national title in four years. The Tigers finished the season with a record of 73 wins, 10 losses, and 1 tie and allowed no one to play spoiler on them from regular season game one, through the playoffs, the Dudley Hewitt Cup, or the Royal Bank Cup.


2007 Royal League Final
The 2007 Royal League Final determined the winner of the 2006–07 edition of the football tournament Royal League. It was contested at Brøndby Stadion on March 15, 2007, between Danish teams Brøndby IF and F.C. Copenhagen.


2007 Royal League Final, Match facts
Team:16 Stephan Andersen (GK)03 Thomas Rytter  34'04 Per Nielsen05 Mark Howard06 Marcus Lantz  28'09 Martin Retov10 Martin Ericsson sub 9017 Morten "Duncan" Rasmussen22 Morten Rasmussen  85'23 Martin Spelmann sub 9028 Chris Katongo sub 72


2007 Royal League Final, Match facts
Substitutes:40 Morten Cramer (GK, not used)07 Kasper Lorentzen in 7215 Ruben Bagger (not used)18 Henrik Kildentoft in 9031 David Williams in 9032 Anders Randrup (not used)41 Nicolaj Agger (not used)


2007 Royal League Final, Match facts
Match rules:90 minutes. Extra time 2x15 minutes if needed. Penalty shootout if scores level. Seven named substitutesMaximum of 3 substitutions.


2007 Royal League Final, Match facts
Team:01 Jesper Christiansen (GK)02 Lars Jacobsen  85'04 Hjalte Nørregaard sub 6405 Brede Hangeland08 Michael Silberbauer09 Fredrik Berglund sub 6410 Jesper Grønkjær  37'13 Atiba Hutchinson16 Dan Thomassen17 Oscar Wendt23 William Kvist


2007 Royal League Final, Match facts
Substitutes:21 Thomas Villadsen (GK, not used)03 Niclas Jensen (not used)07 Ailton Almeida in 6414 Michael Gravgaard in 6424 Jeppe Brandrup (not used)26 Nikolaj Hansen (not used)29 Lasse Qvist (not used)


2007 Royal Mail industrial disputes
The 2007 Royal Mail industrial disputes were a series of industrial disputes between Royal Mail and the Communication Workers Union in the United Kingdom.


2007 Royal Mail industrial disputes, Background
The dispute centred on 'modernisation plans' which Royal Mail said were required to remain competitive, however the CWU believed that these might have led to around 40,000 job losses. Additionally there were disputes surrounding flexible working hours, pay rises and pensions.


2007 Royal Mail industrial disputes, Background, Royal Mail position
Royal Mail claimed that flexibility is vital to the business, and that it was entirely reasonable for employees normally employed in one capacity to cover other roles as required to cope with variations in the work levels in each area. The company was also adamant that increased automation (and fewer employees) were necessary to bring costs under control. The unions were accused of retaining numerous Spanish practices which prevent flexible working.


2007 Royal Mail industrial disputes, Background, CWU position
The CWU accused Royal Mail of treating its employees as slaves, and regarded a level of flexibility which would have seen employees doing different jobs on a daily basis as unacceptable.


2007 Royal Mail industrial disputes, Background, Government position
The CWU called on the government to "intervene in a positive way". Until early October, the government maintained its stance that this was a matter for Royal Mail and the union to sort out. However, in early October Gordon Brown called on the CWU to reach an agreement on the terms offered, a move that was condemned by the TUC.


2007 Royal Mail industrial disputes, Background, Public view
Public opinion was divided, with some strongly in support of the Postal Workers, and others supporting Royal Mail and condemning the disruption caused by the strikes.


2007 Royal Mail industrial disputes, Royal Mail response
Royal Mail drafted in managers from non-operational roles to attempt to keep some mail moving through the system, and offered opportunities for those CWU members who wish to work to do so at other offices to avoid conflict with striking colleagues, but the strike still had a major impact on the operation.


2007 Royal Trophy
The 2007 Royal Trophy was the second edition of the Royal Trophy, a team golf event contested between teams representing Asia and Europe. It was held from 12–14 January at the Amata Spring Country Club in Thailand. Europe retained the trophy with an emphatic 12½–3½ victory, prompting suggestions that it might be desirable to even up the contest by having Europe play a combined team representing Asia and Australasia.


2007 Rugby World Cup
The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 20 October. France won the hosting rights in 2003, beating a bid from England. The competition consisted of 48 matches over 44 days; 42 matches were played in ten cities throughout France, as well as four in Cardiff, Wales, and two in Edinburgh, Scotland.


2007 Rugby World Cup
The eight quarter-finalists from 2003 were granted automatic qualification, while 12 other nations gained entry through the regional qualifying competitions that began in 2004 – of them, Portugal was the only World Cup debutant. The top three nations from each pool at the end of the pool stage qualified automatically for the 2011 World Cup.


2007 Rugby World Cup
The competition opened with a match between hosts France and Argentina on 7 September at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, outside Paris. The stadium was also the venue of the final, played between England and South Africa on 20 October, which South Africa won 15–6 to win their second World Cup title.


2007 Rugby World Cup, Bids
Both England and France bid to host the tournament. The tender document for the 2007 bidding process was due out on 31 October 2001. Both England and France were invited to re-submit their plans. The International Rugby Board (IRB) stated that both countries must comply with tender document terms in one bid, but in their second option, could propose alternative ideas. The IRB said "England's original proposal contained three plans for hosting the tournament with a traditional, new and hybrid format all on offer... The French bid, while complying with the tender document in all other respects, fell outside one of the `windows` in which the IRB wanted to stage an event". England's bids included a two-tier tournament and altering the structure of the qualifying tournament and France had a bid in September/October.


2007 Rugby World Cup, Bids
It was announced in April 2003 that France had won the right to host the tournament. The tournament was moved to the proposed September–October dates with the tournament structure remaining as it was. It was also announced that ten French cities would be hosting games, with the final at the Stade de France. French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin said that "this decision illustrates the qualities of our country and its capacity to host major sporting events... This World Cup will be the opportunity to showcase the regions of France where the wonderful sport of rugby is deeply rooted".


2007 Rugby World Cup, Bids
French Sports Minister Jean-François Lamour said that "The organisation of this World Cup will shine over all of France because ten French towns have the privilege of organising matches and to be in the world's spotlight." French cities to host games were Bordeaux, Lens, Lyon, Marseille, Montpellier, Nantes, St. Etienne, Toulouse and Paris, and it was also announced that the final would be at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis.


2007 Rugby World Cup, Qualifying
The eight quarter-finalists from the 2003 World Cup all received automatic entry, with the other 12 nations coming from qualifying series around the world. Ten of the 20 positions available in the tournament were filled by regional qualifiers, with an additional two being filled by repechage qualification. The qualifying tournament was divided into five regional groups; Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania. Qualifying matches began in 2004 and were completed in early 2007. Including the automatic qualifiers, over 90 nations were in qualifying contention for the final tournament.


2007 Rugby World Cup, Qualifying
In July 2005, both Samoa and Fiji were confirmed as the qualifiers from Oceania, as Oceania 1 and 2 respectively. In July of the following year, Argentina qualified as Americas 1 by defeating Uruguay 26–0 in Buenos Aires. Americas 2 was filled in August when Canada defeated the United States 56–7 in Newfoundland. The United States went on to qualify as Americas 3 after beating Uruguay in a two-legged tie in early October. That month also saw Italy qualify as Europe 1 after defeating Russia 67–7 in Moscow, reaching the first place in its qualifying group; Romania defeated Spain 43–20 in Madrid, and also qualified for the World Cup as Europe 2.


2007 Rugby World Cup, Qualifying
Namibia qualified for their third consecutive World Cup after they earned their spot in France by defeating Morocco over two legs in November. In late 2006, it was announced that the IRB had withdrawn Colombo as the venue of the final Asian qualifying tournament due to security problems. Japan won the only Asian allocation after the tournament was moved to Hong Kong. Georgia was 14 points the better of Portugal over two legs to claim the last European place. Tonga qualified through repechage after defeating Korea. The final spot went to Portugal, joining Pool C after beating Uruguay 24–23 on aggregate. Portugal's qualification was the only change in the 20-team roster from the 2003 World Cup, replacing Uruguay, becoming the only wholly amateur team to qualify.


2007 Rugby World Cup, Hosting
France won the right to host the 2007 World Cup in 2003, and it was subsequently announced that four matches would be held in Wales, at Cardiff's 74,500-seat Millennium Stadium (two Pool B games involving Wales, the match between Fiji and Canada, and a quarter-final). Ireland was to have hosted matches at Lansdowne Road, Dublin, but opted out because the stadium was being redeveloped.


2007 Rugby World Cup, Hosting
Two of Scotland's Pool C matches were played at Murrayfield Stadium in Scotland. The Scottish Rugby Union was reportedly having doubts in early 2006 about hosting these games and whether Scotland would generate enough market demand, but confirmed in April 2006 that the games would be played at Murrayfield. In the end, the Scotland v. New Zealand match failed to sell out, and the stadium was less than half-full for the Scotland v. Romania match.


2007 Rugby World Cup, Hosting
There was a substantial increase in the overall capacity of stadiums compared to the 2003 Rugby World Cup – the smallest venue at the 2007 tournament could seat 33,900 people. The French venues were the same as those used for the 1998 FIFA World Cup. Around 6,000 volunteers helped to organise the competition.


2007 Rugby World Cup, Hosting
Although the 2007 tournament was the first to be hosted primarily by France, a number of matches during the 1991 and 1999 tournaments were played in France. In 1991, matches in Pool D (which included France) were played in Béziers, Bayonne, Grenoble, Toulouse, Brive and Agen, while Parc des Princes and Stadium Lille-Metropole each hosted a quarter-final. Similarly, in 1999, fixtures in Pool C (which included France) were played in Béziers, Bordeaux and Toulouse, Stade Félix-Bollaert was the venue for one of the quarter-final play-offs, and the Stade de France hosted a quarter-final.


2007 Rugby World Cup, Tickets and sponsorship
Ticket sales for the Rugby World Cup were broken up into three phases. The first phase was released in November 2005, when members of the European rugby community, such as officials, players and so on were given the opportunity for various packages. Upon the release of the second phase ticketing scheme, more than 100,000 tickets were sold in the first ten hours of release. The remaining tickets – individual tickets and tickets to the semi-finals – were released in phase three in November 2006. In June 2007, it was announced that 2 million of the 2.4 million tickets had been sold in advance of the tournament.


2007 Rugby World Cup, Tickets and sponsorship
The Worldwide partners for the tournament were Société Générale, GMF, Électricité de France, Peugeot, Visa and SNCF, and official sponsors include Heineken, Vediorbis, Capgemini, Orange, Toshiba and Emirates. Gilbert will be providing the tournament balls, the Gilbert Synergie match ball will be used throughout the tournament. This continues Gilbert's involvement with the World Cup, the company having provided the Barbarian (1995), Revolution (1999) and Xact (2003) balls in the past. Along with Gilbert, the official suppliers are Adidas, Coca-Cola, Clifford Chance, Goodyear and McDonald's. The host broadcaster for the event was TF1.


2007 Rugby World Cup, Squads
Each country was allowed a squad of 30 players for the tournament. These squads were to be submitted to the International Rugby Board by a deadline of 14 August 2007. Once the squad was submitted a player could be replaced if injured, but would not be allowed to return to the squad.


2007 Rugby World Cup, Match officials
The 2007 Rugby World Cup officials were appointed in late-April 2007, with 12 referees and 13 touch judges being chosen to officiate during the pool stage. In the knockout stage the 12 referees also acted as touch judges, with referee appointments being based on performance from previous matches and selection for neutrality. Referees came from seven different nationalities and three of them made their Rugby World Cup debut. The touch judges came from 10 different countries. Tony Spreadbury of England officiated the opening game between France and Argentina at the Stade de France and Irishman Alain Rolland refereed the final.


2007 Rugby World Cup, Pool Format
The competition was contested over 44 days between 20 different nations, over 48 fixtures. The tournament began on 7 September at the Stade de France with a match between the host nation, France, and Argentina. The tournament culminated at the same venue on 20 October for the Final between England and South Africa.


2007 Rugby World Cup, Pool Format, Pool stage
Classification within each pool was based on the following scoring system:


2007 Rugby World Cup, Pool Format, Pool stage
Bonus points, contributing to a team's cumulative match-point score, were awarded in each of the following instances (one match point for each event):


2007 Rugby World Cup, Pool Format, Pool stage
At the end of the pool stage, teams were ranked from first to fifth based on cumulative match points, with the top two nations proceeding to the quarter-finals.


2007 Rugby World Cup, Pool Format, Pool stage
If at the completion of the pool phase two or more Teams were level on Match points, then the following criteria would have been used in the following order until one of the Teams could be determined as the higher ranked:


2007 Rugby World Cup, Pool Format, Pool stage
By elevating head-to-head results (rule i) above points difference (rule ii), a notable difference is created to other sports competitions, in which points difference usually determines rank for teams with the same number of match points (table points). These rules allowed the winners of Pools A, B and C to be determined by the results of the third pool matches on the weekend of 22 and 23 September.


2007 Rugby World Cup, Pool Format, Pool stage
Although other teams could theoretically draw level on table points with South Africa, Australia and New Zealand and exceed their points differences at the end of the pool stages, head-to-head results by that time ensured these teams could be declared winners of their respective pools, with a match to spare. This also illustrates the fact that the pool tables do not tell the whole story.


2007 Rugby World Cup, Pool Format, Knockout stage
From this stage onwards, the tournament adopted a knockout format comprising eight fixtures: four quarter-finals, two semi-finals, a bronze medal match, and the final. The winner and runner-up from each of the four pools advanced to the quarter-finals. Pool winners were drawn against opposite pool runners-up in the quarter-finals, e.g. the winner of Pool A faced the runner up of Pool B, and the winner of Pool B faced the runner-up of Pool A.


2007 Rugby World Cup, Pool Format, Knockout stage
Each match in the knockout stage must conclude in a victory. If, after eighty minutes of normal play, a match results in a draw, further play is made to determine an outright winner. Initially, there will be two periods of extra time, 10 minutes each way; if there is no winner after this, then play proceeds to a single 10-minute period of 'sudden death' play. If the contest is unresolved after a total 110 minutes of open play, the winner will be determined by a placekicking competition.


2007 Rugby World Cup, Pool Format, Effect on 2011 qualification
In a change from the format of the previous tournament, the top three teams in each pool would qualify for the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand; previously, only the eight quarter-finalists gained an automatic place in the following tournament.


2007 Rugby World Cup, Statistics
The tournament's top point scorer was South African Percy Montgomery, who scored 105 points. Bryan Habana scored the most tries, eight in total.


2007 Rugby World Cup Final
The 2007 Rugby World Cup Final was a rugby union match, played on Saturday, 20 October 2007 at the Stade de France, Saint-Denis, Paris, to determine the winner of the 2007 Rugby World Cup. South Africa beat England 15–6. Having also won the 1995 tournament, South Africa became the second country to win two World Cups, following Australia, who won in 1991 and 1999.


2007 Rugby World Cup Final
England and South Africa, who won their semi-finals against France and Argentina respectively, had met during the pool stage of the competition, when South Africa won 36–0. South Africa began the final undefeated in the competition. The final was refereed by Irish referee Alain Rolland.


2007 Rugby World Cup Final
The match itself was try-less with each team scoring only penalties, South Africa five – four by fullback Percy Montgomery and one by centre François Steyn – and England two, both by fly-half Jonny Wilkinson. Each team had one major try scoring opportunity; South Africa's came late in the first half, while England's came early in the second, as wing Mark Cueto had a try disallowed in the 42nd minute after he was ruled to have put a foot in touch during a tackle by Danie Rossouw before grounding the ball. Television match official Stuart Dickinson stood by his decision, though he encountered a language barrier with the French broadcaster preventing his access to frame-by-frame pictures.


2007 Rugby World Cup Final, Path to the final
Both England and South Africa were placed in Pool A along with Samoa, Tonga and the United States. England's first match was against the United States, whom they beat 28–10. South Africa opened their campaign with a 59–7 victory over Samoa in which they scored seven tries, four of them by Bryan Habana. The two teams then met in their second match of the tournament. For the first time in their World Cup history, England were kept pointless as South Africa scored three tries to win 36–0.


2007 Rugby World Cup Final, Path to the final
South Africa then rested several of their top players for their match against Tonga. Tonga came close to an upset but South Africa held on to win 30–25, guaranteeing the Springboks top position in the pool. England then played Samoa, winning 44–22, before facing Tonga in a match effectively serving as a qualification play-off; whoever won the game would finish second in the pool behind South Africa. England eventually won 36–20, scoring four tries in the process.


2007 Rugby World Cup Final, Path to the final
England played Australia, who had finished top of Pool B, in their quarter-final. The match was a repeat of the 2003 World Cup final, with England coming out on top again, beating the Wallabies 12–10. All of England's points were scored by Jonny Wilkinson penalties. South Africa faced Fiji, who had defeated Wales to finish as runners-up behind Australia in Pool B. South Africa scored five tries to two and won 37–20. England played hosts France in their semi-final. Despite having less possession and territory England won 14–9. South Africa faced Argentina and scored four tries to one to win 37–13.


2007 Rugby World Cup Final, Match summary, First half
The match was kicked off by England's Jonny Wilkinson, whose kick was collected by Schalk Burger, before the ball was kicked into touch by Butch James, giving England the first line-out throw of the game. However, South Africa stole the ball to win the first line-out of the match. In the sixth minute, Mathew Tait attempted to run the ball from inside England's 22-metre line, only to be tackled and penalised for not releasing the ball in the ruck. South Africa's Percy Montgomery successfully converted the penalty to give the Springboks a 3–0 lead.


2007 Rugby World Cup Final, Match summary, First half
An up-and-under kick from England resulted in South African wing JP Pietersen dropping the ball. England regained possession and passed the ball out to winger Paul Sackey, before South Africa were penalised for killing the ball. Wilkinson stepped up to convert the penalty and level the scores at 3–3 after ten minutes. After a lot of kicking from both sides, Butch James was tripped by England flanker Lewis Moody as the South African fly-half was chasing a kick. Montgomery kicked the resulting penalty, to put the South Africans 6–3 up after 15 minutes. Two minutes later, England positioned themselves for an attempted drop-goal, but Wilkinson's attempt was left wanting as it drifted slightly wide.


2007 Rugby World Cup Final, Match summary, First half
After 21 minutes, England prop and captain Phil Vickery was penalised for being offside near the halfway line. The resulting penalty kick was taken by South Africa's centre Frans Steyn, but he missed the long-range effort. The match continued with large amounts of kicking from both sides until the 35th minute, when Steyn broke through the England line. South Africa managed to retain possession and eventually their hooker, John Smit, went for the try-line but was held up two metres short. The ball was eventually knocked on by South Africa and England were awarded a five-metre scrum.


2007 Rugby World Cup Final, Match summary, First half
The scrum had to be reset several times, but the Springbok forwards were finally able to wheel the scrum through 90 degrees to force the turnover. They won the scrum on their own feed and continued to press at England's goal line before England were penalised for killing the ball. A penalty was awarded, which Montgomery kicked to give South Africa a 9–3 half-time lead.


2007 Rugby World Cup Final, Match summary, Second half
The second half was kicked off by South Africa's Butch James, and the ball was caught by England's number 8 Nick Easter. After stewards had dealt with a pitch invasion by infamous pitch invader Jimmy Jump, the ball was eventually received by Mathew Tait, who was able to break the South African defensive line, before being tackled metres short of the South African goal line. The ball was recycled and spread left to England winger Mark Cueto, who dived for the try line while being tackled by South African number eight Danie Rossouw.


2007 Rugby World Cup Final, Match summary, Second half
Referee Alain Rolland referred the decision to Australian Television Match Official Stuart Dickinson to determine whether Cueto was in touch before grounding the ball. Dickinson ruled that a foot was in touch and Rolland brought play back to an earlier penalty against Schalk Burger. Wilkinson converted the penalty to reduce South Africa's lead to 9–6 after 42 minutes.


2007 Rugby World Cup Final, Match summary, Second half
In the 48th minute, Steyn made another break for South Africa and England flanker Martin Corry was penalised for playing the ball off his feet. Montgomery kicked the penalty to restore South Africa's six-point advantage. England penetrated South Africa's 22 in the 58th minute and their scrum-half Andy Gomarsall chipped the ball ahead for Toby Flood to run on to. However, the kick was too deep and was shepherded over the dead ball line by Percy Montgomery.


2007 Rugby World Cup Final, Match summary, Second half
Unable to reach the ball, and trying to force an English five-metre scrum, Flood pushed Montgomery in the back as they both chased for the ball, sending Montgomery into the advertising boards. In his attempt to hurdle the boards, Montgomery collided with a television camera, but referee Rolland decided not to penalise Flood. Three minutes later, just inside England's half, the English were penalised for obstruction, and Steyn kicked a 49-metre penalty to extend South Africa's lead to 15–6.


2007 Rugby World Cup Final, Match summary, Second half
In the 67th minute, South African captain John Smit was penalised for a collision with Mark Cueto as Cueto chased his own kick. Wilkinson kicked the ball into touch in South Africa's 22 from his own half, but England lost their resulting line-out to give South Africa possession. Requiring at least two scores to overhaul South Africa's lead, England kept attacking, and Wilkinson attempted a long-range drop goal in the 71st minute but was unsuccessful.


2007 Rugby World Cup Final, Match summary, Second half
England kept possession for long periods during the last ten minutes, but were unable to break through the South African defence. They were penalised in the 75th minute for holding on in the tackle, and South Africa continued to try to play the match in England territory. England then knocked the ball on in the 79th minute, giving South Africa a scrum. The South African forwards secured the ball, and as soon as the clock ticked over the 80-minute mark, the ball was kicked into touch.


2007 Rugby World Cup Final, Match summary, Second half
Referee Rolland then blew the final whistle, and South Africa had won their second World Cup title. This was also the second World Cup title for retiring prop Os du Randt, who was the last player from the Springboks' 1995 championship team still active. He joined five Australians who had been on the Wallabies' 1991 and 1999 championship teams as the only players at that time to have won two World Cups (they would be joined by several New Zealanders who won in 2011 and 2015, and by du Randt's Springboks teammate François Steyn in 2019).


2007 Rugby World Cup Final, Match details
Touch judges:Joël Jutge (France)Paul Honiss (New Zealand)Television match official:Stuart Dickinson (Australia)Fourth official:Alan Lewis (Ireland)Fifth official:Steve Walsh (New Zealand)


2007 Rugby World Cup Pool A
Pool A of the 2007 Rugby World Cup began on 8 September and was completed on 30 September. The pool was composed of 2003 World Cup winners England, as well as Samoa, South Africa, Tonga and United States.


2007 Rugby World Cup Pool A, Overview
Pool A threw up few surprises, with both South Africa and England qualifying for the quarter-finals, as expected. Third place went to Tonga, who beat the USA and South Pacific neighbours, Samoa, to secure a place in the 2011 Rugby World Cup. Tonga also gave the eventual champions a close run, losing by less than a try. Both South Africa and England went on to reach the final of the tournament, which South Africa won by 15 points to 6.


2007 Rugby World Cup Pool A, England vs United States
Touch judges:Lyndon Bray (New Zealand)Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand)Television match official:Stuart Dickinson (Australia)Fourth official:Bruno Gaudefrin (France)Fifth official:Eric Molier (France)


2007 Rugby World Cup Pool A, South Africa vs Samoa
Touch judges:Chris White (England)Lyndon Bray (New Zealand)Television match official:Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand)Fourth official:Stuart Dickinson (Australia)Fifth official:Eric Gauzins (France)


2007 Rugby World Cup Pool A, United States vs Tonga
Touch judges:Craig Joubert (South Africa)Christophe Berdos (France)Television match official:Mark Lawrence (South Africa)Fourth official:Paul Honiss (New Zealand)Fifth official:Jean-Christophe Gastou (France)


2007 Rugby World Cup Pool A, England vs South Africa
Touch judges:Kelvin Deaker (New Zealand)Carlo Damasco (Italy)Television match official:Simon McDowell (Ireland)Fourth official:Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)Fifth official:Eric Gauzins (France)


2007 Rugby World Cup Pool A, Samoa vs Tonga
Touch judges:Alan Lewis (Ireland)Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand)Television match official:Lyndon Bray (New Zealand)Fourth official:Stuart Dickinson (Australia)Fifth official:Jean-Christophe Gastou (France)


2007 Rugby World Cup Pool A, South Africa vs Tonga
Touch judges:Federico Cuesta (Argentina)Paul Marks (Australia)Television match official:Malcolm Changleng (Scotland)Fourth official:Tony Spreadbury (England)Fifth official:Bruno Gaudefrin (France)


2007 Rugby World Cup Pool A, England vs Samoa
Touch judges:Alain Rolland (Ireland)Lyndon Bray (New Zealand)Television match official:Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand)Fourth official:Steve Walsh (New Zealand)Fifth official:Eric Gauzins (France)


2007 Rugby World Cup Pool A, Samoa vs United States
Touch judges:Hugh Watkins (Wales)Mark Lawrence (South Africa)Television match official:Dave Pearson (England)Fourth official:Nigel Owens (Wales)Fifth official:Cyril Lafon (France)


2007 Rugby World Cup Pool A, England vs Tonga
Touch judges:Craig Joubert (South Africa)Christophe Berdos (France)Television match official:Mark Lawrence (South Africa)Fourth official:Tony Spreadbury (England)Fifth official:Eric Molier (France)


2007 Rugby World Cup Pool A, South Africa vs United States
Touch judges:Federico Cuesta (Argentina)Paul Marks (Australia)Television match official:Malcolm Changleng (Scotland)Fourth official:Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)Fifth official:Romain Poite (France)


2007 Rugby World Cup Pool B
Pool B of the 2007 Rugby World Cup began on 8 September and was completed on 29 September. The pool was composed of 2003 hosts Australia, as well as Canada, Fiji, Japan and Wales.


2007 Rugby World Cup Pool B
Wales' 38–34 loss to Fiji in their final pool game (their third World Cup loss to a Pacific island nation, having previously been beaten 16–13 by Western Samoa in 1991 and 38-31 by Samoa in 1999, both times in Cardiff), meant Fiji qualified for the quarter-finals at Wales' expense. Australia finished in top spot with the maximum of 20 points, while Japan and Canada played out the first draw in a Rugby World Cup game since a 20–20 draw between France and Scotland back in 1987. Neither Japan nor Canada managed to win any of their four games, with a single bonus point in Japan's favour proving the difference between them, after they managed to remain within 7 points of Fiji in a 35–31 defeat.


2007 Rugby World Cup Pool B, Matches, Australia vs Japan
Touch judges:Hugh Watkins (Wales)Dave Pearson (England)Television match official:Malcolm Changleng (Scotland)Fourth official:Steve Walsh (New Zealand)Fifth official:Laurent Valin (France)


2007 Rugby World Cup Pool B, Matches, Wales vs Canada
Touch judges:Carlo Damasco (Italy)Simon McDowell (Ireland)Television match official:Kelvin Deaker (New Zealand)Fourth official:Tony Spreadbury (England)Fifth official:Christophe Dutreuilh (France)


2007 Rugby World Cup Pool B, Matches, Japan vs Fiji
Touch judges:Federico Cuesta (Argentina)Paul Marks (New Zealand)Television match official:Malcolm Changleng (Scotland)Fourth official:Chris White (England)Fifth official:Romain Poite (France)


2007 Rugby World Cup Pool B, Matches, Wales vs Australia
Touch judges:Mark Lawrence (South Africa)Craig Joubert (South Africa)Television match official:Christophe Berdos (France)Fourth official:Tony Spreadbury (England)Fifth official:Tim Hayes (Wales)


2007 Rugby World Cup Pool B, Matches, Fiji vs Canada
Touch judges:Christophe Berdos (France)Mark Lawrence (South Africa)Television match official:Craig Joubert (South Africa)Fourth official:Joël Jutge (France)Fifth official:Tim Hayes (Wales)


2007 Rugby World Cup Pool B, Matches, Wales vs Japan
Touch judges:Mark Lawrence (South Africa)Craig Joubert (South Africa)Television match official:Christophe Berdos (France)Fourth official:Nigel Owens (Wales)Fifth official:Tim Hayes (Wales)


2007 Rugby World Cup Pool B, Matches, Australia vs Fiji
Touch judges:Mark Lawrence (South Africa)Christophe Berdos (France)Television match official:Craig Joubert (South Africa)Fourth official:Romain Poite (France)Fifth official:Jean-Christophe Gastou (France)


2007 Rugby World Cup Pool B, Matches, Canada vs Japan
Touch judges:Lyndon Bray (New Zealand)Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand)Television match official:Joël Jutge (France)Fourth official:Alain Rolland (Ireland)Fifth official:Hervé Dubes (France)


2007 Rugby World Cup Pool B, Matches, Australia vs Canada
Touch judges:Steve Walsh (New Zealand)Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand)Television match official:Lyndon Bray (New Zealand)Fourth official:Marius Jonker (South Africa)Fifth official:Stephan Pomarede (France)


2007 Rugby World Cup Pool B, Matches, Wales vs Fiji
Touch judges:Kelvin Deaker (New Zealand)Simon McDowell (Ireland)Television match official:Carlo Damasco (Italy)Fourth official:Alain Rolland (Ireland)Fifth official:Christophe Dutreuilh (France)


2007 Rugby World Cup Pool C
Pool C of the 2007 Rugby World Cup began on 8 September and concluded on 29 September 2007. The pool was composed of Italy, New Zealand, Romania and Scotland and World Cup debutants Portugal.


2007 Rugby World Cup Pool C, Overview
New Zealand were assured of first place in the pool after only three rounds of matches, having secured the maximum of five points from each of their matches. Over their four matches, the All Blacks established a new points record for the pool stage with 309 points.


2007 Rugby World Cup Pool C, Overview
Italy were unable to carry their strong Six Nations form into the World Cup, and were knocked out by a narrow margin. Scotland qualified for the quarter-finals as pool runners-up.


2007 Rugby World Cup Pool C, New Zealand vs Italy
Touch judges:Mark Lawrence (South Africa)Christophe Berdos (France)Television match official:Craig Joubert (South Africa)Fourth official:Nigel Owens (Wales)Fifth official:Franck Maciello (France)


2007 Rugby World Cup Pool C, New Zealand vs Italy
Note: Doug Howlett's three tries in this match brought him level with Christian Cullen as New Zealand's all-time highest try scorer, with 46.


2007 Rugby World Cup Pool C, Scotland vs Portugal
Touch judges:Hugh Watkins (Wales)Marius Jonker (South Africa)Television match official:Dave Pearson (England)Fourth official:Alan Lewis (Ireland)Fifth official:Cyril Lafon (France)


2007 Rugby World Cup Pool C, Italy vs Romania
Touch judges:Kelvin Deaker (New Zealand)Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand)Television match official:Lyndon Bray (New Zealand)Fourth official:Alain Rolland (Ireland)Fifth official:Franck Maciello (France)


2007 Rugby World Cup Pool C, New Zealand vs Portugal
Touch judges:Hugh Watkins (Wales)Marius Jonker (South Africa)Television match official:Dave Pearson (England)Fourth official:Paul Honiss (New Zealand)Fifth official:Laurent Valin (France)


2007 Rugby World Cup Pool C, Scotland vs Romania
Touch judges:Craig Joubert (South Africa)Christophe Berdos (France)Television match official:Mark Lawrence (South Africa)Fourth official:Wayne Barnes (England)Fifth official:Peter Allan (Scotland)


2007 Rugby World Cup Pool C, Scotland vs Romania
Note: With an attendance of 31,222, Scotland vs Romania was the lowest-attended match in Pool C, despite Scotland playing at home.


2007 Rugby World Cup Pool C, Italy vs Portugal
Touch judges:Federico Cuesta (Argentina)Malcolm Changleng (Scotland)Television match official:Paul Marks (Australia)Fourth official:Chris White (England)Fifth official:Eric Molier (France)


2007 Rugby World Cup Pool C, Scotland vs New Zealand
Touch judges:Dave Pearson (England)Paul Marks (Australia)Television match official:Hugh Watkins (Wales)Fourth official:Chris White (England)Fifth official:Peter Allan (Scotland)


2007 Rugby World Cup Pool C, Scotland vs New Zealand
Note: Doug Howlett's two tries in this match brought his total in internationals to 48, a new try-scoring record for New Zealand.


2007 Rugby World Cup Pool C, Romania vs Portugal
Touch judges:Carlo Damasco (Italy)Simon McDowell (Ireland)Television match official:Kelvin Deaker (New Zealand)Fourth official:Stuart Dickinson (Australia)Fifth official:Jean-Luc Rebollal (France)


2007 Rugby World Cup Pool C, New Zealand vs Romania
Touch judges:Federico Cuesta (Argentina)Malcolm Changleng (Scotland)Television match official:Paul Marks (Australia)Fourth official:Romain Poite (France)Fifth official:Jean-Luc Rebollal (France)


2007 Rugby World Cup Pool C, Scotland vs Italy
Touch judges:Hugh Watkins (Wales)Wayne Barnes (England)Television match official:Dave Pearson (England)Fourth official:Cyril Lafon (France)Fifth official:Laurent Valin (France)


2007 Rugby World Cup Pool D
Pool D of the 2007 Rugby World Cup began on 7 September and concluded on 30 September. The pool was composed of World Cup hosts France, Argentina, Georgia, Ireland and Namibia.


2007 Rugby World Cup Pool D, Overview
Pool D was expected to be the Pool of Death in the 2007 tournament and so it proved: the final rankings were only determined after the last round of matches. The pool was won by Argentina, who won all their matches, while France, who lost to Argentina in the opening game of the tournament, finished in second place. Ireland, whom many commentators had expected to do well, were eliminated after winning only two matches, against Georgia and Namibia: Georgia came close to scoring a winning try late in their game, while Namibia recorded their best World Cup result against a team ranked in the top 10.


2007 Rugby World Cup Pool D, France vs Argentina
Touch judges:Stuart Dickinson (Australia)Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand)Television match official:Marius Jonker (South Africa)Fourth official:Alain Rolland (Ireland)Fifth official:Eric Gauzins (France)


2007 Rugby World Cup Pool D, Ireland vs Namibia
Touch judges:Federico Cuesta (Argentina)Malcolm Changleng (Scotland)Television match official:Paul Marks (Australia)Fourth official:Romain Poite (France)Fifth official:Stephane Pomarede (France)


2007 Rugby World Cup Pool D, Argentina vs Georgia
Touch judges:Simon McDowell (Ireland)Dave Pearson (England)Television match official:Hugh Watkins (Wales)Fourth official:Alan Lewis (Ireland)Fifth official:Laurent Valin (France)


2007 Rugby World Cup Pool D, Ireland vs Georgia
Touch judges:Malcolm Changleng (Scotland)Paul Marks (Australia)Television match official:Federico Cuesta (Argentina)Fourth official:Nigel Owens (Wales)Fifth official:Hervé Dubes (France)


2007 Rugby World Cup Pool D, France vs Namibia
Touch judges:Kelvin Deaker (New Zealand)Carlo Damasco (Italy)Television match official:Simon McDowell (Ireland)Fourth official:Paul Honiss (New Zealand)Fifth official:Jean-Luc Rebollal (France)


2007 Rugby World Cup Pool D, France vs Ireland
Touch judges:Hugh Watkins (Wales)Dave Pearson (England)Television match official:Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)Fourth official:Nigel Owens (Wales)Fifth official:Eric Gauzins (France)


2007 Rugby World Cup Pool D, Argentina vs Namibia
Touch judges:Carlo Damasco (Italy)Simon McDowell (Ireland)Television match official:Kelvin Deaker (New Zealand)Fourth official:Joël Jutge (France)Fifth official:Franck Maciello (France)


2007 Rugby World Cup Pool D, Georgia vs Namibia
Touch judges:Paul Marks (Australia)Malcolm Changleng (Scotland)Television match official:Federico Cuesta (Argentina)Fourth official:Alan Lewis (Ireland)Fifth official:Bruno Gaudefrin (France)


2007 Rugby World Cup Pool D, France vs Georgia
Touch judges:Nigel Owens (Wales)Dave Pearson (England)Television match official:Hugh Watkins (Wales)Fourth official:Steve Walsh (New Zealand)Fifth official:Franck Maciello (France)


2007 Rugby World Cup Pool D, Ireland vs Argentina
Touch judges:Mark Lawrence (South Africa)Craig Joubert (South Africa)Television match official:Stuart Dickinson (Australia)Fourth official:Christophe Berdos (France)Fifth official:Eric Gauzins (France)


2007 Rugby World Cup knockout stage
The knockout stage of the 2007 Rugby World Cup began on 6 October with a quarter-final between Australia and England and concluded on 20 October with the final, at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, Paris, between England and South Africa, their second meeting in this tournament.


2007 Rugby World Cup knockout stage
South Africa were the first team to qualify for the knockout stage, when they beat Tonga 30–25 in their penultimate Pool A game.


2007 Rugby World Cup knockout stage
This was the first Rugby World Cup tournament to have its semi-finalists coming from only two pools (Pools A and D), and the finalists coming from just one pool (Pool A). The top two representative nations of each of pools B and C were eliminated in the quarter-finals.


2007 Rugby World Cup knockout stage, Quarter-finals, Australia vs England
Touch judges:Paul Honiss (New Zealand)Nigel Owens (Wales)Television match official:Marius Jonker (South Africa)Fourth official:Steve Walsh (New Zealand)Fifth official:Alan Lewis (Ireland)


2007 Rugby World Cup knockout stage, Quarter-finals, New Zealand vs France
Touch judges:Tony Spreadbury (England)Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)Television match official:Chris White (England)Fourth official:Stuart Dickinson (Australia)Fifth official:Tim Hayes (Wales)


2007 Rugby World Cup knockout stage, Quarter-finals, South Africa vs Fiji
Touch judges:Steve Walsh (New Zealand)Paul Honiss (New Zealand)Television match official:Nigel Owens (Wales)Fourth official:Marius Jonker (South Africa)Fifth official:Alain Rolland (Ireland)


2007 Rugby World Cup knockout stage, Quarter-finals, Argentina vs Scotland
Touch judges:Chris White (England)Stuart Dickinson (Australia)Television match official:Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)Fourth official:Tony Spreadbury (England)Fifth official:Wayne Barnes (England)


2007 Rugby World Cup knockout stage, Semi-finals, England vs France
Touch judges:Paul Honiss (New Zealand)Marius Jonker (South Africa)Television match official:Stuart Dickinson (Australia)Fourth official:Nigel Owens (Wales)Fifth official:Alain Rolland (Ireland)


2007 Rugby World Cup knockout stage, Semi-finals, South Africa vs Argentina
Touch judges:Alan Lewis (Ireland)Chris White (England)Television match official:Tony Spreadbury (England)Fourth official:Joël Jutge (France)Fifth official:Wayne Barnes (England)


2007 Rugby World Cup knockout stage, Bronze Final – France vs Argentina
Touch judges:Stuart Dickinson (Australia)Nigel Owens (Wales)Television match official:Marius Jonker (South Africa)Fourth official:Wayne Barnes (England)Fifth official:Chris White (England)


2007 Rugby World Cup knockout stage, Final – England vs South Africa
Touch judges:Joël Jutge (France)Paul Honiss (New Zealand)Television match official:Stuart Dickinson (Australia)Fourth official:Alan Lewis (Ireland)Fifth official:Steve Walsh (New Zealand)


2007 Rugby World Cup qualifying
There were 20 places available for the 2007 Rugby World Cup held in France. The 86 teams taking part in regional qualifying competitions together with the 8 teams which have qualified automatically brings to 94 the total number of teams participating in the 2007 Rugby World Cup.


2007 Rugby World Cup qualifying, 2007 qualifying tournaments, Qualifying places
The places for the 2007 World Cup were outlined as:


2007 Rugby World Cup qualifying, 2007 qualifying tournaments, Africa
There is one place available for African teams, and one place in the repechage. In the group rounds, there are three points awarded for a win, two for a draw, and one for a loss. Games are played on a home and away basis. There are no bonus points awarded. The African qualification is broken up into three rounds; Round 1, Round 2 and Round 3. The first phase of the tournament is Round 1a, where two groups of three teams play each other.


2007 Rugby World Cup qualifying, 2007 qualifying tournaments, Africa
The respective winners of the two groups play each other for a place in Round 1b. Round 1b consists again of two groups of three teams; the winner of both pools will enter Round 2. The runners-up of both pools play each other to enter Round 2 with the winners. Round 2 also consists of two groups of three teams, with the winners of each group qualifying for Round 3. Round 3 is a to game series between the respective group winners from Round 2. The winner qualifies for the World Cup, and the loser will enter a Repechage round.


2007 Rugby World Cup qualifying, 2007 qualifying tournaments, Americas
There are three available places in the World Cup for Americas nations via qualification, as well as a potential fourth qualifier in the form of a Repechage. The Americas qualification tournament is broken up into four rounds; Round 1, Round 2, Round 3 and Round 4. The first phase, Round 1a, is a competition for entry to Round 3b.


2007 Rugby World Cup qualifying, 2007 qualifying tournaments, Americas
It is contested between two pools of four Caribbean nations – with the pool winners playing in a playoff to reach round 3b. Round 1b is a group of four CONSUR 2nd Division nations – the winner progresses to Round 2. Round 2 is a three nation competition with the winner moving to Round 3a. The winner of the Round 3a competition of three nations progresses directly to the World Cup as Americas 1. The runner-up progresses to Round 4. The winner of the Round 3b competition of three nations progresses directly to the World Cup as Americas 2.


2007 Rugby World Cup qualifying, 2007 qualifying tournaments, Americas
The runner-up progresses to Round 4. Round 4 is a to match play-off consisting of the runners-up of each Round 3 tournaments. The winner progresses directly to the World Cup as Americas 3. The runner up progresses to Repechage round as Americas 4, to meet the winner of Africa 2 v Europe 4, for the first Repechage place in the World Cup.


2007 Rugby World Cup qualifying, 2007 qualifying tournaments, Asia
The Asia qualification process is broken up into three rounds – Round 1, Round 2 and Round 3. There is one place for an Asia team in the World Cup, with a second potential place in the form of a Repechage. Three teams in Division 1 of Round 1a play each other once.


2007 Rugby World Cup qualifying, 2007 qualifying tournaments, Asia
All three teams go through to Round 2, the winner and runner up into Division 1 of Round 2 with third place into Division 2 of Round 2. Division 2 of Round 1a sees another three teams play each other once, the top two teams go through to Round 2, the winner entering Division 1 of Round 2and the runner up Division 2 of Round 2. Round 2 is broken up into two divisions of three nations, each nation plays each other once.


2007 Rugby World Cup qualifying, 2007 qualifying tournaments, Asia
The top two teams from Division 1 and top team from Division 2 go through to round 3. The winner of Round 3 will qualify directly to the World Cup as Asia 1. The runner-up will advance to the Repechage round as Asia 2, to play Oceania 3 for Repechage 2.


2007 Rugby World Cup qualifying, 2007 qualifying tournaments, Europe
There are three places available for European teams, and one place in the repechage. The teams are 'ranked' according to their division in the European Nations Cup, taking into account the relegations and promotions at the end of the previous competition. The format is broken up into six rounds. Round 2 sees 20 nations broken up into four pools of five teams – each playing each other twice.


2007 Rugby World Cup qualifying, 2007 qualifying tournaments, Europe
The top two ranked nations of each pool will gain entry to Round 3, with the third placed nations of each pool entering a play-off, the top two ranked sides from the playoff enter round 3. Round 3 consists of 10 nations playing each other twice in two pools of five nations. Winners of each pool enter a play-off, with the play-off winner entering Round 4. The European Nations Cup, consisting of six nations will all gain a place in either Round 4 or 5.


2007 Rugby World Cup qualifying, 2007 qualifying tournaments, Europe
The top three nations enter Round 5, with the bottom three entering Round 4. Winners of Round 4 enter Round 5. Round 5 is broken up into two pools of three nations, the first placed nation of a pool qualifies for the World Cup (Europe 1 and Europe 2) while second placed sides of the Round 5 pools enter Round 6. Round 6 is a two-game tournament which  Europe 3 (World Cup entry) and Europe 4 (repechage).


2007 Rugby World Cup qualifying, 2007 qualifying tournaments, Oceania
There are two available positions in the World Cup of Oceanic nations, with a potential third in the form of a Repechage. the tournament is split up into four rounds. Round 1a sees three nations from the Oceania East region play each other once, the winner of the group will qualify for Round 2. Round 1b sees three nations from the Oceania West region play each other once, the winner of the group will also qualify for Round 2. Round 3 is a two match playoff between the winners of Round 1a and 1b.


2007 Rugby World Cup qualifying, 2007 qualifying tournaments, Oceania
The winner moves to Round 4. Round 3 is a three nation tournament, teams play each other twice. The top two ranked nations will enter the World Cup as Oceania 1 and Oceania 2. The third ranked nation moves to Round 4. The winner of the two game Round 4 tournament advances to Repechage 2 where they meet Asia 1 for a World Cup place.


2007 Rugby World Cup squads
The 2007 Rugby World Cup was played in France between 7 September and 20 October 2007. Each of the 20 competing nations was required to confirm their 30-man squad by 14 August. United States player Thretton Palamo, aged 18 when the teams were named and 8 days past his 19th birthday when he made his only appearance in the competition, was the youngest to ever take part at a World Cup final stage.


2007 Rugby World Cup squads, Pool A, England
Final squad released on 13 August 2007. Jamie Noon was sent home injured on 15 September; he was replaced by Newcastle Falcons team-mate, Toby Flood. After Josh Lewsey was injured in the semi-final against France, Nick Abendanon was called up as cover.


2007 Rugby World Cup squads, Pool A, England
Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.


2007 Rugby World Cup squads, Pool A, Samoa
Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.


2007 Rugby World Cup squads, Pool A, South Africa
Pierre Spies was withdrawn from the squad after developing a condition believed to be a pulmonary embolism, with Bismarck du Plessis taking his place, although one specialist disputed the diagnosis. A third specialist confirmed the original diagnosis, and Spies remained off the team.


2007 Rugby World Cup squads, Pool A, South Africa
On 10 September, after the Springboks' match against Manu Samoa, Jean de Villiers was ruled out of the rest of the World Cup with a torn left biceps suffered in that match. Wayne Julies replaced him on the squad.


2007 Rugby World Cup squads, Pool A, South Africa
On 1 October, Jannie du Plessis, older brother of Bismarck du Plessis, replaced BJ Botha, who tore knee ligaments in the Boks' last pool match against the United States.


2007 Rugby World Cup squads, Pool A, South Africa
Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.


2007 Rugby World Cup squads, Pool A, Tonga
Squad announced on 10 August 2007 Kisi Pulu replaced Mosese Moala, while Maama Molitika was called up to replace Paino Hehea ahead of the England game.


2007 Rugby World Cup squads, Pool A, Tonga
Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.


2007 Rugby World Cup squads, Pool A, United States
Squad released 14 August 2007 John van der Giessen was called up to replace Luke Gross.


2007 Rugby World Cup squads, Pool A, United States
Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.


2007 Rugby World Cup squads, Pool A, United States
The following players are in reserve in case of injury.


2007 Rugby World Cup squads, Pool B, Australia
Squad announced 23 July 2007. Mark Gerrard was injured in the opening game and replaced by Cameron Shepherd. Morgan Turinui was called up on October 1, 2007 to replace Number 8 David Lyons.


2007 Rugby World Cup squads, Pool B, Australia
Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.


2007 Rugby World Cup squads, Pool B, Australia
The following players are on reserve in case of injuries in the main squad


2007 Rugby World Cup squads, Pool B, Canada
Final squad announced 15 August 2007. Josh Jackson replaced Jamie Cudmore who was ruled out with a broken bone in his hand.


2007 Rugby World Cup squads, Pool B, Canada
Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.


2007 Rugby World Cup squads, Pool B, Fiji
Final squad announced 22 July 2007. Filimoni Bolavucu was ruled out of the tournament and was replaced by Sireli Bobo.


2007 Rugby World Cup squads, Pool B, Fiji
Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.


2007 Rugby World Cup squads, Pool B, Japan
Squad released 11 August 2007. Mitsugu Yamamoto replaced by Yusuke Aoki on 21 August. Daisuke Ohata tore his left Achilles tendon in Japan's final warm-up against Portugal, and was replaced by Tomoki Kitagawa.


2007 Rugby World Cup squads, Pool B, Japan
Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.


2007 Rugby World Cup squads, Pool B, Japan
The following players are on reserve in case of injury.


2007 Rugby World Cup squads, Pool B, Wales
Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.


2007 Rugby World Cup squads, Pool C, Italy
Squad released 16 August 2007. Carlo Del Fava withdrew due to injury on 17 August. Fabio Staibano was originally announced as his replacement, but he was in turn ruled out due to injury. Del Fava was later ruled fit to play, and was restored to the squad on 27 August. Silvio Orlando replaced Robert Barbieri after he was ruled out due to injury in a warm-up game.


2007 Rugby World Cup squads, Pool C, Italy
Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.


2007 Rugby World Cup squads, Pool C, Portugal
Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.


2007 Rugby World Cup squads, Pool C, Romania
Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.


2007 Rugby World Cup squads, Pool C, Scotland
Squad announced 14 August 2007. On 11 September, his 24th birthday, Alasdair Dickinson was called up to the Scotland squad to replace the injured Allan Jacobsen.


2007 Rugby World Cup squads, Pool C, Scotland
Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.


2007 Rugby World Cup squads, Pool D, Argentina
Squad released 28 July 2007 from . Additional information from .


2007 Rugby World Cup squads, Pool D, Argentina
Martín Gaitán was forced to withdraw from the squad on 18 August after it was discovered he had a blocked artery in his heart, and was replaced by Hernán Senillosa. José María Núñez Piossek was forced to withdraw from the squad due to injury on 30 August, and was replaced by Federico Martín Aramburú. Mario Ledesma was forced to withdraw from the squad for the third-place match against France due to injury on 15 October, and was replaced by Eusebio Guiñazú.


2007 Rugby World Cup squads, Pool D, Argentina
Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.


2007 Rugby World Cup squads, Pool D, France
Provisional squad announced 14 June 2007, from . Elvis Vermeulen replaced by Thierry Dusautoir due to injury on 21 June . Sylvain Marconnet was replaced due to injury by Nicolas Mas on 20 August .


2007 Rugby World Cup squads, Pool D, France
Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.


2007 Rugby World Cup squads, Pool D, France
The following players are on reserve in case of withdrawals from the squad.


2007 Rugby World Cup squads, Pool D, Georgia
Final squad released on 9 August 2007 from , other details from


2007 Rugby World Cup squads, Pool D, Georgia
Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.


2007 Rugby World Cup squads, Pool D, Ireland
Squad listed from  12 August 2007, further information from .


2007 Rugby World Cup squads, Pool D, Ireland
Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.


2007 Rugby World Cup squads, Pool D, Namibia
Squad released 18 July 2007 from , additional information from  and .


2007 Rugby World Cup squads, Pool D, Namibia
Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.


2007 Rugby World Cup statistics
This article documents statistics from the 2007 Rugby World Cup, held in France from 7 September to 20 October.


2007 Rugby World Cup statistics, Team statistics
The following table shows the team's results in some categories. Two red cards were issued during the tournament.


2007 Rugby World Cup statistics, Player records, Most points
Key: Pos = position; Apps = appearances; Con = conversions; Pen = penalties; Drop = drop goals


2007 Rugby World Cup statistics, Discipline, Citing/bans
There was some controversy over post-match citings by IRB Citing Commissioners because of apparent inconsistencies between disciplinary sanctions.


2007 Rugby World Cup statistics, Hat-tricks
Unless otherwise noted, players in this list scored a hat-trick of tries.


2007 Rugby World Cup warm-up matches
Throughout August 2007, various teams prepared for the Rugby World Cup in France with a short series of test matches, primarily in the Northern Hemisphere and involving the RBS Six Nations sides. In addition, South Africa played one test in Scotland following the 2007 Tri Nations and Argentina one test in their home country and one in Wales. The tests were effectively a replacement for the usual Autumn international series in November which does not take place in World Cup years.


2007 Rugby World Cup warm-up matches
Note: this article does not include international results not involving at least one side who had qualified for the 2007 World Cup.


2007 Rugby World Cup – Africa qualification
In qualifying for the 2007 Rugby World Cup, there is one place available for African teams, and one place in the repechage. In the group rounds, there are three points awarded for a win, two for a draw, and one for a loss. There are no bonus points awarded.


2007 Rugby World Cup – Africa qualification, Qualification process, Round 1a
Two groups of three teams each, winners of each group playoff for one place in Africa Round 1b.


2007 Rugby World Cup – Africa qualification, Qualification process, Round 1b
Two groups of three teams each, winners of each group qualify for Africa Round 2, second placed teams playoff for the remaining place in Africa Round 2.


2007 Rugby World Cup – Africa qualification, Qualification process, Round 2
Two groups of three teams each, winners of each group qualify for Africa Round 3.


2007 Rugby World Cup – Africa qualification, Qualification process, Round 3
Playoff of the winners of each group in Round 2, winner qualifies for World Cup as Africa 1, Runner up advances to the Repechage Round as Africa 2, to play Europe 4.


2007 Rugby World Cup – Africa qualification, Round 1b, Pool A
Ivory Coast qualifies to Round 2, Zimbabwe advance to playoff.


2007 Rugby World Cup – Africa qualification, Round 3 – 2006
Winner (Namibia) qualifies direct to RWC 2007 as Africa 1. Runner up (Morocco) advances to the Repechage Round as Africa 2, to play Europe 4, the winner playing Americas 4 for Repechage 1.


2007 Rugby World Cup – Americas qualification
In qualification for the 2007 Rugby World Cup, 19 countries in the Pan American Rugby Association (PARA) compete for 3 direct entries and 1 repechage place (Repechage 1) against the winner of Africa 2 v Europe 4.


2007 Rugby World Cup – Americas qualification, Qualification Process
It was the 2005 NACRA Rugby Championship with Caribbean teams. Nine teams involved The winner going through to Round 3b.


2007 Rugby World Cup – Americas qualification, Qualification Process
CONSUR (Confederation Sudamericana de Rugby) 2nd Division. One pool of four teams - winner progresses to round 2.


2007 Rugby World Cup – Americas qualification, Qualification Process
Bottom two CONSUR Division 1 teams, plus winner of Round 1b, form one pool of three. Winner progresses to Round 3a.


2007 Rugby World Cup – Americas qualification, Qualification Process
Top two CONSUR Division 1 teams, plus winner of Round 2, form one pool of three. Winner progresses directly to RWC 2007 as Americas 1. Runner up progresses to Round 4.


2007 Rugby World Cup – Americas qualification, Qualification Process
USA, Canada and winner of Round 1a form one pool of three. Winner progresses directly to RWC 2007 as Americas 2. Runner up progresses to Round 4.


2007 Rugby World Cup – Americas qualification, Qualification Process
Home and away playoff. Winner qualifies for RWC 2007 as Americas 3. Runner up enters Repechage round.


2007 Rugby World Cup – Americas qualification, Round 1a - 2005, South Pool
Barbados go into playoff vs winner of North Pool (Bahamas).


2007 Rugby World Cup – Americas qualification, Round 1a - 2005, North Pool
Bahamas beat Cayman Islands on head to head to win pool, go into playoff against winner of South Pool (Barbados).


2007 Rugby World Cup – Americas qualification, Round 1b - 2004
CONSUR 2nd Division. Home OR Away basis. Brazil progresses to Round 2.


2007 Rugby World Cup – Americas qualification, Round 3a – July 2006
Home OR Away basis. Argentina progresses directly to RWC 2007 as Americas 1. Uruguay progresses to Round 4.


2007 Rugby World Cup – Americas qualification, Round 3b – July 2006
Home OR Away basis. Canada progresses directly to RWC 2007 as Americas 2. USA progresses to Round 4.


2007 Rugby World Cup – Americas qualification, Round 4 – 2006
Winner (USA) progresses directly to RWC 2007 as Americas 3. Runner up (Uruguay) progresses to Repechage round as Americas 4, to play the winner of Africa 2 v Europe 4, for Repechage 1.


2007 Rugby World Cup – Asia qualification
In qualification for the 2007 Rugby World Cup, thirteen Asian Rugby Football Union (ARFU) nations compete for one full place, and one repechage place (Repechage 2, against Oceania 3). No Asian teams qualified for the quarter finals in 2003, so none qualify automatically in 2007. Only Japan has been to the World Cup, participating in all five RWCs to date, with only one win in 1991 (England) against Zimbabwe, 52-8. Asia 1 will go into Group B with Australia, Wales, Fiji and Canada.


2007 Rugby World Cup – Asia qualification, Qualification process
Initial pools were based on results from 2003-04 ARFU Rugby Union Series as given below, and was part  of 2005 ARFU Asian Rugby Series


2007 Rugby World Cup – Asia qualification, Qualification process, Round 1a
Division 1 play off for placings, all three teams going into Round 2, along with the winner and runner up of Division 2. The winners of Divisions 3A and 3B go into Round 1b.


2007 Rugby World Cup – Asia qualification, Qualification process, Round 1b
The winners of Divisions 3A and 3B playoff (home and away) for the final place in Round 2.


2007 Rugby World Cup – Asia qualification, Qualification process, Round 2
The round was part of 2006 ARFU Asian Rugby Series (first and second divion).


2007 Rugby World Cup – Asia qualification, Qualification process, Round 2
The top two teams from Division 1 and the winner of Division 2 form the new Division 1 (2006). Third place from Division 1, the runner up of Division 2, and the playoff winner from Round 1b form the new Division 2 (2006). The winner and runner up of Division 1 (2006), and the winner of Division 2 (2006), go through to Round 3.


2007 Rugby World Cup – Asia qualification, Qualification process, Round 3
The three qualifiers from the previous round form a new Division 1. The winner goes to World Cup 2007 as Asia 1. The runner up plays off against Oceania 3 for Repechage 2.


2007 Rugby World Cup – Asia qualification, Round 1a – 2005, Pool A (Division 1 2005)
All three teams go through to Round 2 - the winner and runner up into Division 1 (2006), third place into Division 2 (2006). Final Standings


2007 Rugby World Cup – Asia qualification, Round 1a – 2005, Pool B (Division 2 2005)
The top two teams go through to Round 2, the winner (Arabian Gulf) into Division 1 (2006), the runner up (China) into Division 2 (2006).


2007 Rugby World Cup – Asia qualification, Round 1a – 2005, Division 3 Pool A (2005)
Sri Lanka qualifies for home and away playoff (Round 1b) against winner of Division 3 Pool B (Kazakhstan).


2007 Rugby World Cup – Asia qualification, Round 1a – 2005, Division 3 Pool B (2005)
Kazakhstan qualifies for home and away playoff (Round 1b) against winner Division 3 Pool A (Sri Lanka).


2007 Rugby World Cup – Asia qualification, Round 2 – April – May 2006
Home OR Away basis. Top two teams from Division 1  of 2006 ARFU Asian Rugby Series (Japan, Korea) and top team from Division 2 (Hong Kong) go through to round 3.


2007 Rugby World Cup – Asia qualification, Round 3 – 18–25 November 2006, Hong Kong
All games in Hong Kong. Winner (Japan) qualifies directly to RWC 2007 as Asia 1. Runner up (Korea) advances to Repechage round as Asia 2, to play Tonga for Repechage 2. The series was originally scheduled to be played in Sri Lanka. However, security considerations prompted the series to be moved to Hong Kong.


2007 Rugby World Cup – Europe qualification
2007 Rugby World Cup – European qualification was a European Nations Cup competition that decided which European teams participated in the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France. The group stages counted towards both qualification and the European Nations Cup. Hosts France and other 2003 World Cup quarter finalists England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales qualified automatically.


2007 Rugby World Cup – Europe qualification, Qualification process
There were three places available for European teams, and one place in the repechage. The teams were ranked according to their division in the European Nations Cup, taking into account the relegations and promotions at the end of the previous competition. Note that for the 2004/05 season Division 1 did not count towards World Cup qualification. The 2005/06 season decided which round (either 4 or 5) the teams entered. In the group rounds, there were three points awarded for a win, two for a draw, and one for a loss. There were no bonus points awarded.


2007 Rugby World Cup – Europe qualification, Qualification process, Round 1
The eight teams from divisions 3B (apart from newly relegated from 3A Hungary) and 3C (apart from Azerbaijan and Armenia) played each other in four two-legged playoffs. The winners entered the next round.


2007 Rugby World Cup – Europe qualification, Qualification process, Round 2
The four Round 1 winners, Hungary, and the fifteen teams from divisions 2A, 2B and 3A were drawn into four groups of five. They played each other once, with the best two teams qualifying for the next round. The third placed teams played in two two-legged playoffs to qualify for the next round.


2007 Rugby World Cup – Europe qualification, Qualification process, Round 3
The four winners, four runners-up, and two play-off winners from Round 2 were drawn into two groups of five. The best team from each group played each other in a two legged playoff for a place in the next round.


2007 Rugby World Cup – Europe qualification, Qualification process, Round 4
The bottom three teams from Division 1 2005/06 and the winner of the previous round played two two-legged playoffs to enter the next round.


2007 Rugby World Cup – Europe qualification, Qualification process, Round 5
The winner of Round 4 Playoff 1, the third placed team from Division 1 2005/06 and Six Nations competitor Italy form Pool A. The winner of Round 4 Playoff 2 and the first and second placed teams from Division 1 2005/06 form Pool B. The top team from each pool qualified for the World Cup as Europe 1 and Europe 2. The second placed teams entered the next round.


2007 Rugby World Cup – Europe qualification, Qualification process, Round 6
The two second placed teams from Round 5 played a two-legged playoff, with the winner qualifying for the World Cup as Europe 3. The loser entered the repechage as Europe 4.


2007 Rugby World Cup – Europe qualification, Round 1
The first match was refereed by André Watson. He was called by the International Board, because in this way the first match of qualification the new edition of Rugby World Cup could be refereed by the same judge as the last match (the final) of the Rugby World Cup 2003. Watson had announced his retirement from international rugby only three months before after a match between Australia and Pacific Islands.


2007 Rugby World Cup – Europe qualification, Round 2, Pool A
Spain and Croatia qualified for Round 3. Andorra entered the playoffs.


2007 Rugby World Cup – Europe qualification, Round 2, Pool B
Germany and Moldova qualified for Round 3. Denmark entered the playoffs.


2007 Rugby World Cup – Europe qualification, Round 2, Pool C
Belgium and the Netherlands qualified for Round 3. Sweden entered the playoffs.


2007 Rugby World Cup – Europe qualification, Round 2, Pool D
Poland and Serbia and Montenegro qualified for round 3. Malta entered the playoffs.


2007 Rugby World Cup – Europe qualification, European Nations Cup Division 1 2004/06
Romania, Georgia, and Portugal qualified for Round 5. Russia, Czech Republic, and Ukraine qualified for Round 4.


2007 Rugby World Cup – Europe qualification, Round 5 – October 2006, Pool A
Italy qualified for World Cup as Europe 1. Portugal entered Round 6.


2007 Rugby World Cup – Europe qualification, Round 5 – October 2006, Pool B
Romania qualified for World Cup as Europe 2. Georgia entered Round 6.


2007 Rugby World Cup – Europe qualification, Round 6 – November 2006
Georgia qualified for World Cup as Europe 3. Portugal entered repechage as Europe 4.


2007 Rugby World Cup – Oceania qualification
In qualification for the 2007 Rugby World Cup, there were two places available for Oceania teams, and one place in the repechage. In the group rounds, there were three points awarded for a win, two for a draw, and one for a loss. There were no bonus points awarded.


2007 Rugby World Cup – Oceania qualification, Qualification process, Round 1 and 2
These rounds corresponded to the 2005 FORU Oceania Cup, played by the six lowest tier teams of Oceania. Teames were divided in two pools: Pool A, with three teams from the Oceania East region, and Pool B with three teams from the Oceania West region. The winner of each group qualified for the finals (Round 2), a playoff home and away. The winner advanced to Round 4.


2007 Rugby World Cup – Oceania qualification, Qualification process, Round 3
A round robin league between Tonga, Samoa and Fiji. Winner qualified directly to RWC 2007 as Oceania 1, Runner Up as Oceania 2, and third place advanced to Round 4.


2007 Rugby World Cup – Oceania qualification, Qualification process, Round 4
Winner of Round 2 vs 3rd placed team from Round 3. Winner progressed to Repechage round as "Oceania 3", to meet "Asia 2".


2007 Rugby World Cup – Oceania qualification, Round 1, Pool A
Papua New Guinea won the pool and advanced to Round 2.


2007 Rugby World Cup – Oceania qualification, Round 1, Pool B
Cook Islands won the pool and advanced to Round 2.


2007 Rugby World Cup – Oceania qualification, Round 2
The teams split the series, with Cook Islands winning on aggregate score to advance to Round 4.


2007 Rugby World Cup – Oceania qualification, Round 3
Samoa and Fiji qualified for RWC 2007 as Oceania 1 & 2, Tonga progressed to Round 4.


2007 Rugby World Cup – Oceania qualification, Round 4
Tonga swept the series and advanced to Repechage Round as Oceania 3, to meet Asia 2, South Korea.


2007 Rugby World Cup – repechage qualification
During the 2007 Rugby World Cup qualification, there were two repechage positions available for the finals tournament.


2007 Rugby World Cup – repechage qualification, Repechage 1
Portugal win 26-20 on aggregate and advances to Round 2.


2007 Rugby World Cup – repechage qualification, Repechage 1
Portugal win 24-23 on aggregate and goes to the 2007 Rugby World Cup, in group C.


2007 Runnymede Borough Council election
Elections to Runnymede Council were held on 3 May 2007. One third of the council was up for election and the Conservative Party stayed in overall control of the council.


2007 Rushmoor Borough Council election
The 2007 Rushmoor Council election took place on 3 May 2007 to elect members of Rushmoor Borough Council in Hampshire, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Conservative Party stayed in overall control of the council.


2007 Rushmoor Borough Council election, Campaign
Before the election the Conservatives held 26 seats, the Liberal Democrats 10, Labour 5 and 1 independent. 14 seats were being contested with candidates from the 3 main parties on the council, as well as 4 from the British National Party, 1 Official Monster Raving Loony Party and 1 independent.


2007 Rushmoor Borough Council election, Campaign
Issues in the election included the recent introduction of alternate weekly collection of rubbish and recycling, town centre redevelopments, council tax and anti-social behaviour. Another issue that arose during the campaign was the responsibility for a new play area in North Town, Aldershot, with different parties claiming the credit.


2007 Rushmoor Borough Council election, Campaign
Rushmoor saw a trial of internet voting with votes able to be cast this way in the week before the election. 6,600 voters had registered to vote online as well as 5,500 who had opted to vote by post. When the online voting opened however there was a problem with the Conservative candidate in Wellington ward being placed against the Labour emblem, but this was spotted and corrected sufficiently quickly that the candidates accepted that the result had not been compromised.


2007 Rushmoor Borough Council election, Election result
The results saw the Conservatives keep control of the council with an increased majority after gaining 2 seats from the Liberal Democrats. The Conservatives gained in Cove and Southwood by 226 votes and in West Heath by 144 votes to hold 28 of the 42 seats. The Liberal Democrats defended the other 2 seats they had held, after coming closest to gaining a seat in St Mark's ward where the Conservatives had a majority of 40. Labour held their 2 seats, while an independent who had campaigned against alternate week refuse collection was well beaten in Knellwood by Conservative Roland Dibbs who won 56% of the vote.


2007 Rushmoor Borough Council election, Election result
The trial of internet voting failed to increase turnout, which dropped to 35.2% from the 36% in the 2006 election. In total 3,827 of the 6,686 people registered to vote online did so, 57.2%, with disagreement over whether the trial was a success.


2007 Rushmoor Borough Council election, Election result
Following the election the only independent councillor, Peter Sandy, resigned from the council causing a by-election in Heron Wood ward.


2007 Russian Figure Skating Championships
The 2007 Russian Figure Skating Championships (Russian: Чемпионат России по фигурному катанию на коньках 2007) took place between 4 and 7 January 2007 in Moscow. Skaters competed at the senior level in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing. The juniors event was held separately.


2007 Russian Figure Skating Championships, Junior results
The 2007 Russian Junior Championships were held in Samara on February 1–4, 2007. It was the qualifying event for the 2007 World Junior Championships. The 1st through 3rd places in men, pairs, and ice dancing qualified for the World Junior Championships. The 1st and 2nd places in ladies qualified.


2007 Russian First Division
The 2007 Russian First Division was the 16th edition of Russian First Division. There were 22 teams.


2007 Russian Premier League
The 2007 Russian Premier League was the 16th season of the Russian Football Championship, and the sixth under the current Russian Premier League name. The league was sponsored by insurance company Rosgosstrakh.


2007 Russian Premier League
The season started on 10 March 2007 with the match between Luch-Energia and FC Moscow in Vladivostok, with the first goal of the season being scored by FC Moscow striker Héctor Bracamonte. It ended on 11 November 2007, when Zenit St. Petersburg claimed their first title with an away win over Saturn. Zenit became the second non-Moscow club to win the league, after Alania Vladikavkaz in 1995.


2007 Russian Premier League
Spartak Moscow finished runners-up for the third consecutive season, while defending champions CSKA Moscow finished third.


2007 Russian Premier League, Teams
As in the previous season, 16 teams played in the 2007 season. After the 2006 season, Torpedo Moscow and Shinnik Yaroslavl were relegated to the 2007 Russian First Division. They were replaced by Khimki and Kuban Krasnodar, the winners and runners up of the 2006 Russian First Division.


2007 Russian Premier League, Tournament format and regulations
Based on paragraph 15.3 of the Russian Premier League regulations for the current season, if two or more teams are equal on points (without having the highest number), the positions of these teams are determined by:


2007 Russian Premier League, Tournament format and regulations
Based on paragraph 15.4 of the regulations, if two teams are equal on the highest number of points, the first position is determined by:


2007 Russian Premier League, Tournament format and regulations
Based on paragraph 15.5 of the regulations, if more than two teams are equal on the highest number of points, the first position and subsequent positions of these teams are determined by:


2007 Russian Premier League, Tournament format and regulations
1The terms of this additional tournament are determined by the Russian Football Union and the governing body of the Russian Premier League based on suggestions from the participating clubs.


2007 Russian Premier League, Awards
On 30 November 2007 Russian Football Union named its list of 33 top players:


2007 Russian Premier League, Medal squads
Goalkeepers: Vyacheslav Malafeev (19), Kamil Čontofalský  (13). Defenders: Kim Dong-Jin  (24 / 2), Martin Škrtel  (23 / 1), Aleksandr Anyukov (22 / 2), Erik Hagen  (15), Ivica Križanac  (15), Nicolas Lombaerts  (13 / 2). Midfielders: Anatoliy Tymoshchuk  (29 / 4), Konstantin Zyryanov (27 / 9), Igor Denisov (25 / 3), Alejandro Domínguez  (24 / 3), Radek Šírl  (22 / 1), Vladislav Radimov (17 / 1), Fernando Ricksen  (14), Aleksandr Gorshkov  (11), Ilya Maksimov (6), Yuri Lebedev (1). Forwards: Andrei Arshavin (30 / 10), Pavel Pogrebnyak (24 / 11), Fatih Tekke  (16 / 4). (league appearances and goals listed in brackets)


2007 Russian Premier League, Medal squads
Goalkeepers: Stipe Pletikosa  (29), Dmitri Khomich (1). Defenders: Roman Shishkin (26), Martin Stranzl  (19 / 2), Florin Şoavă  (18), Renat Sabitov (15), Géder  (14 / 1), Martin Jiránek  (11), Andrei Ivanov (7), Fyodor Kudryashov (7), Ignas Dedura  (6 / 1). Midfielders: Yegor Titov (27 / 7), Radoslav Kováč  (26 / 1), Dmitri Torbinski (24 / 3), Denis Boyarintsev (24 / 3), Maksym Kalynychenko  (22 / 3), Vladimir Bystrov (18 / 3), Mozart  (18 / 1), Quincy  (6), Aleksei Rebko (3), Serghei Covalciuc  (2), Sergei Parshivlyuk (2), Oleg Dineyev (1). Forwards: Roman Pavlyuchenko (22 / 14), Nikita Bazhenov (16 / 4), Artyom Dzyuba (16 / 1), Welliton  (12 / 4), Aleksandr Prudnikov (12 / 2).


2007 Russian Premier League, Medal squads
Transferred out during the season: Oleg Dineyev (on loan to FC Shinnik Yaroslavl), Quincy  (on loan to  Celta de Vigo).


2007 Russian Premier League, Medal squads
Goalkeepers: Veniamin Mandrykin (20), Igor Akinfeev (10), Yevgeny Pomazan (1). Defenders: Sergei Ignashevich (26 / 3), Vasili Berezutski (26 / 1), Aleksei Berezutski (26), Deividas Šemberas  (24), Anton Grigoryev (10), Chidi Odiah  (4). Midfielders: Yuri Zhirkov (29 / 2), Evgeni Aldonin (27 / 2), Elvir Rahimić  (27), Miloš Krasić  (22 / 4), Rolan Gusev (16), Dudu  (15 / 1), Ivan Taranov (13), Caner Erkin  (8), Eduardo Ratinho  (6 / 1), Pavel Mamayev (4), Daniel Carvalho  (4), Sergei Gorelov (2). Forwards: Jô  (27 / 13), Vágner Love  (23 / 13), Ramón  (18 / 1), Dawid Janczyk  (10 / 1), Nikita Burmistrov (6), Dmitry Tikhonov (2).


2007 Russian Professional Rugby League season
This was the third season of the new Russian Professional Rugby League,


2007 Russian Second Division
The Second Division is geographically divided into 5 zones. The winners of each zone are automatically promoted into the First Division. The bottom finishers of each zone lose professional status and are relegated into the Amateur Football League.


2007 Russian Super Cup
The 2007 Russian Super Cup was the 5th Russian Super Cup match, a football match which was to be contested between the 2006 Russian Premier League champion and the winner of 2005–06 Russian Cup. However, because the same team won both the league and the cup for the second consecutive season, the match was contested between the champion and the runner-up of the Russian Premier League, CSKA Moscow and Spartak Moscow, respectively, also for the second consecutive season. The match was held on 3 March 2007 at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia. CSKA Moscow beat Spartak Moscow 4–2 to win their third overall and second consecutive Russian Super Cup.


2007 Russian legislative election
Legislative elections were held in the Russian Federation on 2 December 2007. At stake were the 450 seats in the 5th State Duma, the lower house of the Federal Assembly (the legislature). Eleven parties were included in the ballot, including Russia's largest party, United Russia, which was supported by President of Russia Vladimir Putin. Official results showed that United Russia won 64.3% of the votes, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation 11.6%, the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia 8.1%, and Fair Russia won 7.7%, and none of the other parties won enough votes to gain any seats.


2007 Russian legislative election
Although 400 foreign election monitors were present at the polling stations, the elections received mixed criticism internationally, largely from Western countries, and by some independent media and some opposition parties domestically. The observers stated that the elections were not rigged but that media coverage was heavily favoured towards United Russia. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe stated that the elections were "not fair", while foreign governments and the European Union called on Russia to look for possible violations. The election commission responded saying that the allegations would be examined. The Kremlin insisted that the vote was fair and said it demonstrated Russia's political stability.


2007 Russian legislative election, Regulations
The 2007 election were assigned exclusively from party-list proportional representation under a law adopted in 2005 on the initiative of President Vladimir Putin. He claimed it would strengthen the party system by reducing the number of parties in the Duma. In the previous elections half of the seats were filled using proportional representation and another half using the first-past-the-post system. It was also the first parliamentary election since 1993 that lacks the "against all" option on the ballot, and the first in which there was no provision for the minimum number of voters that must be achieved for the elections to be considered valid.


2007 Russian legislative election, Regulations
That year, the 225 single-member districts were abolished. In the election of 2003, 100 of these seats were won by independents or minor party candidates. All seats were awarded by proportional representation. The threshold for eligibility to win seats was raised from 5.0 to 7.0 percent. In 2003 four parties each exceeded 7.0 percent of the list vote and collectively won 70.7 percent of the total Duma vote.


2007 Russian legislative election, Regulations
Only officially registered parties were eligible to compete, and registered parties could not form a bloc in order to improve their chances of clearing the 7.0 percent threshold, with the provision that parties in the Duma had to represent at least 60% of the participating citizens, and that there must be at least two parties in the Duma. There were eleven parties eligible to take part in the Duma election.


2007 Russian legislative election, Regulations
Duma seats were allocated to individuals on the lists of successful parties in accordance with their ranking there, and divided among each regional group of candidates for the party in proportion to the votes received by that party in each region  (Article 83: Methodology of Proportional Distribution of Deputy Seats). Any members who resign from their party automatically forfeit their seats.


2007 Russian legislative election, Regulations
Several weeks ahead of the election, party leaders take part in moderated debates. Debates are televised on several state channels. Each candidate were given a chance to present his party's agenda, and to challenge opponents with questions. (United Russia refused to participate in the debates to receive more time for allowed promotion clips than other parties.)


2007 Russian legislative election, Regulations
In the Republic of Chechnya, a constitutional referendum was held on the same date.