Japan at the Rugby World Cup won three games out of four in pool play, the same as Scotland and South Africa, but unlike the other two, Japan did not get any bonus points, so the other two qualified for the quarter-finals. Japan's first victory was a 52–8 win over Zimbabwe at the 1991 tournament under coach Hiroaki Shukuzawa. Their worst defeat came at the 1995 Rugby World Cup, when they lost to New Zealand by 145–17, in a defeat blamed for setting the development of rugby union in Japan back by several years. Since then, in the 2003 World Cup, held in Australia, Japan coached
1995 Rugby League World Cup Group B 1995 Rugby League World Cup Group B 1995 Rugby League World Cup Group B was one of the three groups in the 1995 Rugby League World Cup. The group consisted of New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Tonga. Tonga looked to be pulling off the shock of the 1995 World Cup when they came from 12–6 down to lead New Zealand 24–12 with 20 minutes to go in the game at Wilderspool Stadium. However, late tries to Hitro Okesene and Richie Blackmore (his second), both converted by Matthew Ridge who also landed a field goal in the dying moments, saved