2003 Rugby World Cup 2003 Rugby World Cup The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup and was won by England. Originally planned to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the New Zealand Rugby Union and Rugby World Cup Limited. The pre-event favourites were England, regarded by many at the time as the best team in the world. New Zealand, France, South Africa and defending champions Australia were also expected to make strong showings, with New Zealand being second favourites after victory in the southern-hemisphere
Portugal at the Rugby World Cup hosted any World Cup games. Portugal at the Rugby World Cup The record of Portugal at the Rugby World Cup is currently limited to a single presence in the 2007 Rugby World Cup, the tournament's sixth edition. Portugal was the last team to qualify, via a 24–23 aggregate victory over Uruguay, and was allocated to Group C along with heavy favorites New Zealand (All Blacks), Scotland, Italy and Romania. The team lost all four matches but succeeded in scoring points and one try in every match, and was able to gain a bonus point on the final game against Romania.