1995 Rugby World Cup as did South Africa, as hosts. The remaining seven of the 16 positions available in the tournament were filled by regional qualifiers. The qualifying tournaments were broken up into regional associations: Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania. Côte d'Ivoire qualified through Africa, Japan through Asia, Argentina through the Americas, Italy, Romania and Wales through Europe, Tonga through Oceania. The 1995 tournament was the first Rugby World Cup to be hosted by just one country, and thus, all the venues are within the one country. In total, nine stadiums were used for the World Cup, most being owned by local
Ivory Coast at the Rugby World Cup Ivory Coast at the Rugby World Cup The Ivory Coast's only Rugby World Cup appearance was in 1995 when they were placed in Pool D with France, Scotland and Tonga. Their appearance in the 1995 Rugby World Cup was fairly notorious and controversial. In the opening game against Scotland, the Ivory Coast lost by 89 points to nil, a result which led many to question the inclusion of "minor" teams in the tournament. Worse still, three minutes into the third match, against Tonga, their winger Max Brito was crushed beneath several other players. Despite intensive care, Brito was left paralyzed