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 France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, Georgia,

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

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. ''All times local (

UTC+2 UTC+02:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +02:00. In ISO 8601, the associated time would be written as 2020-11-08T23:41:45+02:00. This time is used in: As standard time (year-round) ''Principal cities: Cairo, Pretoria, Cape ...

)''

France vs Argentina

Notes

*This was the third consecutive World Cup in which Argentina played the tournament host in the competition's opening match. In

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

, the Pumas lost 23–18 to

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

and in

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lost 24–8 to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. *The three points from Skrela's second half penalty is the lowest points total in a half in World Cup history. *This was the second consecutive world cup match (following the 2003 final), in which the winner was scoreless in the second half. *This was the fifth win for Argentina in their last six Tests against France, whose sole win in November 2006 was by one point. *Argentina became the second side to beat the hosts in the opening match, after New Zealand beat England in 1991 at Twickenham. *It was France's first defeat in the first round of the World Cup (although they had a 20–20 draw against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

in 1987). Only

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

now have a 100% record in the first round.

Ireland vs Namibia

Notes

*Brian O'Driscoll took sole possession of the all-time Ireland try-scoring lead from teammate Denis Hickie with his 30th try. *This was Namibia's best result in a World Cup match, surpassing a thirty-point defeat to

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

Argentina vs Georgia

Ireland vs Georgia

France vs Namibia

France vs Ireland

Argentina vs Namibia

Georgia vs Namibia

France vs Georgia

Ireland vs Argentina

Notes

*This was the second time that Argentina had eliminated Ireland from a Rugby World Cup, having also done so in the 1999 Rugby World Cup quarter-final play-off. *This was Paul Honiss' 44th test as referee, equalling the record of

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

referee Derek Bevan.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:World Cup Pool D 2007–08 in French rugby union 2007–08 in Irish rugby union 2007 in Argentine rugby union

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...