The knockout stage of the 2015 Rugby World Cup began on 17 October with two quarter-finals and concluded on 31 October with the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

Twickenham Stadium Twickenham Stadium () in Twickenham, south-west London, England, is a rugby union stadium owned by the Rugby Football Union (RFU), English rugby union governing body, which has its headquarters there. The England national rugby union team plays ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

with all matches played over the course of three consecutive weekends.

Qualified teams

Australia went unbeaten to finish in first place in Pool A, with

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

in second place. In Pool B, South Africa finished top despite losing their opening match against Japan, ahead of Scotland in second place.

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 ...

also went unbeaten as winners of Pool C, with

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 ...

in second. Pool D was topped by Northern Hemisphere teams, with

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 ...

coming first and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

in second.

Bracket

Quarter-finals

South Africa vs Wales

New Zealand vs France

Notes: * This was the largest winning margin in a Rugby World Cup knockout stage match, surpassing the 43-point winning margin New Zealand set against Wales in

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...

. * The nine tries scored by New Zealand is the most scored by one team in a Rugby World Cup knockout stage match. * With his hat-trick of tries in this match,

Julian Savea Sio Julian Savea (born 7 August 1990) is a New Zealand rugby union player. He currently plays wing for in Super Rugby Aotearoa. Savea formerly played for in the Top 14, and is a former captain of the Wellington Lions in the Mitre 10 Cup. Be ...

equalled

Jonah Lomu Jonah Tali Lomu (12 May 1975 – 18 November 2015) was a New Zealand professional rugby union player. Lomu is considered to have been the first true global superstar of rugby, and consequently had a huge impact on the game. He is widely regarde ...

and

Bryan Habana Bryan Gary Habana OIS (born 12 June 1983) is a South African former professional rugby union player who initially played as an outside centre but later on, he shifted to the wing. He most recently played for Toulon in the French Top 14 compet ...

's single-tournament record of eight tries.

Ireland vs Argentina

Notes: * This was Argentina's first victory over Ireland since their 30–15 victory in the 2007 Rugby World Cup. * This was Argentina's largest winning margin over Ireland, surpassing the 16-point margin recorded in June 2007.

Australia vs Scotland

Notes: * Fraser Brown and Tim Swinson were named to start, but after

Ross Ford Ross William Ford (born 23 April 1984) is a Strength and Conditioning coach for the Scottish Rugby Academy. He was previously a Scotland international rugby union player who played as a hooker. He made 110 test appearances for Scotland, mak ...

and

Jonny Gray Jonathan Douglas Gray (born 14 March 1994) is a Scotland international rugby union player. He plays at lock for Exeter Chiefs in Premiership Rugby. Rugby union career Amateur career Gray started playing rugby at Cambuslang RFC where he pro ...

's three-match bans were overturned, they were named in the team minutes before kick off. *

Matt Giteau Matthew James Giteau (born 29 September 1982) is an Australian rugby union professional player who is playing with the LA Giltinis of Major League Rugby (MLR). Giteau joined the Giltinis after a short playing stint with the Gungahlin Eagles in ...

and Stephen Moore became the seventh and eighth Australian players to earn 100 test caps. * The 34 points scored by Scotland were the most they had ever scored against Australia. *After the match, World Rugby issued a statement over referee Craig Joubert's controversial decision to award a late penalty to Australia. The report concluded that while Joubert could not have consulted TMO at the time, his decision was in fact wrong, as the replay showed that Australia's Nick Phipps had played the ball before Scotland's Jon Welsh received it. The correct call should have been a scrum awarded to Australia for the original knock-on.

Semi-finals

This was the first Rugby World Cup where no Northern Hemisphere team reached the semi-finals. The semi-final line-up consisted of the four Rugby Championship teams: New Zealand, South Africa, Argentina and Australia. Both matches were played at

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boroug ...

which was also used for the same stage back in the 1999 Rugby World Cup.

South Africa vs New Zealand

Notes: *

became the first team to reach four

Rugby World Cup The Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament is administered by World Rugby, the sport's international governing body. The winners are awarded the Webb E ...

finals, having previously played in the

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

, and 2011 finals. * New Zealand's Sonny Bill Williams,

Jerome Kaino Jerome Kaino (born 6 April 1983) is a former New Zealand rugby union player. In 2004, he was named IRB International Under-21 player of the year. In 2011, he was named the New Zealand Rugby player of the year, finishing ahead of Richie McCaw ...

and

Sam Whitelock Samuel Lawrence Whitelock (born 12 October 1988) is a New Zealand rugby union player who plays as a lock for the Crusaders in Super Rugby and Canterbury in the Mitre 10 Cup. Whitelock has captained the Crusaders, and New Zealand in five interna ...

played in a record 13 consecutive World Cup wins.

Argentina vs Australia

Notes: * Michael Hooper, just 3 years and 140 days since his debut, became the fastest player ever to earn his 50th test cap, surpassing Australia's Al Baxter's record of 4 years and 44 days, and became the youngest Australian to achieve the 50-test landmark. *

James Slipper James Slipper (born 6 June 1989) is an Australian rugby union player who plays at prop. Slipper formerly captained the Queensland Reds, now playing for ACT Brumbies. Slipper made his debut during the 2010 Super 14 season. In June 2010 Slipper ca ...

became Australia's most capped prop, surpassing both Ben Alexander's and

Benn Robinson Benn Robinson (born 19 July 1984) is a former Australian professional rugby union footballer. He played as a loosehead prop for the New South Wales Waratahs in the Super Rugby and for Australia in international matches. He retired from rugb ...

's record of 72 caps. * Australia became the second team, after New Zealand, to reach four Rugby World Cup finals, having previously played in the

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

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 shoot ...

, and 2003 finals.

Bronze Final: South Africa vs Argentina

Notes: * Pat Lambie earned his 50th test cap for South Africa.

Final: New Zealand vs Australia

Notes: * New Zealand became the first team to retain the Rugby World Cup title, and win a third World Cup title. * This was the first time New Zealand won the World Cup on foreign soil. * The aggregate 51 points scored was the most ever in a Rugby World Cup final. * Ben Smith became the first player to receive a yellow card in a Rugby World Cup final. * New Zealand's Sonny Bill Williams,

and

played in a record 14th consecutive World Cup wins. * Fourteen New Zealand players joined five Australians and one South African as winners of multiple Rugby World Cups. McCaw became the first player to captain two World Cup winners.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:World Cup Knockout

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

Knockout Knockout