The knockout stage of the 2007 Rugby World Cup began on 6 October with a quarter-final between Australia and

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and concluded on 20 October with the

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, at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis,

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, between England and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

, their second meeting in this tournament. South Africa were the first team to qualify for the knockout stage, when they beat

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30–25 in their penultimate Pool A game. This was the first Rugby World Cup tournament to have its semi-finalists coming from only two pools (Pools A and D), and the finalists coming from just one pool (Pool A). The top two representative nations of each of pools B and C were eliminated in the quarter-finals.

Summary

Quarter-finals

Australia vs England

Notes * This was England's third consecutive World Cup win against Australia, following victories in the

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quarter-final and 2003 Final, and gave them a 3-2 head-to-head winning World Cup record against the Wallabies. Furthermore,

remained the only team to record a

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win over the Wallabies since

beat them in the opening match of the 1995 World Cup. * Jonny Wilkinson's 12 points in this game took him past

Gavin Hastings Andrew Gavin Hastings, (born 3 January 1962) is a Scottish former rugby union player. A fullback, he is widely regarded to be one of the best ever Scottish rugby players and was one of the outstanding players of his generation, winning 61 ...

' record of 227 World Cup points. ----

New Zealand vs France

Notes * This was New Zealand's worst World Cup finish; they had never before failed to reach the semi-finals. ----

South Africa vs Fiji

Notes *This was Fiji's first quarter-final appearance since the inaugural competition in

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. ----

Argentina vs Scotland

Notes * Argentina's win took them into their first ever World Cup semi-final. Scotland had been seeking to reach their second semi-final, after a fourth-place finish in

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Semi-finals

England vs France

Notes * Josh Lewsey's try, scored after 79 seconds, was the fastest in any match in the knockout stage of a Rugby World Cup and is thought to be the fastest try in England's history. * Jonny Wilkinson extended his World Cup points record to 243. ----

South Africa vs Argentina

Notes * With his second try in this match, Bryan Habana 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 ...

's single-tournament record of eight tries.

Bronze Final – France vs Argentina

Notes *This was referee Paul Honiss's 45th test, breaking the record he had previously shared with Derek Bevan of

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. This record would be surpassed by

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in 2008. *French centre David Marty played outside centre despite wearing the #12, David Skrela played inside centre with the #13. *This was the first occasion in Rugby World Cup history where two teams who had played each other in the pool stage met each other later on in the same tournament.

Final – England vs South Africa

Notes * Jonny Wilkinson's six points in this game made him the leading points scorer in World Cups with 249 points. * Percy Montgomery finished as the tournament's leading points scorer, with 105 points. * This was the second occasion in Rugby World Cup history where two teams who had played each other in the pool stage met each other later on in the same tournament, and the first time it had happened in the final.

References

External links

Knockout stage
a
rugbyworldcup.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:World Cup Knockout stage 2007–08 in French rugby union 2007–08 in Irish rugby union 2007–08 in English rugby union 2007–08 in Scottish rugby union 2007 in Argentine rugby union 2007 in Australian rugby union 2007 in South African rugby union 2007 in New Zealand rugby union