The knockout stage of the 2011 Rugby World Cup began on 8 October with a quarter-final between

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

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 ...

and concluded on 23 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 ...

at Eden Park in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

. New Zealand were the first team to qualify for the knockout stage, when they beat France 37–17 in their penultimate Pool A game. New Zealand and France re-encountered in the final, that was won by the local team 8–7. This was a rematch of the 1987 final, also in Eden Park and also won by New Zealand. This way, New Zealand got their second title, while France their third final. For the first time in World Cup history, three teams that finished second in their respective pools qualified for the semi-finals, while South Africa became the second defending champions not to reach the semi-finals after Australia in 1995. Furthermore, the bottom half of the bracket was entirely composed of the

2012 Rugby Championship The 2012 Rugby Championship was the inaugural annual rugby union series between the national rugby union teams of New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, and Argentina. For sponsorship reasons, the competition was known as ''The Castle Rugby Cham ...

teams and the other half was composed of the last four Six Nations champions since the last World Cup.

Bracket

Quarter-finals

Ireland vs Wales

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England vs France

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South Africa vs Australia

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New Zealand vs Argentina

Notes

*This was New Zealand fullback Mils Muliaina's 100th test, the second New Zealand player to have reached this milestone.

Semi-finals

Wales vs France

Notes

*The Welsh captain was sent off after committing a tip-tackle, releasing the opponent past the horizontal off the ground in the 18th minute.

Australia vs New Zealand

Bronze final

Wales vs Australia

Notes

*This was Australian lock Nathan Sharpe's 100th test, the fifth Australian to reach the milestone.

Final

France vs New Zealand

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:World Cup knockout stage 2010–11 in Welsh rugby union 2010–11 in Irish rugby union 2010–11 in French rugby union 2010–11 in English rugby union 2011 in South African rugby union 2011 in Australian rugby union 2011 in Argentine rugby union knockout