Pool Stage
The tournament began on Friday 1 October 1999 in the newly-built Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, with Wales beating Argentina in a hard fought game 23–18 to get their campaign off to a positive start. The Pool stage of the tournament played out as was widely expected with the Tri Nations teams of New Zealand (who inflected a massive 110–3 win against Italy at the Galpharm Stadium in Huddersfield), South Africa and Australia all winning their pools easily without losing a single game. For the then Five Nations Championship teams who all played their pool matches in their own countries it was a case of mixed fortunes with France winning their pool without losing a game. Host Wales also won their pool, though they suffered 31–38 defeat at the hands of Samoa in front of a home crowd at the Millennium Stadium. However as expected England, Ireland and Scotland all finished second in their pools and were forced to try to qualify for the Quarter-Finals via the play-offs alongside fellow runners-up Samoa and Fiji, and Argentina as the best third placed side from all five pools.
| Qualified for Quarter-finals |
| Qualified for Quarter-final Play-offs |
Read more about this topic: 1999 Rugby World Cup
Famous quotes containing the words pool and/or stage:
“I’ th’ world’s volume
Our Britain seems as of it, but not in’ t;
In a great pool a swan’s nest.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“Toddlerhood resembles adolescence because of the rapidity of physical growth and because of the impulse to break loose of parental boundaries. At both ages, the struggle for independence exists hand in hand with the often hidden wish to be contained and protected while striving to move forward in the world. How parents and toddlers negotiate their differences sets the stage for their ability to remain partners during childhood and through the rebellions of the teenage years.”
—Alicia F. Lieberman (20th century)