1954 Rugby World Cup

The 1954 Rugby World Cup was the first attempt at a Rugby World Cup. The tournament which was held in England, took place from March 5 to 17 and featured eight teams from across Europe. The other team that joined was New Zealand who at the time was on a tour across the continent. The nine teams was separated into three groups of three where they played the other teams in their group with the winner and the best runner-up from the three groups qualifying through to the semi-finals. From there, it would go into a knockout format with the final on March 17 being played at Twickenham.