No noise. No nonsense. Just England.
Hosted by England
England: Runners-up
How England performed
England hosted the 1991 Rugby World Cup and opened at Twickenham on 3 October with an 18–12 defeat by New Zealand. Geoff Cooke's side, captained by Will Carling, then beat Italy 36–6 and the United States 37–9 at the same ground to progress from the pool stage.
The knockout rounds took England away from home. They won 19–10 against France at the Parc des Princes in Paris, then edged Scotland 9–6 in the semi-final at Murrayfield to reach the final. Back at Twickenham on 2 November, Australia won the final 12–6, leaving England as runners-up. Their record read four wins and two defeats from six matches, with 119 points scored and 61 conceded, and both defeats came at Twickenham. It was a clear advance on 1987, when England had gone out in the quarter-finals.
England fixtures
England
12–18
New Zealand
England lost
England tries: None
New Zealand tries: Michael Jones 50'
England
36–6
Italy
England won
England tries: Rory Underwood 11', Jeremy Guscott 40', Jeremy Guscott 49', Jonathan Webb 61'
Italy tries: Marcello Cuttitta 58'
England
37–9
United States
England won
England tries: Rory Underwood 8', Will Carling 32', Micky Skinner 62', Nigel Heslop 68', Rory Underwood 80'
United States tries: Ray Nelson 47'
France
10–19
England
England won
England tries: Rory Underwood 19', Will Carling 80'
France tries: Jean-Baptiste Lafond 51'
Scotland
6–9
England
England won
England
6–12
Australia
England lost
England tries: None
Australia tries: Tony Daly 30'
England statistics
Full England squad
| Player | Pos | Club | Tries |
|---|---|---|---|
| John Olver | Hooker | Northampton | – |
| Brian Moore | Hooker | Harlequins | – |
| Gary Pearce | Prop | Northampton | – |
| Jason Leonard | Prop | Harlequins | – |
| Paul Rendall | Prop | Wasps | – |
| Jeff Probyn | Prop | Wasps | – |
| Paul Ackford | Lock | Harlequins | – |
| Nigel Redman | Lock | Bath | – |
| Wade Dooley | Lock | Preston | – |
| Michael Skinner | Flanker | Harlequins | 1 |
| Peter Winterbottom | Flanker | Harlequins | – |
| Gary Rees | Flanker | Nottingham | – |
| Dean Richards | Number 8 | Leicester | – |
| Mike Teague | Number 8 | Gloucester | – |
| Richard Hill | Scrum-half | Bath | – |
| Dewi Morris | Scrum-half | Orrell | – |
| Rob Andrew | Fly-half | Wasps | – |
| David Pears | Fly-half | Harlequins | – |
| Will Carling C | Centre | Harlequins | 2 |
| Jeremy Guscott | Centre | Bath | 2 |
| Simon Halliday | Wing | Harlequins | – |
| Nigel Heslop | Wing | Orrell | 1 |
| Rory Underwood | Wing | Leicester | 4 |
| Chris Oti | Wing | Wasps | – |
| Jonathan Webb | Fullback | Bath | 1 |
| Simon Hodgkinson | Fullback | Nottingham | – |
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