Zimbabwe at the Rugby World Cup

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Zimbabwe have made two Rugby World Cup appearances – in 1987 and 1991.

In the 1987 Rugby World Cup, Zimbabwe's national rugby team was invited as the African entrant. No other African countries were invited, as South Africa was disqualified from the tournament due to a sporting boycott adopted by the international community in response to apartheid.

However, Zimbabwe succeeded in getting through 1991 Rugby World Cup qualifying, and hosted the Africa qualifications. In more recent years, the Namibia national rugby union team has generally defeated Zimbabwe in African qualifying rounds.

Nation	Number of appearances	First appearance	Most recent appearance	Streak	Best result
Zimbabwe	2	1987	1991	2	No games won

By position[edit]

• 1987 Rugby World Cup Eliminated in pool stages
• 1991 Rugby World Cup Eliminated in pool stages
• 1995 Rugby World Cup Did not qualify.
• 1999 Rugby World Cup Did not qualify.
• 2003 Rugby World Cup Did not qualify.
• 2007 Rugby World Cup Did not qualify.
• 2011 Rugby World Cup Did not qualify.
• 2015 Rugby World Cup Did not qualify.
• 2019 Rugby World Cup Did not qualify.

Matches[edit]

1987 Rugby World Cup[edit]

Pool 4 games –

Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	T	Pts	Qualification
France	3	2	1	0	145	44	+101	25	5[a]	Knockout stage
Scotland	3	2	1	0	135	69	+66	22	5[a]
Romania	3	1	0	2	61	130	−69	6	2
Zimbabwe	3	0	0	3	53	151	−98	5	0

23 May 1987

Romania	21–20	Zimbabwe
Try: Paraschiv Toader Hodorcă Pen: Alexandru (3)		Try: Tsimba (2) Neill Con: Ferreira Pen: Ferreira (2)

Eden Park, Auckland Attendance: 4,500 Referee: Stephen Hilditch (Ireland)

30 May 1987

Scotland	60–21	Zimbabwe
Try: Tait (2) Tukalo (2) Duncan (2) Paxton (2) Oliver Hastings Jeffrey Con: Hastings (8)		Try: Buitendag Con: Grobler Pen: Grobler (5)

Athletic Park, Wellington Attendance: 12,000 Referee: David Burnett (Ireland)

2 June 1987

France	70–12	Zimbabwe
Try: Modin (3) Camberabero (3) Charvet (2) Rodriguez (2) Dubroca Estève Laporte Con: Camberabero (9)		Try: Kaulback Con: Grobler Pen: Grobler (2)

Eden Park, Auckland Attendance: 3,000 Referee: Derek Bevan (Wales)

1991 Rugby World Cup[edit]

Pool 2 games –

Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
Scotland	3	3	0	0	122	36	+86	6
Ireland	3	2	0	1	102	51	+51	4
Japan	3	1	0	2	77	87	−10	2
Zimbabwe	3	0	0	3	31	158	−127	0

6 October 1991

Ireland	55–11	Zimbabwe
Tries: Robinson (4), Popplewell (2), Geoghegan, Curtis Con: Keyes (4) Pen: Keyes (5)		Tries: Dawson, Schultz Pen: Ferreira

Lansdowne Road, Dublin Referee: Keith Lawrence

9 October 1991

Scotland	51–12	Zimbabwe
Tries: Tukalo (3), Turnbull, S. Hastings, Stanger, Weir, White Con: Dods (5) Pen: Dods (2) Drop: Wylie		Tries: Garvey (2) Con: Currin (2)

Murrayfield, Edinburgh Referee: Don Reordan

14 October 1991

Japan	52–8	Zimbabwe
Tries: Yoshida (2), Mashuho (2), Kutsuki (2), Horikoshi, Luaiufi, Matsuo Con: Hosokawa (2) Pen: Hosokawa (4)		Tries: Tsimba, Nguruve

Ravenhill, Belfast Referee: Rene Hourquet

1995 Rugby World Cup[edit]

Did not qualify.

1999 Rugby World Cup[edit]

Did not qualify.

2003 Rugby World Cup[edit]

Did not qualify.

2007 Rugby World Cup[edit]

Did not qualify.

2011 Rugby World Cup[edit]

Did not qualify.

2015 Rugby World Cup[edit]

Did not qualify.

2019 Rugby World Cup[edit]

Did not qualify.

Overall record[edit]

Country	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	+/-	%
Romania	1	0	0	1	20	21	−1	0
Ireland	1	0	0	1	11	55	−44	0
Japan	1	0	0	1	8	52	−44	0
France	1	0	0	1	12	70	−58	0
Scotland	2	0	0	2	33	113	−80	0
TOTAL	6	0	0	6	105	373	−268	0

Team Records[edit]

Most Points in a Tournament

• 53 (1987)
• 31 (1991)

Most Points in a Game

• 21 vs  Scotland (1987)
• 20 vs  Romania (1987)
• 12 vs  Scotland (1991)
• 12 vs  France (1987)

Biggest Winning Margin

NIL

Highest Score Against

• 70 vs  France (1987)
• 60 vs  Scotland (1987)
• 55 vs  Ireland (1991)
• 52 vs  Japan (1991)
• 51 vs  Scotland (1991)

Biggest Losing Margin

• 58 vs  France (1987)
• 44 vs  Ireland (1991)
• 44 vs  Japan (1991)
• 39 vs  Scotland (1987)
• 39 vs  Scotland (1991)

Most Tries in a Game

• 3 vs  Romania (1987)
• 2 vs  Scotland (1991)
• 2 vs  Ireland (1991)
• 2 vs  Japan (1991)

Individual records[edit]

Most appearances

• 6 Michael Martin (1987, 1991)
• 5 Richard Tsimba (1987, 1991)
• 4 Andy Ferreria (1987, 1991)
• 4 Craig Brown (1987, 1991)
• 4 Alex Nicholis (1987, 1991)

Most points overall

• 25 Marthinus Grobler (1987)
• 12 Richard Tsimba (1987, 1991)
• 11 Andy Ferreria (1987, 1991)
• 8 Adrian Garvey (1991)

Most points in a game

• 17 vs  Scotland – Marthinus Grobler (1987)
• 8 vs  Scotland – Adrian Garvey (1991)
• 8 vs  Romania – Andy Ferreria (1987)
• 6 vs  Romania – Richard Tsimba (1987)

Most tries overall

• 2 Richard Tsimba (1987, 1991)
• 2 Adrian Garvey (1991)

Most penalty goals

• 7 Marthinus Grobler (1987)
• 3 Andy Ferreria (1987, 1991)

Most penalty goals in a game

• 5 vs  Scotland – Marthinus Grobler (1987)
• 2 vs  France – Marthinus Grobler (1987)
• 2 vs  Romania – Andy Ferreria (1987)
• 1 vs  Ireland – Andy Ferreria (1991)

Hosting[edit]

So far Zimbabwe has not hosted any World Cup games.

References[edit]

• Davies, Gerald (2004) The History of the Rugby World Cup (Sanctuary Publishing Ltd, (ISBN 1860746020)
• Farr-Jones, Nick, (2003). Story of the Rugby World Cup, Australian Post Corporation, (ISBN 0-642-36811-2)