User:MacRusgail/Portal:Rugby union/Selected article/December
The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France in September and October of that year, with the final in Paris. France won the hosting rights in 2003, beating a bid from England. The competition consisted of 48 matches over 44 days; 42 matches were played in ten cities throughout France, as well as four in Cardiff, Wales, and two in Edinburgh, Scotland.
The eight quarter-finalists from 2003 were granted automatic qualification, while 12 other nations gained entry through the regional qualifying competitions that began in 2004 - of them, Portugal was the only World Cup debutant. The top three nations from each pool at the end of the pool stage will qualify automatically for the 2011 World Cup. (More...)