If the inaugural Rugby World Cup in 1987 was dominated by the eight International Rugby Football Board (IRFB) members at the time, the second tournament would herald the emergence of other nations onto the world stage.
The tournament again involved 16 teams – Australia, New Zealand, England, France, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Argentina, Fiji, Western Samoa (now Samoa), Japan, Italy, Romania, Canada, Zimbabwe and the USA – split between four pools.
However unlike four years earlier, the IRFB members – Australia, New Zealand, England, France, Scotland, Ireland and Wales – and Fiji were not joined by invitees but by nations who had successfully negotiated a qualifying process involving 32 nations.
The desire to share in the occasion saw five nations – England as hosts with Ireland, Scotland, Wales and France – stage matches.
England and New Zealand opened the tournament at Twickenham on 3 October, a match defending champions New Zealand won 18-12, but it was not until three days later that Rugby World Cup 1991 really came to life with an unthinkable result.
Wales, still basking in the glory of finishing third in 1987, met debutants Western Samoa at Cardiff Arms Park in a match that would go down in the Rugby World Cup history books.
With their combative tackling and strong running Western Samoa made Wales pay for perhaps underestimating their challenge with a 16-13 victory that they truly deserved. In doing so they became the first of the so-called ‘minnow’ nations to beat one of the IRFB members.
History had been made but Western Samoa were not finished. A respectable 9-3 loss to Australia and a 35-12 defeat of Argentina saw them reach the quarter final stages, with Wales the first of the big eight not to reach the knock-out phase.
However Western Samoa were not the only emerging nation to reach the last eight. Having beaten Fiji and Romania while losing narrowly to France, Canada also progressed to the quarter-finals from the fourth Pool. The Rugby World Cup was achieving its goal of widening the sport.
The fairytale would end in the last eight with New Zealand beating Canada, albeit unconvincingly, 29-13 and Scotland ending the hopes of Western Samoa with a 28-6 victory. Western Samoa returned home nonetheless to a hero’s welcome in their capital Apia.
England overcame France 19-10 in Paris in a match that saw the 93rd and final appearance by Serge Blanco, a hero four years previously in France’s semi-final against Australia. The finest game of the tournament, however, saw Australia meet Ireland at Dublin’s Lansdowne Rd.
Expected to win comfortably, Australia instead found themselves 18-15 down with five minutes to go after a late try by flanker Gordon Hamilton had brought Lansdowne Road to its feet.
Australia did not panic though, and stand-in captain Michael Lynagh simply called for a planned move which worked perfectly to put the fly-half over in the corner to clinch a 19-18 victory.
Like in 1987 the final featured a northern-southern hemisphere clash after England overcame Scotland, Rob Andrew’s drop goal sealing a 9-6 victory, and Australia ended New Zealand’s reign with a 16-6 success.
A capacity crowd at Twickenham saw Australia triumph 12-6 against an England side that had suddenly abandoned their feared forward approach to play a running game.
However the game was not without its controversy and is remembered for the perceived deliberate knock-on by David Campese, although ultimately the better team won on the day and captain Nick Farr-Jones held aloft the Webb Ellis Cup.
The Rugby World Cup was here to stay, having captured the imaginations of a television audience of 1.75 billion viewers across 103 countries, compared to 300 million in 17 countries in 1987.