Misplaced Pages

Scotland have played in every Rugby World Cup since the inaugural tournament in 1987.

Their best finish was fourth in 1991. In their semi-final on October 26, 1991, Scotland lost 6–9 to England at Murrayfield after Gavin Hastings missed a penalty almost in front of and a short distance from the posts. On October 30 Scotland lost the third-place play-off to New Zealand in Cardiff 13–6.

Since then they have qualified for the quarter-finals in every tournament except in 2011, 2019 and 2023, but have not qualified for the semi-finals.

In 2015 Scotland were defeated in the quarter-final match versus Australia following a number of refereeing decisions that provoked controversy.

In 2019, they were defeated in the pool stages by Ireland and hosts Japan, becoming the first Tier 1 team since Wales in 2007 to not qualify for the quarter-finals from a pool that only contained two Tier 1 teams.

By position

Rugby World Cup record											Qualification
Year	Round	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	Squad	Head coach		Pos	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA
1987	Quarter-finals	4	2	1	1	138	99	Squad	D. Grant		Invited
1991	Fourth Place	6	4	0	2	162	64	Squad	I. McGeechan		Automatically qualified
1995	Quarter-finals	4	2	0	2	179	75	Squad	J. Telfer		Automatically qualified
1999	Quarter-finals	5	3	0	2	173	108	Squad			1st	2	2	0	0	170	14
2003	Quarter-finals	5	3	0	2	118	130	Squad	I. McGeechan		Automatically qualified
2007	Quarter-finals	5	3	0	2	129	85	Squad	F. Hadden		Automatically qualified
2011	Pool Stage	4	2	0	2	73	59	Squad	A. Robinson		Automatically qualified
2015	Quarter-finals	5	3	0	2	170	128	Squad	V. Cotter		Automatically qualified
2019	Pool Stage	4	2	0	2	119	55	Squad	G. Townsend		Automatically qualified
2023	Pool Stage	4	2	0	2	146	71	Squad			Automatically qualified
Total	—	46	26	1	19	1407	874	—	—		—	2	2	0	0	170	14
Champions    Runners-up    Third place    Fourth place Home venue

1987 New Zealand & Australia

Group matches

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

1. ^ France qualify as pool winner having scored three tries to Scotland's two in their drawn match.

France	20–20	Scotland
Try: Sella Berbizier Blanco Con: Blanco Pen: Blanco (2)		Try: White Duncan Pen: Hastings (4)

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)

Romania	28–55	Scotland
Try: Murariu (2) Toader Con: Alexandru Ion Pen: Alexandru (3) Ion		Try: Jeffrey (3) Tait (2) Hastings (2) Duncan Tukalo Con: Hastings (8) Pen: Hastings

Quarter final

New Zealand	30–3	Scotland
Try: Whetton Gallagher Con: Fox (2) Pen: Fox (6)		Pen: Hastings

1991 UK, Ireland & France

Group matches

Scotland	47–9	Japan
Try: S. Hastings Stanger Chalmers White Penalty try Tukalo G. Hastings Con: G. Hastings (5) Pen: G. Hastings (2) Chalmers	Report	Try: Hosokawa Con: Hosokawa Drop: Hosokawa

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

Scotland	24–15	Ireland
Try: Shiel Armstrong Con: G. Hastings (2) Pen: G. Hastings (3) Drop: Chalmers	Report	Pen: Keyes (4) Drop: Keyes

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

Quarter final

Scotland	28–6	Western Samoa
Try: Jeffrey (2) Stanger Con: Hastings (2) Pen: Hastings (4)	Report	Pen: Vaea Drop: Bachop

Semi final

Scotland	6–9	England
Pen: G. Hastings (2)	Report	Pen: Webb (2) Drop: Andrew

Third-place play-off

New Zealand	13–6	Scotland
Try: Little Pen: Preston (3)	Report	Pen: G. Hastings (2)

1995 South Africa

Group matches

Ivory Coast	0–89	Scotland
		Try: G. Hastings (4) Logan (2) Walton (2) Wright Chalmers Stanger Burnell Shiel Con: G. Hastings (9) Pen: G. Hastings (2)

Scotland	41–5	Tonga
Try: S. Hastings Peters G. Hastings Con: G. Hastings Pen: G. Hastings (8)		Try: Fenukitau

France	22–19	Scotland
Try: Ntamack Con: Lacroix Pen: Lacroix (5)		Try: Wainwright Con: G. Hastings Pen: G. Hastings (4)

Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
France	3	3	0	0	114	47	+67	9
Scotland	3	2	0	1	149	27	+122	7
Tonga	3	1	0	2	44	90	−46	5
Ivory Coast	3	0	0	3	29	172	−143	3

Quarter final

New Zealand	48–30	Scotland
Try: Little (2) Lomu Mehrtens Bunce Fitzpatrick Con: Mehrtens (6) Pen: Mehrtens (2)		Try: Weir (2) S. Hastings Con: G. Hastings (3) Pen: G. Hastings (3)

1999 Wales

Group matches

Scotland	29–46	South Africa
Try: M. Leslie Tait Con: Logan (2) Pen: Logan (4) Drop: Townsend		Try: Le Roux Kayser Van der Westhuizen Fleck A. Venter B. Venter Con: De Beer (5) Pen: De Beer (2)

Scotland	43–12	Uruguay
Try: Russell Armstrong Metcalfe M. Leslie Simpson Townsend Con: Logan (5) Pen: Logan		Pen: Aguirre (3) Sciarra

Scotland	48–0	Spain
Try: Mather (2) McLaren Longstaff Hodge C. Murray Penalty try Con: Hodge (5) Pen: Hodge

Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
South Africa	3	3	0	0	132	35	+97	9
Scotland	3	2	0	1	120	58	+62	7
Uruguay	3	1	0	2	42	97	−55	5
Spain	3	0	0	3	18	122	−104	3

Quarter-final play-offs

Scotland	35–20	Samoa
Try: C. Murray M. Leslie Penalty try Con: Logan Pen: Logan (5) Drop: Townsend	Report	Try: Lima Sititi Con: Leaega (2) Pen: Leaega (2)

Quarter final

Scotland	18–30	New Zealand
Try: C. Murray Pountney Con: Logan Pen: Logan Drop: Townsend	Report	Try: Umaga (2) Wilson Lomu Con: Mehrtens (2) Pen: Mehrtens (2)

2003 Australia

Group matches

Scotland	32–11	Japan
Try: Paterson (2) Grimes Taylor Danielli Con: Paterson Townsend Pen: Paterson		Try: Onozawa Pen: Hirose (2)

Scotland	39–15	United States
Try: Danielli (2) Kerr Townsend Paterson Con: Paterson (4) Pen: Paterson (2)		Pen: Hercus (5)

France	51–9	Scotland
Try: Betsen Harinordoquy Michalak Galthié Brusque Con: Michalak (3) Merceron Pen: Michalak (4) Drop: Michalak Brusque		Pen: Paterson (3)

Scotland	22–20	Fiji
Try: Smith Con: Paterson Pen: Paterson (5)		Try: Caucaunibuca (2) Con: Little (2) Pen: Little (2)

Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	BP	Pts	Qualification
France	4	4	0	0	204	70	+134	4	20	Quarter-finals
Scotland	4	3	0	1	102	97	+5	2	14
Fiji	4	2	0	2	98	114	−16	2	10
United States	4	1	0	3	86	125	−39	2	6
Japan	4	0	0	4	79	163	−84	0	0

Quarter final

Australia	33–16	Scotland
Try: Mortlock 46' c Gregan 59' c Lyons 64' c Con: Flatley (3) Pen: Flatley (4)		Try: Russell 80' c Con: Paterson Pen: Paterson (2) Drop: Paterson 38'

2007 France

Group matches

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	B	Pts	Qualification
1	New Zealand	4	4	0	0	309	35	+274	4	20	Qualified for the quarter-finals
2	Scotland	4	3	0	1	116	66	+50	2	14
3	Italy	4	2	0	2	85	117	−32	1	9	Eliminated, automatic qualification for RWC 2011
4	Romania	4	1	0	3	40	161	−121	1	5
5	Portugal	4	0	0	4	38	209	−171	1	1

Scotland	56–10	Portugal
Tries: R. Lamont (2) 12' c, 14' c S. Lawson 23' c Dewey 30' c Parks 57' c Southwell 60' c Brown 68' c Ford 76' c Con: Parks (5/5) Paterson (3/3)	Report	Try: Carvalho 28' c Con: D. Pinto (1/1) Pen: D. Pinto (1/1) 34'

Scotland	42–0	Romania
Tries: Paterson 2' c Hogg (3) 17' c, 46' c, 53' c R. Lamont (2) 36' c, 72' c Con: Paterson (6/6)	Report

Scotland	0–40	New Zealand
	Report	Tries: McCaw 5' c Howlett (2) 15' m, 74' m Kelleher 33' m Williams 62' m Carter 65' c Con: Carter (2/6) Pen: Carter (2/3) 26', 43'

Scotland	18–16	Italy
Pen: Paterson (6/6) 2', 6', 32', 35', 47', 53'	Report	Try: Troncon 13' c Con: Bortolussi (1/1) Pen: Bortolussi (3/6) 18', 56', 62'

Quarter final

Argentina	19–13	Scotland
Try: Longo Elía 33' c Con: F. Contepomi (1/1) Pen: F. Contepomi (3/4) 23', 29', 43' Drop: Hernández (1/4) 54'	Report	Try: Cusiter 63' c Con: Paterson (1/1) Pen: Parks (1/2) 16' Paterson (1/1) 38'

2011 New Zealand

Group matches

Scotland	34–24	Romania
Try: Blair 8' m Ansbro 21' c Danielli (2) 75' m, 78' m Con: Paterson (1/4) Pen: Paterson (4/5) 3', 38', 53', 71'	Report	Try: Lazăr 40+' m Carpo 67' c Con: Dimofte (1/2) Pen: Dumbravă (2/4) 12', 23' Dimofte (2/2) 54', 62'

Scotland	15–6	Georgia
Pen: Parks (4/7) 24', 34', 71', 76' Drop: Parks (1/1) 39'	Report	Pen: Kvirikashvili (2/2) 17', 73'

Argentina	13–12	Scotland
Try: González Amorosino 73' c Con: Contepomi (1/1) Pen: Contepomi (2/5) 19', 64'	Report	Pen: Paterson (1/2) 35' Jackson (1/1) 38' Drop: Jackson (1/1) 65' Parks (1/2) 72'

England	16–12	Scotland
Try: Ashton 78' c Con: Flood (1/1) Pen: Wilkinson (2/5) 34', 63' Drop: Wilkinson (1/2) 57'	Report	Pen: Paterson (2/2) 9', 55' Parks (1/1) 17' Drop: Parks (1/3) 40+'

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	T	B	Pts	Qualification
1	England	4	4	0	0	137	34	+103	18	2	18	Advanced to the quarter-finals and qualified for the 2015 Rugby World Cup
2	Argentina	4	3	0	1	90	40	+50	10	2	14
3	Scotland	4	2	0	2	73	59	+14	4	3	11	Eliminated but qualified for 2015 Rugby World Cup
4	Georgia	4	1	0	3	48	90	−42	3	0	4
5	Romania	4	0	0	4	44	169	−125	3	0	0

2015 England

Group matches

Scotland	45–10	Japan
Try: Hardie 48' m Bennett (2) 56' c, 69 c Seymour 64' c Russell 74' c Con: Laidlaw (4/5) 57', 65', 70', 75' Pen: Laidlaw (4/5) 3', 12', 18', 20'	Report	Try: Mafi 15' c Con: Goromaru (1/1) 16' Pen: Goromaru (1/3) 46'

Scotland	39–16	United States
Try: Visser 42' m Maitland 47' c Nel 54' c Scott 65' c Weir 79' c Con: Russell (1/2) 48' Laidlaw (3/3) 55', 66', 80' Pen: Hogg (1/2) 7' Russell (1/2) 16'	Report	Try: Lamositele 21' c Con: MacGinty (1/1) 22' Pen: MacGinty (3/3) 3', 40', 51'

South Africa	34–16	Scotland
Try: Burger 13' c Pietersen 38' c Habana 73' m Con: Pollard (2/3) 13', 40' Pen: Pollard (4/4) 17', 27', 62', 68' Drop: Pollard 51'	Report	Try: Seymour 49' c Con: Laidlaw (1/1) 50' Pen: Laidlaw (2/3) 30', 45' Weir (1/1) 60'

Samoa	33–36	Scotland
Try: T. Pisi 11' c Leiataua 14' m Lee-Lo 21' m Matu'u 78' c Con: T. Pisi (1/3) 11' Fa'apale (1/1) 78' Pen: T. Pisi (3/3) 5', 29', 38'	Report	Try: Seymour 12' c Hardie 32' c Laidlaw 74' c Con: Laidlaw (3/3) 13', 33', 75' Pen: Laidlaw (5/7) 9', 20', 25', 51', 53'

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	T	B	Pts	Qualification
1	South Africa	4	3	0	1	176	56	+120	23	4	16	Advanced to the quarter-finals and qualified for the 2019 Rugby World Cup
2	Scotland	4	3	0	1	136	93	+43	14	2	14
3	Japan	4	3	0	1	98	100	−2	9	0	12	Eliminated but qualified for 2019 Rugby World Cup
4	Samoa	4	1	0	3	69	124	−55	7	2	6
5	United States	4	0	0	4	50	156	−106	5	0	0

Quarter final

Australia	35–34	Scotland
Try: Ashley-Cooper 9' m Mitchell (2) 30' m, 43' c Hooper 40' m Kuridrani 64' c Con: Foley (2/5) 44', 65' Pen: Foley (2/2) 54', 80'	Report	Try: Horne 18' c Seymour 59' m Bennett 74' c Con: Laidlaw (2/3) 19', 75' Pen: Laidlaw (5/5) 14', 21', 34', 47', 69'

2019 Japan

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	T	B	Pts	Qualification
1	Japan	4	4	0	0	115	62	+53	13	3	19	Advanced to the quarter-finals and qualified for the 2023 Rugby World Cup
2	Ireland	4	3	0	1	121	27	+94	18	4	16
3	Scotland	4	2	0	2	119	55	+64	16	3	11	Eliminated but qualified for 2023 Rugby World Cup
4	Samoa	4	1	0	3	58	128	−70	8	1	5
5	Russia	4	0	0	4	19	160	−141	1	0	0

Group matches

(1 BP) Ireland	27–3	Scotland
Try: Ja. Ryan 6' c Best 14' m Furlong 25' c Conway 56' m Con: Sexton (1/2) 8' Murray (1/2) 27' Pen: Carty (1/1) 68'	Report	Pen: Laidlaw (1/1) 21'

(1 BP) Scotland	34–0	Samoa
Try: Maitland 29' c Laidlaw 33' c Penalty try (2) 56', 74' Con: Laidlaw (2/2) 30', 35' Pen: Laidlaw (1/1) 8' Drop: Hogg (1/1) 37'	Report

(1 BP) Scotland	61–0	Russia
Try: Hastings (2) 14' c, 18' c G. Horne (3) 22' c, 45' c, 59' m Turner 51' c Seymour 56' c Barclay 75' c McInally 78' c Con: Hastings (8/9) 15', 20', 24', 46', 53', 57', 76', 80'	Report

(1 BP) Japan	28–21	Scotland (1 BP)
Try: Matsushima 18' c Inagaki 26' c Fukuoka (2) 40' c, 43' c Con: Tamura (4/4) 20', 27', 40+2', 44'	Report	Try: Russell 7' c Nel 50' c Fagerson 55' c Con: Laidlaw (2/2) 8', 51' Russell (1/1) 56'

2023 France

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	TF	TA	B	Pts	Qualification
1	Ireland	4	4	0	0	190	46	+144	27	5	3	19	Advance to knockout stage, and qualification to the 2027 Rugby World Cup
2	South Africa	4	3	0	1	151	34	+117	22	4	3	15
3	Scotland	4	2	0	2	146	71	+75	21	10	2	10	Qualification to the 2027 Rugby World Cup
4	Tonga	4	1	0	3	96	177	−81	13	25	1	5
5	Romania	4	0	0	4	32	287	−255	4	43	0	0

South Africa	18–3	Scotland
Try: Du Toit 47' m Arendse 50' c Con: De Klerk (1/1) 51' Pen: Libbok (2/4) 13', 25'	Report	Pen: Russell (1/1) 40+1'

(1 BP) Scotland	45–17	Tonga
Try: Turner 5' c Van der Merwe 27' m Steyn 30' m Darge 40+2' c Horne 54' c Kinghorn 68' c Graham 80+2' c Con: Russell (5/7) 6', 40+3', 55', 70', 80+3'	Report	Try: Kata 20' c Tameifuna 44' c Con: Havili (2/2) 21', 45' Pen: Havili (1/1) 10'

(1 BP) Scotland	84–0	Romania
Try: Watson 9' c Price 17' c Graham (4) 21' c, 34' c, 40' c, 77' c Fagerson 38' c Harris 45' c Smith 53' c Healy 58' c Matthews 71' c Darge 73' c Con: Healy (11/11) 10', 18', 22', 35', 39', 40', 47', 55', 59', 72', 77' Horne (1/1) 73'	Report

(1 BP) Ireland	36–14	Scotland
Try: Lowe 2' m Keenan (2) 26' c, 39' c Henderson 32' c Sheehan 44' m Ringrose 58' m Con: Sexton (3/5) 27', 33', 40'	Report	Try: Ashman 64' c Price 66' c Con: Russell (2/2) 65', 66'

Individual Records

Gavin Hastings is by far the most successful Scottish world cup player, and has gained a number of records.

Points

Most overall points in final stages

Points	Name	Country	App.	Tries	Con.	Pen.	Drop.	Tournament
227	Gavin Hastings (second position)	Scotland	13	9	39	36	–	1987, 1991, 1995

Key: App = Appearances. Con = conversions. Pen = penalties. Drop = drop goals.

Conversions

Most overall conversions in final stages

• Gavin Hastings 39 (1987–1995)

Penalty goals

Most penalties in a match

• Gavin Hastings 8 (v Tonga, 1995)

Overall record

Against	Played	Win	Draw	Lost	Win %
Argentina	2	0	0	2	0%
Australia	2	0	0	2	0%
England	2	0	0	2	0%
Fiji	1	1	0	0	100%
France	3	0	1	2	0%
Georgia	1	1	0	0	100%
Ireland	2	1	0	1	50%
Italy	1	1	0	0	100%
Ivory Coast	1	1	0	0	100%
Japan	4	3	0	1	75%
New Zealand	5	0	0	5	0%
Portugal	1	1	0	0	100%
Romania	3	3	0	0	100%
Russia	1	1	0	0	100%
Samoa	4	4	0	0	100%
South Africa	3	0	0	3	0%
Spain	1	1	0	0	100%
Tonga	2	2	0	0	100%
United States	2	2	0	0	100%
Uruguay	1	1	0	0	100%
Zimbabwe	2	2	0	0	100%
Overall	44	25	1	18	57%

RWC qualifying countries which Scotland has not played at the tournament include Canada, Wales and Namibia.

Miscellaneous

Draws

•  France 20–20  Scotland (1987)

Nil points

•  Scotland 89–0  Ivory Coast (1995)
•  Scotland 48–0  Spain (1999)
•  Scotland 42–0  Romania (2007)
•  Scotland 0–40  New Zealand (2007)
•  Scotland 34–0  Samoa (2019)
•  Scotland 61–0  Russia (2019)
•  Scotland 84–0  Romania (2023)

Hosting

Scotland has never been the main host of the World Cup, but a number of Rugby World Cup games have been played in Scotland over the years.

1991 World Cup: Britain/Ireland/France

The 1991 Rugby World Cup final was played in England, pool and finals games were played all over the main five European nations. Pool B games, which involved European nations, Scotland and Ireland, had all their games in either Dublin or Edinburgh with one game being played in Ulster.

1999 World Cup: Wales

The 1999 World Cup was hosted by Wales with some games spread across Scotland, England, Ireland and France. All Pool A games were held in Scotland. Second round play-offs and the quarter-finals were held at a variety of European venues.

2007 World Cup: France

The 2007 competition was held in France, with some games played in Wales and Scotland. Two Pool C matches were held at Edinburgh's Murrayfield.

See also

• History of the Rugby World Cup
• National team appearances in the Rugby World Cup

References

• 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)

1. "Rugby World Cup 2015 quarter-final: Live - Wallabies v Scotland". smh.com.au. 18 October 2015. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
2. "Bernard Foley's last-minute penalty seals 35-34 victory for Australia". rugbyworldcup.com. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
3. "Craig Joubert reveals why he fled pitch after controversial World Cup call". The Guardian. 15 April 2016. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
4. worldrugby.org. "World Rugby". www.worldrugby.org. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
5. worldrugby.org. "World Rugby". www.worldrugby.org. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
6. worldrugby.org. "World Rugby". www.worldrugby.org. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
7. worldrugby.org. "World Rugby". www.worldrugby.org. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
8. "Bernard Foley's last-minute penalty seals 35-34 victory for Australia". rugbyworldcup.com. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
9. "MATCH REPORT: IRELAND 36-14 SCOTLAND". Scottish Rugby. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
10. Refers to country that player represented in the World Cup.
11. "Scotland looks to give up World cup matches at Murrayfield". worldcupweb.com. Retrieved 7 May 2006.

• Rugby World Cup by nation
• Scotland national rugby union team