The 1999 Rugby World Cup was the fourth Rugby World Cup and was won by Australia. This was the first Rugby World Cup to be held in rugby union's professional era. The principal host nation was Wales, although the majority of matches were played outside the country, shared between England, France, Scotland and Ireland. As the opening ceremony, first match and the Final would take place in Cardiff, Wales, the Welsh team were awarded the automatic qualification berth afforded the hosts. Only four automatic qualification places were available for the 1999 tournament; the other three went to the top three teams from the previous World Cup in 1995; champions (South Africa), runners-up (New Zealand), and third-place play-off winners (France). Qualification for the final 16 places took place between 63 other nations.