2003 Rugby World Cup

The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup and was won by England. Originally planned to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the New Zealand Rugby Union and Rugby World Cup Limited. The pre-event favourites were England, regarded by many at the time as the best team in the world after defeating all of the traditional southern hemisphere teams and also after winning the grand slam in the 2003 Six Nations Championship. New Zealand, France, South Africa and defending champions Australia were also expected to make strong showings.