The Rugby World Cup really started to hit its stride in 1991, scaling up from the inaugural event in 1987 in terms of spectacle and venues, while the rugby was much more competitive with all the Five Nations fully on board and a number of ‘smaller” nations started to make an impact.
The decision for all Five Nations to host the tournament was madness after a debrief of the 1987 tournament strongly advised that just one nation should undertake the role, but that’s rugby for you.
All the Five Nations got a piece of the action and the money rugby tourists were beginning to spend liberally. The ...