1987 first ever rugby world cup kicks off with new zealand playin 05 22
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1987 39 years ago Historical Events May 22 5 sources

First ever Rugby World Cup kicks off with New Zealand playing Italy at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand.

On May 22, in the year 1987, First ever Rugby World Cup kicks off with New Zealand playing Italy at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand. This event is recorded as a Historical Events event in the history of May 22, one of 412 recorded events on this date across all of history.

The 1987 Rugby World Cup was the first Rugby World Cup. It was co-hosted by New Zealand and Australia – New Zealand hosted 21 matches while Australia hosted 11 matches. The tournament was won by New Zealand, who were the strong favourites and won all their matches comfortably. New Zealand defeated France 29–9 in the final at Eden Park in Auckland. The New Zealand team was captained by David Kirk and included such rugby greats as Sean Fitzpatrick, John Kirwan, Grant Fox and Michael Jones. Wales finished third, and Australia fourth, after conceding crucial tries in the dying seconds of both their semi-final against France and the third-place play-off against Wales.

Key Facts

  • This event took place on May 22, 1987 (AD era).
  • It is categorised as a Historical Events event in recorded history.
  • Referenced in 5 Wikipedia articles.
  • Wikipedia source last updated on 17 January 2026.

On This Date in History 412

Type Year Date Event
Notable Deaths 2024 May 22 David Wilkie, Scottish swimmer (born 1954)
Notable Deaths 2022 May 22 Dervla Murphy, Irish touring cyclist and author (born 1931)
Historical Events 2021 May 22 Hypothermia kills 21 runners in the 100 km (60-mile) Gansu ultramarathon disaster in China
Historical Events 2020 May 22 Pakistan International Airlines Flight 8303 crashes in Model Colony near Jinnah International Airport in Karachi, Pakist
Notable Deaths 2020 May 22 Denise Cronenberg, Canadian costume designer (born 1938)
Notable Deaths 2019 May 22 Judith Kerr, German-born British writer and illustrator (born 1923)
Historical Events 2017 May 22 Twenty-two people are killed at an Ariana Grande concert in the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing
Historical Events 2017 May 22 United States President Donald Trump visits the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and becomes the first sitting
Notable Deaths 2017 May 22 Nicky Hayden, American motorcycle racer (born 1981)
Notable Deaths 2016 May 22 Velimir "Bata" Živojinović, Serbian actor and politician (born 1933)
Historical Events 2015 May 22 The Republic of Ireland becomes the first nation in the world to utilise a public referendum to legalise gay marriage
Notable Deaths 2015 May 22 Marques Haynes, American basketball player and coach (born 1926)
Notable Deaths 2015 May 22 Vladimir Katriuk, Ukrainian-Canadian SS officer (born 1921)
Historical Events 2014 May 22 General Prayut Chan-o-cha becomes interim leader of Thailand in a military coup d'état, following six months of politica
Historical Events 2014 May 22 An explosion occurs in Ürümqi, capital of China's far-western Xinjiang region, resulting in at least 43 deaths and 91 in
Selected Events 2014 May 22 Prayut Chan-o-cha (pictured), the commander-in-chief of the Royal Thai Army, launched a coup d'état against the caretake
Historical Events 2013 May 22 Fusilier Lee Rigby is murdered by 2 Islamic extremists in Woolwich, Southeast London
Notable Deaths 2013 May 22 Sigurd Ottovich Schmidt, Russian historian and ethnographer (born 1922)
Historical Events 2012 May 22 Tokyo Skytree opens to the public
Historical Events 2012 May 22 SpaceX COTS Demo Flight 2 launches a Dragon capsule on a Falcon 9 rocket in the first commercial flight to the Internati
Notable Deaths 2012 May 22 Muzafar Bhutto, Pakistani politician (born 1970)
Notable Deaths 2012 May 22 Wesley A
Historical Events 2011 May 22 An EF5 tornado strikes Joplin, Missouri, killing 158 people and wreaking $2
Notable Deaths 2011 May 22 Joseph Brooks, American director, producer, screenwriter, and composer (born 1938)
Historical Events 2010 May 22 Air India Express Flight 812, a Boeing 737 crashes over a cliff upon landing at Mangalore, India, killing 158 of 166 peo
Historical Events 2010 May 22 Inter Milan beat Bayern Munich 2–0 in the UEFA Champions League final in Madrid, Spain to become the first, and so far o
Notable Deaths 2010 May 22 Martin Gardner, American mathematician, cryptographer, and author (born 1914)
Selected Events 2010 May 22 Upon landing in Mangalore, Air India Express Flight 812 overshot the runway and fell down a hillside, killing 158 of the
Notable Deaths 2008 May 22 Robert Asprin, American soldier and author (born 1946)
Notable Deaths 2007 May 22 Pemba Doma Sherpa, Nepalese mountaineer (born 1970)
Notable Deaths 2006 May 22 Lee Jong-wook, South Korean physician and diplomat (born 1945)
Notable Deaths 2005 May 22 Charilaos Florakis, Greek politician (born 1914)
Notable Deaths 2005 May 22 Thurl Ravenscroft, American voice actor and singer (born 1914)
Notable Births 2004 May 22 Peyton Elizabeth Lee, American actress
Notable Deaths 2004 May 22 Richard Biggs, American actor (born 1960)
Notable Deaths 2004 May 22 Mikhail Voronin, Russian gymnast (born 1945)
Historical Events 2002 May 22 Civil rights movement: A jury in Birmingham, Alabama, convicts former Ku Klux Klan member Bobby Frank Cherry of the 1963
Notable Births 2002 May 22 Anthony Richardson, American football player
Selected Events 2002 May 22 Police announced that the skeletal remains of Federal Bureau of Prisons intern Chandra Levy, who had been missing for a
Notable Births 2001 May 22 Enzo Barrenechea, Argentine footballer
Notable Births 2001 May 22 Emma Chamberlain, American internet personality
Notable Births 2001 May 22 Joshua Zirkzee, Dutch footballer
Historical Events 2000 May 22 In Sri Lanka, over 150 Tamil rebels are killed over two days of fighting for control in Jaffna
Notable Births 2000 May 22 Julián Carranza, Argentine footballer
Notable Deaths 2000 May 22 Davie Fulton, Canadian lawyer, judge, and politician (born 1916)
Notable Births 1999 May 22 Samuel Chukwueze, Nigerian footballer
Notable Births 1999 May 22 Femke Huijzer, Dutch model
Notable Births 1999 May 22 Hōshōryū Tomokatsu, Mongolian sumo wrestler
Historical Events 1998 May 22 A U
Notable Births 1998 May 22 Samile Bermannelli, Brazilian fashion model

This article draws on content from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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