The good and not-so-good all-time Rugby World Cup team records

Dylan Coetzee
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Split featuring Namibia, Japan and All Black legend Jonah Lomu

Split featuring Namibia, Japan and All Black legend Jonah Lomu

The 2023 Rugby World Cup begins in a matter of days with the best across the globe already in France ready to battle it out for glory.

Before the action gets underway, Planet Rugby takes a closer look at some of the team records both on the good and bad side of the coin.

Most points scored

It is no surprise to see three-time winners New Zealand at the top of the list considering they have played more Tests at the Rugby World Cup than any other country – a stat that underlines how consistently deep the All Blacks have ventured into each tournament.

The All Blacks in 56 games have scored a whopping 2552 points and are the only team over the 2000 mark.

Runners up: Australia are in second place with 1797 points followed by France on 1585 and England on 1569. South Africa sneak into the top five with 1512 which is impressive considering they did not compete in the 1987 and 1991 editions.

Most points conceded

A record no team would like to have and it is Japan who take the lead in this category having conceded a steep 1347 in their 33 Test at World Cups.

This statistic shows how rapid the development of Japanese rugby has been this century with most of their heavy defeats coming in the 90s. Now fast-track to 2019 and the same country beat Ireland to qualify for the quarter-finals.

Runners up: Namibia are not far behind with 1323 points conceded at a higher rate per game than Japan followed by Romania (1068) and Italy (977).

Most tries scored

Once again the All Blacks dominate this category and clear the next-best country by some distance. New Zealand have scored a ridiculous 347 tries in World Cups.

Runners up: The next best is Australia with 230, which is 147 less than the All Blacks. France are in third with 183 whilst the Springboks (174) and England (169) round out the top five.

Most tries conceded

It does not make for good reading for Namibian fans who have conceded the most tries in the World Cup with a whopping 189.

Runners up: The total exceeded Japan’s 183 despite Namibia playing 11 Tests less than their counterparts. Romania comes in next with 141 whilst Tonga, Uruguay, Italy and Fiji have all conceded over 100 tries.

Best win %

It is a clean sweep for the All Blacks in the positive categories as once again the historic side comes out on top in this one. New Zealand have won an impressive 88% of Test matches at World Cup tournaments.

That is a total of 49 victories in just 56 games which is a truly remarkable statistic.

Runners up: South Africa is not far behind on 84% and joins the All Blacks as the only team over the 80% mark. Next is two-time champions Australia with 79% then England with 72% and finally this year’s hosts France with 69%.

Worst win %

There are always the more gruelling sides to statistics and that is the case again for Namibia and Portugal who are yet to win a game at a World Cup. These teams are not alone with several other teams without a win having failed to qualify for this year’s tournament.

It is a unique opportunity for Chile who are participating in their first edition to get off the ground with their first-ever win.

READ MORE: The EXTRAORDINARY list of Rugby World Cup records including top points scorer and most appearances

Australia