1991

In 1991, it could be said that rugby came home, back to the lands were it had evolved as a separate football game in the Victorian era.

For Ireland this World Cup was the story of "it could have been". A brilliantly-executed try by Gordon Hamilton a few minutes from the end of the quarter-final against Australia at Lansdowne Road left Ireland a point ahead and when Ralph Keyes kicked the conversion from the left touchline Ireland led by three points. Glory, and a semi-final place, beckoned for Ireland.

But we then witnessed a dramatic illustration of the agony and the ecstasy of sport. The agony was a try by Michael Lynagh after a defensive mistake by Ireland scrum-half Rob Saunders, who failed to find touch after fielding the ball inside his own "25". Australia won a five-metre scrum and when Lynagh broke the cover to score Irish hearts dropped.

Now we knew exactly how the Wallabies had felt four years earlier when France had beaten them in rather similar circumstances. "I thought we were gone," said Australian coach Bob Dwyer an hour after the Lansdowne Road game. "My knees are still knocking." That World Cup saw two Ireland players leave an indelible mark on the scene. Brian Robinson, the Ireland number eight, became the first Irishman and indeed to date the only one, to score four tries in a match, against Zimbabwe in a pool match. That same afternoon, Ralph Keyes scored 23 points, and so broke Ollie Campbell's record of 22 points in a match for Ireland. Keyes was also the highest individual points scorer in the tournament.

Yet again the finals consisted of four groups of four, with the eight quarter-finalists in 1987 being exempt from qualifying. They were Scotland, Wales, Ireland, France, England, Australia, New Zealand and Fiji.

The four pools were hosted jointly by England, Ireland, Wales, Scotland and France, with one semi-final at Lansdowne Road and the other at Murrayfield. The final took place in Twickenham. The qualifying stages now embraced more nations and some of the mistakes made in the organisation four years earlier were rectified. The Springboks were still on the outside looking in at a tournament in which the qualifying groups had been split into the Americas Group, the African Group, the Asian Pacific Group and the European group.

The World Cup was now truly embracing the world. The qualifiers who emerged to join the elite eight were Italy, USA, Japan, Zimbabwe, Western Samoa, Argentina, Canada and Romania.

The Western Samoans were the newcomers to the world stage and they made a very profound mark on the scene and gave the tournament some of its most exciting elements, none more so than their famous 16-13 win over Wales in Cardiff in a pool match. The South Seas islanders reached the quarter-finals and lost to Scotland at Murrayfield, where a few days previously Scotland had beaten Ireland to finish first in pool two.

Ireland beat Zimbabwe and Japan to finish second in their group and this qualified them for the famous confrontation with the Wallabies.

In the semi-finals, Australia gave a splendid performance in beating New Zealand at Lansdowne Road and England edged home by three points against Scotland in Murrayfield. Scotland's Gavin Hastings missed a penalty from in front of the posts in the closing stages.

The final at Twickenham was memorable more for the occasion than the quality of a match won by Australia. England decided to change their tactics, trying to run for victory, but they lost 12-6.

But it is Gordon Hamilton charging for the line that always comes into focus when one reflects on the 1991 World Cup.