The
1999 Rugby World Cup was the fourth
Rugby World Cup and was won by
Australia. This was the first Rugby World Cup to be held in
rugby union's professional era. The principal host nation was
Wales, although the majority of matches were played outside the country, shared between England, France,
Scotland and Ireland. As the opening ceremony, first match and the
Final would take place in
Cardiff, Wales, the
Welsh team were awarded the automatic qualification berth afforded the hosts. Only four automatic qualification places were available for the 1999 tournament; the other three went to the top three teams from the
previous World Cup in 1995; champions (
South Africa), runners-up (
New Zealand), and third-place play-off winners (
France). Qualification for the final 16 places took place between 63 other nations.