World Rugby and England Rugby 2015 have hailed the success of the event, which concluded yesterday when New Zealand beat Australia to defend their crown in front of a sell-out 80,125 crowd at Twickenham Stadium.

A number of records were broken off the pitch with ticket sales eclipsing 2.47 million across all 48 matches, the official fanzone attendance surpassing the one million mark, and Wembley Stadium drawing two consecutive Rugby World Cup attendance records.

A total of 89,267 turned out to watch Ireland’s clash with Romania on September 27, breaking the previous record of 89,019 for New Zealand's victory over Argentina the previous week.

Meanwhile on the pitch, South Africa’s Bryan Habana equalled New Zealand’s Jonah Lomu's Rugby World Cup try-scoring record of 15 by going over three times against the United States.

As the curtain came down on the tournament, tribute was paid to the 20 teams, 19 match officials, 6,000 volunteers, 11 host cities, 13 match venues, 42 team bases, 15 fanzones and millions of fans who have played a part in the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

"Rugby World Cup 2015 will be remembered as the biggest tournament to date, but I also believe that it will be remembered as the best," said World Rugby chairman Bernard Lapasset.

"England 2015 has been the most competitive, best-attended, most-watched, most socially-engaged, most commercially-successful Rugby World Cup.

"But this special Rugby World Cup has been about much more than numbers, it has been about the amazing atmosphere in full and vibrant stadia, the excitement around the host nation and in Cardiff, the unforgettable moments played out by the world's best players and the friendships that have been created along the way - the very best of our sport has been on display.

"I am a believer that great people make great events and I would like to thank the organisers England Rugby 2015, the host union the Rugby Football Union (RFU), Rugby World Cup Limited, the host cities and venues for delivering a special tournament that has had the teams and fans at heart.

"But above all, I would like to pay tribute to the volunteers and fans who got behind all 20 teams and who have made this such a special event, the best to date."

Highlights of the pool stage included Japan claiming one of the greatest upsets in sporting history by beating South Africa 34-32, and Romania staging the biggest-ever comeback by coming from 15-0 down to defeat Canada 17-15. 

The knock-out stages featured Argentina's pulsating 43-20 win over Ireland in the quarter-finals, and New Zealand's narrow 20-18 victory over South Africa in the semi-finals with the All Blacks going on to defeat Australia 34-17 in the final and securing an unprecedented third world title in the process. 

"We congratulate New Zealand on their win over Australia to be crowned Rugby World Cup 2015 champions," said Stephen Brown, managing director of England 2015. 

"The spectacular final was a fitting way to conclude the six-week tournament which has been enjoyed by millions both here in England and across the globe.

"To deliver the biggest and best tournament to date is a fantastic achievement and I would like to thank all those who have made Rugby World Cup 2015 so special, from the players to the fans, our venues, cities and team bases and all our volunteers, staff and stakeholders.

"Rugby World Cup 2015 has truly created unforgettable memories for all involved and been a celebration of rugby; from packed venues with over 2.47 million tickets sold, to over 1 million fans enjoying the official fanzones, and we hope that the tournament has inspired many to be part of this fantastic game beyond 2015."

England Rugby 2015 is said to have generated over £250 million ($386 million/€351 million) in ticket revenues, delivering an £80 million ($124 million/€112 million) surplus to World Rugby and a £15 million ($23 million/€21 million) surplus to the RFU to be invested into the development of rugby.

The final was enjoyed by an estimated audience of 120 million, while the tournament's highlight viewing figures included a record television audience of 25 million in Japan to watch the country's match against Samoa.

As many as 11.6 million viewers tuned in for England’s match against Wales on ITV - the largest rugby audience in the United Kingdom since the 2007 final and the highest peak audience for a sporting event since the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

The 2015 Rugby World Cup is also said to be the most digitally engaged tournament to date with social media activity exceeding the whole of the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand during the pool stages.

Throughout the tournament, #RWC2015 was used twice a second for the duration of the event and over five million times in total, while there were over 270 million video views on all social media channels, it is claimed. 

The event website attracted 25 million unique users and the official app was downloaded 2.8 million times with use in 204 countries.

Over 300,000 used the Blippar app to access unique content by scanning their ticket, including match previews, "view from your seat" and interviews.

The introduction of giant Twitter screens at Twickenham Stadium also allowed over 2,000 fans per day in the venue and across the world to display their messages of good luck to the teams.


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