 New Zealand have won the World Cup three times – ( the only team to have done so ) the 1987 inaugural competition held in New Zealand and Australia , the 2011 tournament also hosted in New Zealand – again defeating France and most recently , defeating Australia in England in 2015 ( making them the first and only team to win back to back World Cups ) . In 1991 , they lost their semi @-@ final to Australia before winning the playoff for third . In 1995 , they reached the final , before losing in extra time to hosts South Africa . They finished in fourth place in 1999 , after losing their semi @-@ final and then the third @-@ place playoff game . In 2003 , New Zealand were knocked out by hosts Australia in their semi @-@ final , before finishing third . The 2007 World Cup saw their worst tournament , being knocked out in the quarterfinals by the host nation France ; until this they were the only team to have reached the semifinals of every tournament . As a result of the poor performance in the 2007 World Cup the NZRU commissioned a 47 @-@ page report to detail the causes of the failure . The All Blacks have never lost a World Cup pool match , and have finished top of their pool in all seven tournaments . 
