( CNN ) -- Hosts New Zealand edged out France 8-7 in a nailbiting finish to the Rugby World Cup final in Auckland Sunday to win the William Webb Ellis trophy for the second time . It was a repeat of their success in the inaugural competition on their home soil in 1987 , but it was far from the easy victory that many had predicted . Watched by a capacity 61,000 in the Eden Park Stadium , and with the hopes of a rugby-mad nation on their shoulders , the All Blacks led 5-0 at halftime thanks to a try from prop Tony Woodcock . Scrum-half Piri Weepu , missed the conversion and two other penalty kicks that would have given them a more comfortable advantage . Stephen Donald , who replaced the injured Aaron Cruden at fly-half , put the home side 8-0 ahead when he slotted home an early second half penalty . But back came France as a sustained attack led to a try for captain Thierry Dusautoir , converted by Francois Trinh-Duc , who was on as a replacement for the injured Morgan Parra . Trinh-Duc had an excellent chance with 15 minutes left to kick a penalty which would have put Les Bleus ahead but his effort went wide . France , given little chance after losing by 20 points to the All Blacks in the pool phase , were pressing at the end but desperate home defense kept New Zealand ahead . At the final whistle the All Blacks players celebrated with a mixture of triumph and sheer relief they had finally laid to rest a 24-year litany of failure in Rugby 's showpiece international competition . There were also wild scenes of celebration among the estimated 150,000 people who had gathered to watch the final on giant screens in Auckland . All Blacks coach Graham Henry admitted the closing minutes had been tense before his side closed out a long-awaited victory . `` I 'm just delighted for the boys . We 've been the top team in the world for a long time , so it 's been a long time coming , '' he told the official Rugby World Cup website . Captain Richie McCaw echoed Henry 's sentiments after his side hung on for their slender win . `` We had to dig deeper than ever before and it 's hard to get it to sink in , but I am so proud of every single one of them , '' said McCaw , who was one of four All Blacks who had played in the quarterfinal defeat to France in the 2007 World Cup . Dusautoir , whose team had been subjected to such criticism as they scraped into the final , believed their display had been the perfect riposte . `` We showed that France deserved their spot in the final , '' he said .
New Zealand win Rugby World Cup final in 1978 . All Blacks beat France 8 - 7 in tense final at Eden Park . Prop Tony Woodcock scored first half try for All Blacks . New Zealand win World Cup for only second time in their history .