A list of firsts for the Rugby World Cup. See other Rugby World Cup trivia.
- The FIRST World Cup was held in 1987 in Australia and New Zealand
- The FIRST winner of the World Cup was New Zealand in 1987.
- The FIRST player to be sent off (red carded) was Welsh lock Huw Richards, while playing against New Zealand in 1987.
- The FIRST World Cup to be held in a single country was the 1995 World Cup hosted by South Africa.
- The FIRST country to win the World Cup twice was Australia in 1999.
- The FIRST non-southern hemisphere country to win the world cup was England in 2003.
- The FIRST tournament in which no country made its debut was in 2015. The teams for 2015 were the same as in 2003.
- The FIRST time Hawkeye technology will be used by rugby officials is at the 2015 Rugby World Cup, to improve decision-making by the television match official (TMO) and also assist with player safety.
- The FIRST time all the teams in the final four were from the southern hemisphere was in 2015.
- The FIRST defending champion to win the World Cup was New Zealand in 2015.
- The FIRST time the tournament was held in Asia was Japan 2019.
- The FIRST cancellation of matches at the Rugby World Cup was in 2019 with Typhoon Hagibis affecting three matches.
- The FIRST team to win the title after losing a match in the pool stage was South Africa in 2019.