Not for the last time, France made sure that the final of the inaugural tournament failed to produce a fitting climax.

The mercurial French had produced one of the great cup performances to beat favourites Australia 30-24-in the semi-finals in Sydney, Serge Blanco scoring in the corner in the final moments as extra time loomed.

They were unable to repeat those heroics at Eden Park, however, as New Zealand ran out comfortable winners 29-9, scoring three tries to one.

Many commentators felt that the All Blacks might fail to live up to their reputation in the tournament after many of their leading players had been involved in a controversial rebel tour to South Africa one year previously.

But the Kiwi XV still included such greats as flanker Michael Jones, the star of the tournament, Sean Fitzpatrick and John Kirwan, as well as fly-half Grant Fox.

Fox's decision to focus on kicking for territory and kicking for points against France meant that there were few opportunities for open running rugby.

He ended the match, which attracted a 46,000 crowd, with 17 points and was also the top-scorer for the tournament, with 126 points.

Scrum-half and future French coach Pierre Berbizier scored a consolation try for France, while Wales beat Australia 22-21 in the third-place play-off.

While the 1987 competition has its place in history as the first World Cup, it produced too many one-sided contests between the established rugby powers and the emerging nations to be truly memorable.