South Africa have played at 7 of the 9 Rugby World Cup tournaments, having been unable to compete in the first two tournaments due to a sports boycott during the apartheid era. Following the end of apartheid, they hosted the 1995 Rugby World Cup and won the tournament, they were champions again at the 2007 tournament in France. The Springboks then made history when they beat England in the in Japan despite losing a pool stage match.