October 1 down the years
Wales beat Pumas in World Cup opener
Scrum.com
Wales' Colin Charvis scores the opening try in Cardiff, Wales v Argentina, Rugby World Cup, Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales, October 3, 1995
Colin Charvis scores the opening try of the 1999 World Cup for tournament hosts Wales © Scrum.com
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1999
Wales kicked off their bid for Rugby World Cup glory on home soil by defeating Argentina 23-18 in the tournament opener in Cardiff.

In a game played out in heavy rain, the hosts scored the only try of the first half, with Colin Charvis barging his way through two tacklers to score just before the interval. Neil Jenkins' subsequent conversion helped Wales into a 13-9 half-time lead.

Gareth Thomas put Mark Taylor over shortly after the re-start to put Graham Henry's men firmly in control but Gonzalo Quesada replied with three penalties to set up a nervy finale for the home side. However, Wales held on for what was their third successive win over the Pumas in just four months.

2005
Cardiff Blues confirmed that they had signed rugby's first global superstar, former All Blacks wing Jonah Lomu, on a seventh month contract. Lomu joined the Blues after recovering from a kidney transplant.

2011
Tonga recorded an historic 19-14 victory over France in the Rugby World Cup pool stages. Tonga produced an inspirational display but Vincent Clerc's last-gasp try ensured Les Bleus nevertheless progress to the quarter-finals. England joined them in the quarters after a nerve-wrecking victory over Scotland . A last-gasp try from winger Chris Ashton rescued England after they had trailed 12-3 early in the second half. The result all but ended Scotland's hopes of progressing in the tournament.

1908
The original Wallabies claimed a 16-0 victory over a Gloucestershire XV at Kingsholm in the second match of their tour of England and Wales.

1947
Bill McLean, the captain of the first official Australian touring side to play at Twickenham for 19 years, broke his left leg ten minutes from the end of his team's 19-8 win over Combined Services. The injury ended McLean's top-class career.

1974
Tonga outscored North of England by three tries to two at Birkenhead but still ended up slumping to a 17-12 defeat on account of their high penalty count for a succession of short-arm tackles.

1977
The England Under-23s record a 10-6 victory over their French counterparts at Orrell. Paul Dodge and John Carleton both featured for England, while Serge Blanco and Jerome Gallion lined out for the French.

1979
The coach transporting the South African Barbarians from Heathrow airport to the south-west suddenly bursts into flames on the M4 near Swindon. Remarkably, every single person on board escaped unharmed.

2001
German club side DRC Hanover hosted their first round national cup tie against Heidelberger TV from the second division. Despite the fact that Heidelberger could only field 13 players they decided to take on the Hanover side in the hope they could provide some sort of challenge but 80 minutes later the 13 men were on the wrong side of a 222-0 drubbing.

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