[2] Having been in band 1 in the draw, New Zealand were placed as the top team participating in Pool C. They began their tournament with a steady performance against Argentina, earning a 26–16 victory (though having been 13–12 down at half time) in front of a then-record crowd of 89,019 at Wembley on 20 September.

[6] Julian Savea scored a second hat-trick in the rout, equaling Jonah Lomu and Bryan Habana's record of eight tries in a World Cup.

During the match, Australia successfully defended for nearly 10 minutes with two players in the sin bin, a period of play that was widely referred to in the media as potentially "defining" the Australian campaign.

[citation needed] Australia nearly lost their quarter-final match on 18 October, requiring a controversial last-minute penalty from Foley to beat Scotland 35–34.

Referee Nigel Owens awarded a penalty to New Zealand after Sekope Kepu made a high tackle on Dan Carter.

At 26 minutes Wallabies centre Matt Giteau suffered concussion tackling All Blacks lock Brodie Retallick and was replaced by Kurtley Beale.

[16] Two minutes into the second half, New Zealand's replacement centre Sonny Bill Williams offloaded the ball to Ma'a Nonu who beat a handful of Australian defenders to score a try, extending the lead to 21–3.

[17] While Smith was in the sin-bin, Australia ran in two tries – the first to number eight David Pocock from a driving maul, and the second to centre Tevita Kuridrani following a kick to score.

Prince Harry presented the Webb Ellis Cup to winning captain Richie McCaw after the match, once the team's name had been engraved on the base of the trophy.