The Rugby World Cup has offered up some famous quarter-finals over the years. Upsets, last-minute drama, thrashings - they have had it all.

To whet the appetite, here is a look back at some memorable quarter-finals from previous World Cups.

1991: Ireland 18-19 Australia

Ireland have famously never made it past the quarter-finals of a World Cup, but that statistic would never have become a rugby narrative had they closed out a thriller against the Wallabies in 1991.

The game was held at Lansdowne Road in Dublin, although home advantage did not make the Irish favourites, with Australia hotly tipped to win their first title.

Australia winger David Campese, who was the star of the tournament, scored two tries in the game before Gordon Hamilton put the Irish ahead with a try in the closing stages.

But Michael Lynagh's late score snatched victory for Australia by a single point, a pivotal moment on the way to their first World Cup success.

1995: England 25-22 Australia

Australia were the defending champions when they met England in Cape Town.

England's Tony Underwood and Australia's Damian Smith scored tries in a game largely dominated by the boots of Rob Andrew and Michael Lynagh, who kicked five penalties apiece.

It would be Andrew who had the last laugh, kicking a drop-goal in the final minute to loosen the Wallabies' grip on the trophy.

England's hopes of winning a first World Cup ended at the semi-final stage, though, when Jonah Lomu grabbed four tries in a win for New Zealand.

1999: South Africa 44-21 England

Death by drop-goals.

Jannie de Beer kicked a record five of them, from a range of distances and angles, to defeat England at Stade de France.

South Africa went on to lose against Australia in the semi-final, a game that went to extra time, to deny the Springboks back-to-back trophies.

2007: New Zealand 18-20 France

Hosts France were shocked in their opening game of the 2007 World Cup by Argentina, resulting in the difficult task of facing an in-form All Blacks side in the last eight.

But they maintained their challenge for success on home soil with a controversial winning score from Yannick Jauzion.

Damien Traille's offload to Frederic Michalak, which was judged to have gone backwards, provided the platform for Jauzion to go clear for the winning score.

While France would fall at the semi-final stage to England, New Zealand took important lessons from the shock loss and went on to lift the 2011 World Cup in their own back yard.

2015: Australia 35-34 Scotland

After knocking England out of their home World Cup, Australia went into the game with Scotland as firm favourites.

In what was a back-and-forth encounter, it appeared Mark Bennett had won the game for Scotland with a late interception try.

However, Bernard Foley kicked a last-minute penalty following a controversial decision by referee Craig Joubert to penalise Scotland for a deliberate offside, a call that World Rugby later said was incorrect.

2015: New Zealand 62-13 France

The Wallabies were eventually beaten in the 2015 final by New Zealand, who had put on one of the most complete performances in a World Cup knockout match to thrash France in their own quarter-final in Cardiff.

Winger Nehe Milner-Skudder showed his footwork with a sharp right foot step before racing clear to score one of the tries of the tournament, while Julian Savea crossed for a hat-trick of scores.

The result got rid of those French demons from 2007 and set up the All Blacks to become the first team to retain the Rugby World Cup.