It was an embarrassing loss for Wales and sent the team to rock bottom following a tumultuous four years where they only won a handful of matches after finishing third at the 1987 tournament.
Credit though must go to the Samoans, who showed their win was no fluke by defeating Argentina and reaching the quarter-finals, where they were eventually defeated by Scotland.
After 1991, planning started to take place for a purpose-built stadium in Cardiff. The National Stadium was demolished in 1997 and construction began on the Millennium Stadium, designed specifically for the 1999 Rugby World Cup.
The stadium has a capacity of 74,500 and was first opened in June, 1999, in a Test before the tournament got underway.
Wales then christened the stadium with their first Rugby World Cup match against Argentina, defeating the Pumas 23-18.
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They demolished Japan but then came up against Samoa once again, and amazingly history repeated itself, the Samoans scoring five tries to three to defeat Wales 38-34. At least this time, Wales had done enough to progress to the quarter-finals.
In front of a record Cardiff crowd, the Wallabies were too strong on their way to World Cup glory.
Wales failed to reach the quarter-finals in 2007, but Cardiff was the scene of another shock result, as New Zealand lost the quarter-final to France at Millennium Stadium.
In 2015, Cardiff will play host to eight matches, including two quarter-finals. The top teams will be hoping the curse of Cardiff doesn’t strike again.