This article needs to be updated.(March 2021) |
Rugby World Cup qualification is a process that determines which nations will compete at the Rugby World Cup, a men's rugby union competition.
Unlike previous tournaments (where eight teams, the quarter-finalists from the preceding World Cup, qualified automatically and twelve places were available through qualification) the 2011 World Cup would be the first to be contested by twelve automatic qualifiers / seeds (the teams who finished in the top three of the groups at the 2007 World Cup) and eight qualifiers; this format has been retained for future tournaments. [1] [2]
The qualification system for the remaining eight places will be region-based with Europe and the Americas allocated two qualifying places, Africa, Asia and Oceania one place each, with the last place determined by a play-off. [3]
The first Rugby World Cup, the tournament of 1987 held no qualifying tournament. Instead, all the then members of the International Rugby Board (then, IFRB) were automatically included in the competition. These members accounted for seven of the 16 available positions. The remaining positions were filled by invitation.
The next tournament, the 1991 Rugby World Cup implemented a qualifying process. Eight of the 16 available positions were filled by nations automatically, however, the remaining positions would be determined by a 25 nation qualifying tournament. The following tournament, the 1995 Rugby World Cup, increased the qualifying tournament to 43 nations. In addition to the eight previous quarterfinalists, hosts South Africa were granted automatic entry.
The approach changed again for the 1999 Rugby World Cup, as only the hosts and the defending champions, the runners-up, the third place play-off winners from the 1995 cup were to gain automatic entry, as opposed to the elite eight nations. The 1999 world cup also saw the introduction of a repechage, a second chance for teams that had finished runners-up in each qualifying zone. Again, the number of nations participating in the qualifying events increased, from 43 to 63.
81 teams entered qualifying for the 2003 Rugby World Cup. The eight quarter-finalists from the previous world cup gained automatic qualification with another twelve berths open to qualifiers. Teams from five continents, Africa, Asia, Oceania, Europe and the Americas gained entry to the competition. Qualification came through a mixture of round robin tournaments, knockout and repechage.
A similar mixture of round robin tournaments, knockout and repechage was used for the qualification for the 2007 Rugby World Cup involving 86 teams, which together with the 8 teams which have qualified automatically brought to 94 the total number of teams participating in the 2007 tournament.
In addition to the eight quarterfinalists at the 2007 Rugby World Cup, the four teams finishing in third place in their respective pools qualified automatically for the 2011 Rugby World Cup. Various existing regional tournaments were incorporated into the qualification process for the remaining eight berths. Including teams that failed to qualify for official qualifying tournaments, 88 teams participated in the qualification process, bringing the total number of teams participating in the 2011 tournament to 100.
Continental zone | 1987 | 1991 | 1995 | 1999 | 2003 | 2007 | 2011 | 2015 | 2019 | 2023 | 2027 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total berths in the World Cup | 16 | 16 | 16 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 24 |
Africa | 1 | 4 | 12 | 11 | 13 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 15 | 14 | |
Americas | 3 | 3 | 7 | 12 | 18 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 21 | 7 | |
Asia | 1 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 11 | 13 | 11 | 17 | 12 | 4 | |
Oceania | 4 | 5 | 8 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 10 | ||
Europe | 7 | 19 | 24 | 32 | 36 | 36 | 37 | 37 | 38 | 12 | |
Total entrants | 16 1 | 33 | 56 | 71 | 89 | 94 | 91 | 96 | 93 | 47 |
Continental zone | 1987 | 1991 | 1995 | 1999 | 2003 | 2007 | 2011 | 2015 | 2019 | 2023 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total berths in the World Cup | 16 | 16 | 16 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 |
Africa | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Americas | 0 | 3 | 1 | 3+R 3 | 2+R | 3 | 2 | 2+R | 2+R | 2 |
Asia | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Oceania | 0 | 1 | 3+R | 2+R | 2+R | 1 | 1 | 2+P 4 | 1+P 4 | |
Europe | 0 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 3+R | 2+R | 2 | 1 | 2+R |
Total excluding automatic qualifiers | 0 2 | 8 | 7 | 16 | 12 | 12 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
Teams marked in italics had appeared in a previous world cup (by invitation in 1987 and automatically thereafter). France, New Zealand, and South Africa have never needed to take part in the qualifying tournaments, having been invited to their first tournament and always qualifying automatically thereafter.
Tournament | Automatically qualified | Qualified via competition | Eliminated in repechage |
---|---|---|---|
1987 | Zimbabwe | – | – |
1991 | – | Zimbabwe | – |
1995 | South Africa | Ivory Coast | – |
1999 | South Africa | Namibia | Morocco |
2003 | South Africa | Namibia | Tunisia |
2007 | South Africa | Namibia | Morocco |
2011 | South Africa | Namibia | Tunisia |
2015 | South Africa | Namibia | Zimbabwe |
2019 | South Africa | Namibia | Kenya |
2023 | South Africa | Namibia | Kenya |
2027 | South Africa |
Tournament | Automatically qualified | Qualified via competition | Eliminated in repechage |
---|---|---|---|
1987 | Canada Argentina United States | – | – |
1991 | – | Canada Argentina United States | – |
1995 | Canada | Argentina | – |
1999 | – | Argentina Canada United States Uruguay | – |
2003 | Argentina | Canada United States Uruguay | – |
2007 | – | Argentina Canada United States | Uruguay |
2011 | Argentina | Canada United States | Uruguay |
2015 | Argentina | Canada United States Uruguay | – |
2019 | Argentina | Canada United States Uruguay | – |
2023 | Argentina | Chile Uruguay | United States |
2027 | Argentina |
Tournament | Automatically qualified | Qualified via competition | Eliminated in repechage |
---|---|---|---|
1987 | Japan | – | – |
1991 | – | Japan | – |
1995 | – | Japan | – |
1999 | – | Japan | South Korea |
2003 | – | Japan | South Korea |
2007 | – | Japan | South Korea |
2011 | – | Japan | Kazakhstan |
2015 | – | Japan | Hong Kong |
2019 | Japan | – | Hong Kong |
2023 | Japan | – | Hong Kong |
2027 | Japan |
Tournament | Automatically qualified | Qualified via competition | Eliminated in repechage |
---|---|---|---|
1987 | England France Ireland Scotland Wales Italy Romania | – | – |
1991 | England France Ireland Scotland Wales | Italy Romania | – |
1995 | England France Ireland Scotland | Wales Italy Romania | – |
1999 | France Wales | Ireland England Scotland Romania Spain Italy | Georgia Netherlands Portugal |
2003 | England France Scotland Wales | Ireland Italy Romania Georgia | Spain |
2007 | England France Ireland Scotland Wales | Italy Romania Georgia Portugal | – |
2011 | England France Ireland Italy Scotland Wales | Georgia Russia Romania | – |
2015 | England France Ireland Italy Scotland Wales | Georgia Romania | Russia |
2019 | England France Georgia Ireland Italy Scotland Wales | Russia | Germany |
2023 | England France Ireland Italy Scotland Wales | Georgia Portugal Romania | – |
2027 | England France Ireland Italy Scotland Wales |
Tournament | Automatically qualified | Qualified via competition | Eliminated in repechage |
---|---|---|---|
1987 | Australia New Zealand Fiji Tonga | – | – |
1991 | Australia Fiji New Zealand | Western Samoa | – |
1995 | Australia Western Samoa New Zealand | Tonga | – |
1999 | New Zealand | Australia Fiji Samoa Tonga | – |
2003 | Australia New Zealand | Fiji Samoa Tonga | – |
2007 | Australia New Zealand | Fiji Samoa Tonga | – |
2011 | Australia Fiji New Zealand Tonga | Samoa | – |
2015 | Australia New Zealand Samoa Tonga | Fiji | – |
2019 | Australia New Zealand | Fiji Samoa Tonga | Cook Islands |
2023 | Australia Fiji New Zealand | Samoa Tonga | – |
2027 | Australia Fiji New Zealand |
The repechage, a second chance for teams that had finished runners-up in each qualifying zone, has been a feature of qualifying since it was introduced during qualifying for the 1999 Rugby World Cup. The following table shows which teams have participated in the repechage – both the teams that have qualified via the repechage, and the teams that have failed to qualify via the repechage.
RWC Qualifying | Qualified through repechage | Score | Eliminated at final stage of repechage | Eliminated at preliminary stage of repechage |
---|---|---|---|---|
1999 | Tonga Uruguay | 140–41* 36–24* | South Korea Morocco | Georgia Portugal Netherlands |
2003 | Tonga United States | 194–0* 120–26* | South Korea Spain | Tunisia |
2007 | Tonga Portugal | 85–3 24–23* | South Korea Uruguay | Morocco |
2011 | Romania | 60–33* | Uruguay | Tunisia Kazakhstan |
2015 | Uruguay | 57–49* | Russia | Zimbabwe Hong Kong |
2019 | Canada | round robin | Germany Hong Kong Kenya | Cook Islands |
2023 | Portugal | round robin | United States Hong Kong Kenya | – |
Note: All scores marked with an asterisk (*) are aggregate scores over two legs.
RWC Qualifying | Oceania | Americas | Europe | Asia | Africa |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1999 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 0–1 |
2003 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 |
2007 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 |
2011 | – | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 |
2015 | – | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 |
2019 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 |
2023 | – | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 |
Total: 1999–2023 | 3–1 (75%) | 4–3 (57%) | 3–6 (33%) | 0–7 (0%) | 0–7 (0%) |
Unlike recent tournaments (where all eight quarter-finalists from the previous tournament automatically qualified for the subsequent world cup) automatic qualification for the 2011 World Cup was awarded to the twelve teams which finished in the top three of each of the 2007 World Cup groups (pools). [4]
Seven of the eight qualifying berths were given out as follows: two berths each for Europe and Americas and one each for Asia, Africa and Oceania. The final spot was determined by the winner of a playoff, that included the third place teams from the American and European qualifying tournaments and the second place teams from the African and Asian qualifying tournaments.
The Men's Rugby World Cup is a rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams, the winners of which are recognised as the World champions of the sport.
The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition organised by the International Rugby Board. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 20 October. France won the hosting rights in 2003, beating a bid from England. The competition consisted of 48 matches over 44 days; 42 matches were played in 10 cities throughout France, as well as four in Cardiff, Wales, and two in Edinburgh, Scotland.
There were 20 places available for the 2007 Rugby World Cup held in France. The 86 teams taking part in regional qualifying competitions together with the 8 teams which have qualified automatically brings to 94 the total number of teams participating in the 2007 Rugby World Cup.
Rugby union in Asia is governed by the Asian Rugby Football Union (ARFU). As of December 2009 there are 28 ARFU member unions, of whom 15 are full members of World Rugby, and six further associate members of World Rugby in Asia. The flagship tournament for promoting the sport in Asia is the Asian Five Nations, which launched in 2008, and which most recently in 2011 saw the national teams of Hong Kong, Japan, Kazakhstan, Sri Lanka and the UAE, compete in the main tournament.
2011 Rugby World Cup qualifying began at the 2007 tournament in France, where twelve teams earned a place in the finals of the tournament, this automatically qualified them for the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand.
The qualification process for the 2015 Rugby World Cup began during the pool stages of the 2011 tournament in New Zealand, during which the top three teams from each of the four pools were awarded automatic qualification for the 2015 event. A further eight teams qualified through regional tournaments and the repechage process. The tournament was held in England; it began on 18 September 2015 and finished on 31 October.
In the Americas Region for 2015 Rugby World Cup qualifying, Argentina had automatically qualified for the World Cup, and two places were available in the Americas qualification process, which were taken by Canada and the United States. An additional Americas team, Uruguay, also qualified as the Play-off winner.
The Federation of Oceania Rugby Unions (FORU) section of the 2015 Rugby World Cup qualification involved five teams competing for one spot in the final tournament in England.
In the Asian Region for 2015 Rugby World Cup qualifying, Japan took the sole qualification spot, Asia 1 by winning Round 3: 2014 Asian Five Nations, while second placed Hong Kong qualified for the repechage playoff.
For the 2015 Rugby World Cup qualifying, there were three inter-confederation play-offs to determine the final qualification spot to the 2015 Rugby World Cup. The process ended with the 20th and final team to qualify for the World Cup. Four teams, the best non-qualifier from each region except Oceania, competed for the last place at the Rugby World Cup finals in England. Uruguay won the final play, thus becoming the 20th qualifier for the World Cup and joined hosts England, Australia, Wales and Fiji in Pool A.
The Africa section of 2015 Rugby World Cup qualifying saw thirteen teams competing for one direct qualification spot into the final tournament in England, and one spot in the Repechage play-offs.
The qualification process for the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan began during the pool stages of the 2015 tournament in England, during which the top three teams from each of the four pools were awarded automatic qualification for the 2019 event. A further eight teams qualified through regional, cross-regional tournaments and the repechage process.
Qualifying for the 2019 Rugby World Cup for the Americas began in March 2016, where across 3 years, 20 teams competed for two direct qualification spots into the final tournament, and one spot in the Repechage tournament. For qualification purposes, the two Americas regions Rugby Americas North and Sudamérica Rugby formed the Americas region to compete for the two Americas berths in the World Cup.
The qualification process for the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup began on 14 February 2015. Twelve teams qualified for the tournament, which was held in Ireland in 2017.
Qualifying for the 2019 Rugby World Cup for Oceania Rugby began in June 2016, where across 2 years, 3 teams competed for two direct qualification spots from Oceania. Two places were available to Oceania in a cross-regional play-off series' to qualify for the World Cup and or advance through the Repechage.
Qualifying for the 2019 Rugby World Cup for Asia Rugby began in May 2016 and ended in early June 2018, where the winner of the qualification process advanced to a cross-regional play-off series against the winner of Round 2 of the Oceania qualification process in June 2018.
For the 2019 Rugby World Cup, there were several play-off matches during the qualification process in order to determine which nations would compete in the Repechage. Canada, who failed to be one of the three teams to advance from the Americas qualification process, despite being the third highest ranked team in the Americas, emerged from the repechage process in November 2018 to become the final team to qualify for the World Cup.
The 2021 Rugby World Cup was the ninth staging of the women's Rugby World Cup, as organised by World Rugby. It was held from 8 October to 12 November 2022 in Auckland and Whangārei, New Zealand. It was originally scheduled to be held in 2021, but was postponed by one year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The qualification process for the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France began during the pool stages of the 2019 tournament in Japan, at which the top three teams from each of the four pools qualified automatically for the 2023 event. A further eight teams qualified through regional, cross-regional play-offs and the repechage process.
The qualification process for the 2021 Rugby World Cup began on 9 August 2019 with 12 teams qualifying to the tournament which was to be held in New Zealand. The 2021 Rugby World Cup was postponed by one year in March 2021 to 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.