Rugby World Cup qualification

Rugby World Cup qualification is a process that determines which nations will compete at the Rugby World Cup.

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 will 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.[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]

History

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 spots 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 spots. 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.

Qualification competition entrants over time

Number of teams entering qualification (including automatic qualifiers)
Continental zone 1987
1991
1995
1999
2003
2007
2011
2015
2019
Total spots in the World Cup 161616202020202020
Africa 14121113151514
Americas 3371218191919
Asia 178811131117
Oceania 458111199
Europe 719243236363737
Total entrants 161
33567189949196
  • 1 There was no qualifying process to the 1987 World Cup. The at the time eight IRFB members (minus South Africa boycotted because of apartheid) were joined by nine invited nations.

Qualification spots by continent

Spots allocated by continent (not including automatic qualifiers)
Continental zone 1987
1991
1995
1999
2003
2007
2011
2015
2019
2023
Total spots in the World Cup 161616202020202020
Africa 011111111
Americas 0313+R32+R322+R2+R
Asia 021111110
Oceania 013+R2+R2+R112+P4
Europe 023643+R2+R21
Total excluding automatic qualifiers 02
87161212888
  • 2 There was no qualifying process to the 1987 World Cup; all teams were invited, and, therefore, automatically qualified.
  • 3 A+R indicates that one of the teams of this continent qualified to the World Cup through the repechage.
  • 4 A+P indicates that one of the teams of this continent qualified to the World Cup through the 2019 Rugby World Cup – play-off qualifications.

First appearance in qualification by team

World Cup Africa Americas Asia Europe Oceania Total
1991


 Ivory Coast
 Morocco
 Tunisia
 Zimbabwe
 Argentina
 Canada
 United States
 Japan
 South Korea
 Belgium
 Czechoslovakia
 Denmark
 Israel
 Italy
 Netherlands
 Poland
 Portugal
 Romania
 Spain
 Sweden
  Switzerland
 West Germany
 Yugoslavia
 Samoa
 Tonga
25
1995
 Kenya
 Namibia
 Bermuda
 Chile
 Paraguay
 Uruguay
 Arabian Gulf4
 Hong Kong
 Malaysia
 Singapore
 Sri Lanka
 Taiwan
 Thailand
 Andorra
 Czech Republic5
 Georgia
 Germany6
 Hungary
 Latvia
 Lithuania
 Luxembourg
 Russia
 Wales
 Fiji24
1999
 Botswana
 Zambia
 Bahamas
 Barbados
 Brazil
 Guyana7
 Trinidad and Tobago
 Chinese Taipei8 Austria
 Bulgaria
 Croatia
 England
 Ireland
 Moldova
 Norway
 Scotland
 Ukraine
 FR Yugoslavia9
 Australia
 Cook Islands
 Papua New Guinea
 Tahiti
22
2003
 Cameroon
 Madagascar
 Eswatini
 Uganda
 Cayman Islands
 Colombia
 Jamaica
 Peru
 Saint Lucia
 Venezuela
 Kazakhstan Bosnia and Herzegovina
 Malta
 Monaco
 Slovenia
 Niue
 Solomon Islands
 Vanuatu
18
2007
 Nigeria
 Senegal
 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Guam Finland
 Serbia10
none6
2011
none Mexico India
 Pakistan
 Armenia
 Greece
none5
2015
 Mauritiusnone China
 Indonesia
 Iran
 Philippines
 United Arab Emirates11
 Cyprus12none7
2019
none Ecuador
 Guatemala
 Uzbekistan Estonianone4
Total 1522204410111

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.

  • 4 Took part in the African qualifying tournament.
  • 5 First appearance as Czech Republic; previous appearance as Czechoslovakia.
  • 6 First appearance as Germany; previous appearance as West Germany.
  • 7 Withdrew prior to the competition. Actually took part in the 2003 qualifying tournament.
  • 8 First appearance as Chinese Taipei; previous appearance as Taiwan.
  • 9 First appearance as Federal Republic of Yugoslavia; previous appearances as Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
  • 10 First appearance as Serbia; previous appearances as Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
  • 11 First appearance as United Arab Emirates. Previously competed as part of Arabian Gulf
  • 12 Although Cyprus were originally included in the qualifying process, they were later removed as they were not full member of the IRB.

Qualification by continent

Africa

TournamentAutomatically qualifiedQualified via competitionEliminated 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

Americas

TournamentAutomatically qualifiedQualified via competitionEliminated 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

Asia

TournamentAutomatically qualifiedQualified via competitionEliminated 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

Europe

TournamentAutomatically qualifiedQualified via competitionEliminated 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

Oceania

TournamentAutomatically qualifiedQualified via competitionEliminated 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

Repechage results

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.

Repechage results by country
RWC
Qualifying
Qualified through
repechage
ScoreEliminated 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

Note: All scores marked with an asterisk (*) are aggregate scores over two legs.


Repechage results by continent
RWC
Qualifying
OceaniaAmericasEuropeAsiaAfrica
1999 1–01–00–30–10–1
2003 1–01–00–10–10–1
2007 1–00–11–00–10–1
2011 0–11–00–10–1
2015 1–00–10–10–1
2019 0–11–00–10–10–1
Total:
1999–2019
3–1
(75%)
4–2
(67%)
2–6
(25%)
0–6
(0%)
0–6
(0%)

2011 qualifying format

Automatic qualification

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]

Qualification for 2011

Seven of the eight qualifying spots were given out as follows: two spots 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.

See also

References

  1. "BBC SPORT | Rugby Union | Rankings to determine RWC pools". BBC News. 22 February 2008. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
  2. "Official RWC 2011 Site – Twenty teams to compete at Rugby World 2011". Rugbyworldcup.com. 30 November 2007. Archived from the original on 26 July 2010. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
  3. "Official RWC 2011 Site – Caribbean kick off for RWC 2011 qualifying". Rugbyworldcup.com. 3 April 2008. Archived from the original on 5 September 2011. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
  4. "BBC SPORT | Rugby Union | Rankings to determine RWC pools". BBC News. 22 February 2008. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
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