| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 2017 – 2022 |
| No. of nations | 30 |
← 2017 2025 → | |
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.[1] The 2021 Rugby World Cup was postponed by one year in March 2021 to 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[2]
Qualification process
Following the previous World Cup, seven teams received an automatic qualification berth - these berths being given to the top 7 teams (New Zealand, England, France, United States, Canada, Australia and Wales). The remaining five berths for the tournament will be awarded through regional tournaments.
The non-automatic qualification process began on 9 August 2019.
Regional qualification
Twelve nations are participating in the 2021 Rugby World Cup. Seven teams qualified automatically by virtue of their performance at the previous tournament, leaving five teams to qualify through regional matches.
| Region | Automatic qualifiers | Teams in qualifying process | Qualifying places |
Qualified teams | World Cup pools |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Africa | 0 | 4 | 1 |  South Africa | C |
| Americas | 2 | 2 | 0 | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Canada (AQ) United States (AQ) | B B |
| Asia | 0 | 7 | 1 |  Japan | B |
| Europe | 3 | 6 | 1 |  England (AQ) France (AQ) Italy Wales (AQ) | C C B A |
| Oceania | 2 | 4 | 1 | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Australia (AQ) Fiji New Zealand (AQ) | A C A |
| Final Qualification Tournament | 0 | 4 | 1 |  Scotland | A |
| TOTAL | 7 | 23 | 5 | - | - |
Qualification process
Africa
Rugby Africa was granted one spot which was awarded to the winner of the Rugby Africa Women's Cup (Africa 1). The runner-up (Africa 2) progressed to a cross-regional Final Qualification play-off against the South American winner. South Africa qualified by winning all three of their matches while Kenya competed in the South America/Africa play-off.[3]
| Qualifies as Africa 1 |
| Advances to the South America/Africa play-off as Africa 2 |
| Position | Nation | Games | Points | Table points | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against | Difference | |||
| 1 | South Africa |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 201 | 7 | +194 | 15 |
| 2 |  Kenya |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 72 | 49 | +23 | 10 |
| 3 |  Madagascar |
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 20 | 123 | -103 | 2 |
| 4 |  Uganda |
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 27 | 141 | -114 | 2 |
Americas
Rugby Americas North was not granted a spot to the World Cup, but Sudamérica Rugby allowed South America 1, the winner of a match between Colombia and Brazil to compete against the runner-up of the 2019 Rugby Africa Women's Cup for a place in the Final Qualification tournament.[4]
| 9 March 2020 | Colombia  |
23–19 |  Brazil |
Medellín | ||
| Report [5] |
Colombia moved on to the South America/Africa play-off against Kenya (Africa 2), who were runners-up of the 2019 Rugby Africa Women's Cup. The match was originally planned for 18 April, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Asia
Asia Rugby was granted one spot, Asia 1, to the highest ranked team in the 2021 Asia Rugby Women's Championship (ARWC). Japan and Hong Kong, the two teams from the 2017 World Cup, were joined by the winner of the 2019 playoff for promotion to the tournament. The runner-up of the tournament progressed to the Final Qualification as Asia 2.
The winner of the 2019 Asia Division I Championship progressed to the playoff for promotion to the ARWC against Kazakhstan.
| Semi-finals | Final | |||||
| 19 June – Calamba | ||||||
 Singapore | 7 | |||||
| 22 June – Calamba | ||||||
 China | 59 | |||||
| China | 68 | |||||
| 19 June – Calamba | ||||||
 Philippines | 0 | |||||
| Philippines | 32 | |||||
 India | 27 | |||||
| Third place | ||||||
| 22 June – Calamba | ||||||
| Singapore | 19 | |||||
| India | 21 | |||||
As winners, China faced Kazakhstan in two matches. The team with the highest aggregate score qualified for the ARWC.
| 31 July 2019 | China |
13–8 |  Kazakhstan |
Jiujiang Stadium, Jiangxi | ||
| 3 August 2019 | China |
0–15 | Kazakhstan |
Jiujiang Stadium, Jiangxi | ||
With an aggregate score of 13–23, Kazakhstan qualified for the ARWC.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the tournament was postponed several times, originally from 14 to 22 March 2020 to 8–16 May 2020, then to November 2020, then to 5–13 March 2021, then to 2–12 October 2021 and then finally cancelled altogether.[6]
| Qualifies as Asia 1 |
| Qualifies as Asia 2 |
| Position | Nation | Games | Points | Table points | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against | Difference | |||
| 1 | Japan |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | Kazakhstan |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 |  Hong Kong |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Due to quarantine challenges, Japan were awarded qualification to the World Cup for being highest in the World Rankings. Hong Kong and Kazakhstan were scheduled to play a single qualification match to advance to the Final Qualification. The Asia Rugby Women's Championship did not take place; Hong Kong withdrew due to the challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Kazakhstan qualified automatically as Asia 2 for the Final Qualification Tournament.[7]
Europe
Rugby Europe was granted one spot to the highest ranked team in a qualifying tournament (Europe 1) consisting of Six Nations sides that had not already qualified automatically from the previous World Cup, and the winner of the 2020 Rugby Europe Women's Championship. As England, France and Wales had qualified automatically, the tournament consisted of Ireland, Italy and Scotland, along with winner of the European Championship consisting of the Netherlands, Russia and Spain. The runner-up of the tournament progressed to the Final Qualification as Europe 2.
| Advances to the European Qualification Tournament |
| Position | Nation | Games | Points | Table points | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against | Difference | |||
| 1 |  Spain |
2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 143 | 7 | +136 | 11 |
| 2 |  Russia |
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 34 | 77 | –43 | 4 |
| 3 |  Netherlands |
2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 21 | 114 | –93 | 1 |
| 8 March 2020 | (1 BP) Netherlands |
21–27 | Russia |
Amsterdam | ||
| 21 February 2021 | (1 BP) Spain |
56–7 | Russia |
Estadio Pedro Escartín, Guadalajara (Spain) | ||
| 28 February 2021 | (1 BP) Spain |
87–0 | Netherlands |
Estadio Pedro Escartín, Guadalajara (Spain) | ||
As winners of the Rugby Europe Women's Championship, Spain joined Ireland, Italy and Scotland in the European Qualification Tournament. It took place from the 13 to 25 September 2021in Parma, Italy[8]
| Qualifies as Europe 1 |
| Advances to the Final Qualification tournament as Europe 2 |
| Position | Nation | Games | Points | Table points | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against | Difference | |||
| 1 | Italy |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 79 | 38 | +41 | 10 |
| 2 | Scotland |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 60 | 78 | –18 | 9 |
| 3 |  Ireland |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 40 | 35 | +5 | 6 |
| 4 | Spain |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 40 | 68 | –28 | 5 |
| 13 September 2021 | Scotland |
13–38 | Italy (1 BP) |
Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi, Parma | ||
| 13 September 2021 | Spain |
8–7 | Ireland (1 BP) |
Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi, Parma | ||
| 19 September 2021 | Italy |
7–15 | Ireland |
Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi, Parma | ||
| 19 September 2021 | (1 BP) Spain |
22–27 | Scotland (1 BP) |
Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi, Parma | ||
| 25 September 2021 | (1 BP) Italy |
34–10 | Spain |
Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi, Parma | ||
| 25 September 2021 | (1 BP) Ireland |
18–20 | Scotland |
Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi, Parma | ||
Oceania
Oceania Rugby was granted one spot to the winner of the playoff of the highest ranked teams in the 2019 Oceania Rugby Women's Championship (Oceania 1) which was held in Fiji from 18 to 30 November; the loser of the playoff would play against the winner of another playoff between the lowest ranked teams to gain the right enter the Final Qualification tournament as Oceania 2. Six teams competed in the competition with Australia and New Zealand each sending a development team to the tournament. The six teams were separated into two groups with New Zealand A joining Samoa and Tonga in Pool A while Australia A, Fiji and Papua New Guinea went into Pool B.[9] A split pool format was used whereby each team was scheduled to play three matches, but only against teams in the opposite pool.[10]
| Advances to the World Cup play-off |
Pool A
| Position | Nation | Games | Points | Table points | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against | Difference | |||
| 1 | Black Ferns Dev. XV |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 234 | 0 | +234 | 15 |
| 2 |  Samoa |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 77 | 65 | +12 | 5 |
| 3 |  Tongaa |
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Pool B
| Position | Nation | Games | Points | Table points | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against | Difference | |||
| 1 | Australia A |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 27 | 55 | -28 | 7 |
| 2 | Fiji |
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 26 | 60 | -34 | 5 |
| 3 |  Papua New Guinea |
2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 196 | -184 | 0 |
^a Tonga withdrew from the competition shortly before their first game with Australia A due to the measles outbreak in Tonga. The match was declared a 0–0 draw.[11]
As New Zealand and Australia had already qualified for the World Cup, Samoa and Fiji met in the playoff match with the winner gaining qualification to the World Cup and the loser to play against the winner of a match between Tonga and Papua New Guinea to earn a place in the Final Qualification tournament.
| 30 November 2019 | Fiji |
41–13 | Samoa |
Churchill Park, Lautoka | ||
| Report [12] |
As a result, Fiji qualified for the World Cup, while Samoa awaited the winner of Tonga and Papua New Guinea.
| 1 March 2020 | Papua New Guinea |
24–36 | Tonga |
Bava Park, Port Moresby | ||
| Report [13] |
Tonga played Samoa to determine who advanced to the tournament.
| 14 November 2020 | Samoa |
40–0 | Tonga |
The Trusts Arena, Auckland | ||
As a result, Samoa became the first team to qualify for the Final Qualification tournament.
South America/Africa play-off
A play-off between Africa 2 (the runner-up of the 2019 Rugby Africa Women's Cup) and South America 1 (the winner of the South America play-off between Colombia and Brazil) was played for a place in the Final Qualification. Kenya finished in second in the RAWC, and Colombia defeated Brazil. The match was scheduled for 18 April 2020 but was postponed to 25 August 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
| 25 August 2021 | Kenya |
15–16 | Colombia |
Nyayo National Stadium, Nairobi | ||
As a result, Colombia qualified for the Final Qualification tournament.
Final Qualification Tournament
The final team to qualify for the 2021 Rugby World Cup was decided via a Final Qualification tournament. Four teams competed in the tournament: the second placed teams from the regional tournaments of Asia (Asia 2) and Europe (Europe 2), the winner of the play-off between the loser of the Oceania World Cup qualifying play-off and the winner of another play-off between the bottom ranked teams in the same tournament (Oceania 2), and the winner of the South America/Africa play-off.[14] Samoa withdrew from the Final Qualification Tournament due to challenges caused by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. As the two bottom ranked teams, Kazakhstan and Colombia played a semi-final match on 19 February 2022. Colombia defeated Kazakhstan and played Scotland in the final on 25 February 2022.[15]
Scotland claimed the final spot in the 2021 Rugby World Cup by defeating Colombia 59 points to 3.[16]
Semi-final
| 19 February 2022 | Kazakhstan |
10–18 | Colombia |
The Sevens Stadium, Dubai | ||
| Report |
Final
| 25 February 2022 | Scotland |
59–3 | Colombia |
The Sevens Stadium, Dubai | ||
References
- ↑ "New Zealand to host Women's Rugby World Cup 2021". World Rugby. 15 November 2018. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
- ↑ "2021 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand postponed a year". The New Zealand Herald. 10 Mar 2021. Retrieved 2021-03-10.
- ↑ "Springbok Women Qualify for 2021 Women's Rugby World Cup". Johannesburg: Rugby Africa. 18 August 2019.
- ↑ "2021 Rugby World Cup South America Qualifying". World Rugby. 5 April 2019.
- ↑ "2021 Rugby World Cup Qualifying, Match 11". Rugby.World.Cup. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
- ↑ "Asia Rugby Women's Championship postponed". Rugby.World.Cup. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
- ↑ "Statement regarding Rugby World Cup 2021 Final Qualification Tournament". www.rugbyworldcup.com. Archived from the original on 2022-01-21. Retrieved 2022-01-22.
- ↑ "Rugby World Cup: Scotland & Ireland set for September qualifier in Italy". BBC Sport. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
- ↑ "Expanded Oceania Championship doubles as Rugby World Cup qualifier". World Rugby. 16 November 2019. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
- ↑ Birch, John (18 November 2019). "Samoa open qualifier with big win". Scrum Queens. Archived from the original on 24 March 2020.
- ↑ greenwood, Emma (17 November 2019). "Oceania Rugby cancel Australia A-Tonga clash after suspected measles case". rugby.com.au. Archived from the original on 20 December 2019. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
- ↑ "Oceania Rugby Women's Championship 2019, Match 11". World.Rugby. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
- ↑ "Tonga defeat Papua New Guinea in 2021 Rugby World Cup qualifiying". Rugby.World.Cup. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
- ↑ "World Rugby announces new Rugby World Cup 2021 qualification pathway". World Rugby. 5 April 2019. Archived from the original on 25 March 2020. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
- ↑ "Colombia one step closer to Rugby World Cup 2021 after beating Kazakhstan". www.rugbyworldcup.com. 2022-02-19. Retrieved 2022-02-20.
- ↑ "Scotland romp to World Cup play-off win". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2022-10-02.