2019 Rugby World Cup – Africa qualification

Qualifying for the 2019 Rugby World Cup for Africa Rugby began in June 2016, where across 3 years, 14 teams will compete for one direct qualification spot into the final tournament, and one spot in the Repechage tournament.

Format

The Africa Cup, controlled by Rugby Africa (CAR), will be the regional qualification tournament for Rugby World Cup 2019.

The first qualifying round will be the 2016 1B and 1C Divisions. The winner of Division 1C will be promoted to 1B and the second round of qualifying, while the team placed bottom in 1B will be relegated and eliminated from Rugby World Cup contention.

Similarly, 2017 will see Divisions 1A (Gold Cup) and 1B (Silver Cup) act as Round 2. The winner of the 2017 Silver Cup will advance to the Gold Cup for 2018 and remain in contention, while the loser of the 2017 Gold Cup will be relegated to the 2018 Silver Cup and eliminated from Rugby World Cup contention.

In Round 3, the winners of the 2018 Gold Cup will qualify for the World Cup as 'Africa 1', while the runner-up, 'Africa 2' will advance to the Repechage tournament as the African representative.[1]

Entrants

Fourteen teams will compete for the 2019 Rugby World Cup – Africa qualification. The teams world rankings are prior to the first African qualification match on 5 June 2016.

Nation Rank Begins play Qualifying status
 Botswana 63 26 June 2016 Eliminated by Ivory Coast on 5 July 2017
 Cameroon 92 5 June 2016 Withdrew from World Cup contention in June 2016
 Ivory Coast 52 29 June 2016 Eliminated by Morocco on 8 July 2017
 Kenya 28 24 June 2017
 Madagascar 41 12 June 2016 Eliminated by Morocco on 5 July 2017
 Mauritius 88 10 July 2016 Eliminated by Nigeria on 13 July 2016
 Morocco 54 10 July 2016
 Namibia 21 1 July 2017
 Nigeria 79 13 July 2016 Eliminated by Morocco on 16 July 2016
 Senegal 50 15 June 2016 Eliminated by Tunisia on 5 August 2017
 South Africa 3 N/A Qualified with Top 12 finish at 2015 World Cup
 Tunisia 39 26 June 2016
 Uganda 47 24 June 2017
 Zambia 82 12 June 2016 Eliminated by Senegal on 15 June 2016
 Zimbabwe 31 24 June 2017

Round 1

The first round consisted of ten matches between 10 teams. The winner of the Africa Cup Division 1C, Morocco, advanced to the second round and was promoted to division 1B for 2017, while the two winners of division 1B, Senegal and Tunisia, advanced to division 1A.

Round 1A: 2016 Africa Cup Division 1B

Africa Cup Division 1B was contested by six teams, in a two-group round-robin tournament. Pool 1 was held in Monastir, Tunisia, while Pool 2 was held in Antananarivo, Madagascar. The team with the worst record was relegated to Division 1C in 2017, and thus eliminated from qualification.

Pool A

Advances to Round 2, Div 1A
Advances to Round 2, Div 1B
Place Nation Games Points Bonus
points		 Table
points
played won drawn lost for against difference
1 Senegal22008427+5719
2 Madagascar21014845+315
3 Zambia20021878–6000
Points were awarded to the teams as follows:
Win - 4 points
Draw - 2 points
4 or more tries - 1 point
Loss within 7 points - 1 point
Loss greater than 7 points - 0 points

Pool B

Advances to Round 2, Div 1A
Advances to Round 2, Div 1B
Place Nation Games Points Bonus
points		 Table
points
played won drawn lost for against difference
1 Tunisia22009315+78210
2 Ivory Coast21012563–3804
3 Botswana20022363–4011
Points were awarded to the teams as follows:
Win - 4 points
Draw - 2 points
4 or more tries - 1 point
Loss within 7 points - 1 point
Loss greater than 7 points - 0 points

Final

The two pool winners contested the final, with both teams advancing to the 2017 Africa Gold Cup.

12 November 2016
15:00
Senegal  15–14  Tunisia
Report
Ben Jannet stadium, Monastir, Tunisia
Attendance: 5,000
Referee: Constant Cap (Kenya)

Round 1B: 2016 Africa Cup Division 1C

Africa Cup Division 1C was contested by three teams in a round-robin tournament. Cameroon were meant to compete but withdrew from the tournament after it was rescheduled for a later date. The tournament was held in Casablanca, Morocco.

Advances to Round 2, Div 1B
Place Nation Games Points Bonus
points		 Table
points
played won drawn lost for against difference
1 Morocco220012113+108210
2 Nigeria21014174–3315
3 Mauritius20022499–7500
Points were awarded to the teams as follows:
Win - 4 points
Draw - 2 points
4 or more tries - 1 point
Loss within 7 points - 1 point
Loss greater than 7 points - 0 points

Round 2

The second round will see the five highest finishers of the six teams in the Gold Cup, Kenya, Namibia, Tunisia, Uganda and Zimbabwe, progress to the 2018 Gold Cup, with the last place side, Senegal, relegated to the Silver Division and eliminated from World Cup qualification. The Winner of Silver Cup, Morocco, was the first team to earn their place in the 2018 Gold Cup.

Round 2A: 2017 Africa Gold Cup

Advances to Round 3
Place Nation Games Points Bonus
points		 Table
points
played won drawn lost for against diff
1 Namibia550027264+208525
2 Kenya5311226135+91418
3 Uganda5311190126+64216
4 Tunisia520391272–18108
5 Zimbabwe5104111157–4626
6 Senegal500575211–13611
Points were awarded to the teams as follows:
Win - 4 points
Draw - 2 points
4 or more tries - 1 point
Loss within 7 points - 1 point
Loss greater than 7 points - 0 points

Round 2B: 2017 Africa Silver Cup

The 2017 Africa Silver Cup was contested by four teams in a knockout format. The tournament was held in Casablanca, Morocco.

Semi-finals Final
5 July 2017 – Casablanca
  Ivory Coast  58  
  Botswana  25  
 
8 July 2017 – Casablanca
      Morocco  8
    Ivory Coast  3
Third place play-off
5 July 2017 – Casablanca 8 July 2017 – Casablanca
  Morocco  57   Botswana  24
  Madagascar  33     Madagascar  47

Round 3: 2018 Africa Gold Cup

Six teams will contest the 2018 Gold Cup and the final round of the African qualification, with the winner qualifying as Africa 1. The second placed team, Africa 2, will advance to the repechage tournament.

Teams:

References

  1. ↑ "Afrique - Processus de qualification" (in French). World Rugby. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
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