2019 Rugby World Cup – Europe qualification

Qualifying for the 2019 Rugby World Cup for European Rugby will begin in September 2016, where 5 teams will compete for one direct qualification spot into the final tournament, and a further 26 teams competing, alongside the initial 5 teams, for a place in the Europe/Oceania play-off and or repechage.

Format

The Rugby Europe Championship, controlled by Rugby Europe, will be the regional qualification tournament for Rugby World Cup 2019, with the Championship, Trophy and Conference 1 and 2 being involved in the process.

The 2016–17 Rugby Europe International Championships form the majority of qualification matches for the European region. The respective winners of Round 1A and 1B, Rugby Europe Conference 2 North and South, will progress to the Round 1 Final. The overall winner of Round 1, will advance to the Round 3, where they will play against the winner of Round 2, Conference 1. The winner of Round 3 will play against the winner of the 2016–17 Rugby Europe Trophy tournament in the Round 4 Final, where the winner of that final will parachute down to Round 6 - the European Final Play-off.

The winner of Round 5, which is an aggregate table of the 2017 and 2018 Rugby Europe Championship's, will qualify for the World Cup as Europe 1, the runner-up will advance to Round 6.

Round 6 will see the winner of Round 4 and the runner-up of Round 5 face against each other in a one-off play-off match, the higher ranked team hosting as the time of teams decided, to earn the right to progress to a home and away Cross-Regional play-off series against the third placed team from Oceania, Oceania 3.

Entrants

Thirty one teams will compete for the 2019 Rugby World Cup – European qualification.

Nation	Rank (19 June 2016)	Begins play	Qualifying status
Andorra	62	22 October 2016	Eliminated by Malta on 11 February 2017
Austria	87	8 October 2016	Eliminated by Serbia on 29 April 2017
Belgium	25	18 February 2017
Bosnia and Herzegovina	74	8 October 2016	Eliminated by Hungary on 20 May 2017
Croatia	54	29 October 2016	Eliminated by Malta on 29 April 2017
Cyprus	100 !NR	29 October 2016	Eliminated by Andorra on 11 February 2017
Czech Republic	34	3 September 2016
Denmark	88	8 October 2016	Eliminated by Hungary on 6 May 2017
England	2	N/A	Qualified with Top 12 finish at 2015 World Cup
Estonia	100 !NR	1 October 2016	Eliminated by Hungary on 22 April 2017
Finland	97	8 October 2016	Eliminated by Denmark on 22 April 2017
France	7	N/A	Qualified with Top 12 finish at 2015 World Cup
Georgia	11	N/A	Qualified with Top 12 finish at 2015 World Cup
Germany	26	11 February 2017
Hungary	82	1 October 2016	Eliminated by Czech Republic in 27 April 2017
Ireland	6	N/A	Qualified with Top 12 finish at 2015 World Cup
Israel	63	5 November 2016	Eliminated by Malta on 22 April 2017
Italy	13	N/A	Qualified with Top 12 finish at 2015 World Cup
Latvia	51	22 October 2016	Eliminated by Czech Republic on 15 April 2017
Lithuania	45	5 November 2016	Eliminated by Czech Republic on 15 April 2017[1]
Luxembourg	59	22 October 2016	Eliminated by Czech Republic on 15 April 2017
Malta	48	22 October 2016	Eliminated by Czech Republic on 20 May 2017
Moldova	32	12 November 2016	Eliminated by Portugal on 11 March 2017
Netherlands	35	5 November 2016	Eliminated by Portugal on 1 April 2017
Norway	90	8 October 2016	Eliminated by Hungary on 22 April 2017
Poland	27	24 September 2016	Eliminated by Portugal on 18 March 2017
Portugal	30	19 November 2016
Romania	16	11 February 2017
Russia	21	12 February 2017
Scotland	8	N/A	Qualified with Top 12 finish at 2015 World Cup
Serbia	79	29 October 2016	Eliminated by Bosnia and Herzegovina on 22 April 2017
Slovenia	67	29 October 2016	Eliminated by Austria on 22 April 2017
Spain	23	12 February 2017
Sweden	58	3 September 2016	Eliminated by Latvia on 29 April 2017
Switzerland	31	19 November 2016	Eliminated by Netherlands on 18 March 2017
Turkey	100 !NR	5 November 2016	Withdrew from competition on 5 November 2016
Ukraine	27	24 September 2016	Eliminated by Portugal on 4 March 2017
Wales	5	N/A	Qualified with Top 12 finish at 2015 World Cup

Round 1: Rugby Europe Conference 2

Round 1A: North

Place	Nation	Games				Points			Bonus points	Table points
		played	won	drawn	lost	for	against	diff
1	Hungary	4	4	0	0	157	30	+127	3	19
2	Denmark	4	3	0	1	161	42	+119	3	15
3	Norway	4	2	0	2	98	109	–11	1	9
4	Finland	4	1	0	3	92	144	–52	1	5
5	Estonia	4	0	0	4	39	222	–183	0	0
Points were awarded to the teams as follows: Win - 4 points Draw - 2 points Offensive Bonus Point is given for 3 more tries than the other team - 1 point Loss within 7 points - 1 point Loss greater than 7 points - 0 points

Matches

1 October 2016 14:00 EEST (UTC+03) Estonia  5–53  Hungary (1 BP) Kalevi Keskstaadion, Tallinn Referee: Georgii Kopp (Russia) 8 October 2016 14:00 CEST (UTC+02) Norway  48–31  Finland Bislett Stadium, Oslo Referee: Afonso Nogueira (Portugal) 8 October 2016 15:00 CEST (UTC+02) Hungary  25–13  Denmark RCH Stadion, Esztergom Referee: Hrvoje Bartolic (Czech Republic) 22 October 2016 13:00 EEST (UTC+03) (1 BP) Finland  51–6  Estonia Myllypuro sports park, Helsinki Referee: Ramunas Grumbinas (Lithuania) 22 October 2016 16:00 CEST (UTC+02) (1 BP) Denmark  20–0  Norway Odense Atletikstadion, Odense Referee: Daniel Maughan (Germany) 22 April 2017 16:00 CEST (UTC+02) (1 BP) Denmark  53–5  Finland Report Odense Atletikstadion, Odense Attendance: 450 Referee: Dariusz Reks (Poland) 22 April 2017 15:50 EEST (UTC+03) (1 BP) Hungary  42–7  Norway RCH Stadion, Esztergom Referee: Lukasz Jasinski (Poland) 29 April 2017 14:00 EEST (UTC+03) Estonia  12–75  Denmark (1 BP) Kalevi Keskstaadion, Tallinn Referee: George Mossford (Finland) 6 May 2017 13:00 EEST (UTC+03) Finland  5–37  Hungary (1 BP) Myllypuro sports park, Helsinki Referee: Kevin Sulejmani (Belgium 6 May 2017 14:00 CEST (UTC+02) (1 BP) Norway  43–16  Estonia Report International School of Stavanger, Stavanger Attendance: 500 Referee: Rami Aro (Sweden)

Round 1B: South

Place	Nation	Games				Points			Bonus points	Table points
		played	won	drawn	lost	for	against	diff
1	Bosnia and Herzegovina	3	2	0	1	65	54	+11	1	9
2	Austria	3	2	0	1	54	51	+3	0	8
3	Slovenia	3	1	0	2	89	48	+41	2	6
4	Serbia	3	1	0	2	52	107	–55	0	4
Points were awarded to the teams as follows: Win - 4 points Draw - 2 points Offensive Bonus Point is given for 3 more tries than the other team - 1 point Loss within 7 points - 1 point Loss greater than 7 points - 0 points

Matches

8 October 2016 15:00 CEST (UTC+02) Austria  29–22  Bosnia and Herzegovina (1 BP) Hohe Warte Stadium, Vienna Referee: Štepán Cekal (Czech Republic) 29 October 2016 14:00 CEST (UTC+02) (1 BP) Slovenia  74–13  Serbia ŽŠD Ljubljana Stadium, Ljubljana Referee: Matteo Liperini (Italy) 8 April 2017 14:00 CEST (UTC+02) (1 BP) Slovenia  15–22  Bosnia and Herzegovina Report ŽŠD Ljubljana Stadium, Ljubljana Attendance: 1,000 Referee: Norbert Mátrai (Hungary) 22 April 2017 17:00 CEST (UTC+02) Austria  13–0  Slovenia Report Hohe Warte Stadium, Vienna Attendance: 800 Referee: Pedro Mendes Silva (Portugal) 22 April 2017 15:00 CEST (UTC+02) Bosnia and Herzegovina  21–10  Serbia Report Stadion Kamberovice Polje, Zenica Attendance: 300 Referee: Csaba Priskin (Hungary) 29 April 2017 14:00 CEST (UTC+02) Serbia  29–12  Austria Report Rad Stadium, Belgrade Attendance: 200 Referee: Shota Tevzadze (Georgia)

Round 1 Final

20 May 2017 16:00 EEST (UTC+03)

Hungary	19–17	Bosnia and Herzegovina
	Report

Franka Pálya, Esztergom Attendance: 800 Referee: Andrea Spadoni (Italy)

Round 2: Rugby Europe Conference 1

Round 2A: North

Place	Nation	Games				Points			Bonus points	Table points
		played	won	drawn	lost	for	against	diff
1	Czech Republic	4	4	0	0	158	26	+132	3	19
2	Lithuania	4	3	0	1	93	45	+48	2	14
3	Latvia	4	2	0	2	56	98	–42	1	9
4	Sweden	4	1	0	3	54	124	–70	2	6
5	Luxembourg	4	0	0	4	39	107	–68	1	1
Points were awarded to the teams as follows: Win - 4 points Draw - 2 points Offensive Bonus Point is given for 3 more tries than the other team - 1 point Loss within 7 points - 1 point Loss greater than 7 points - 0 points

Matches

3 September 2016 15:00 CEST (UTC+02) Sweden  14–56  Czech Republic (1 BP) Report Enköpings Rugbyklubb, Enkoping Attendance: 400 Referee: Maxime Burlet (Belgium) 22 October 2016 15:00 EEST (UTC+03) Latvia  31–24  Luxembourg (1 BP) Report Daugava Stadium, Riga Attendance: 450 Referee: Tomáš Tuma (Czech Republic) 5 November 2016 15:00 EET (UTC+02) Lithuania  11–6  Latvia (1 BP) Report Darius and Girėnas Stadium, Kaunas Attendance: 500 Referee: Arthur Kaptyukh (Russia) 5 November 2016 16:00 CET (UTC+01) Luxembourg  0–19  Sweden (1 BP) Report Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg City Attendance: 1,200 Referee: Luca Trentin (Italy) 12 November 2016 14:00 CET (UTC+01) Czech Republic  15–6  Lithuania Report Stadion ragby Císařka, Prague Attendance: 1,500 Referee: Shota Tevzadze (Georgia) 15 April 2017 14:00 CEST (UTC+02) Czech Republic  54–3  Latvia Report Stadion ragby Císařka, Prague Attendance: 1,000 Referee: Gabriel Chirnoaga (Italy) 22 April 2017 15:00 EEST (UTC+03) (1 BP) Lithuania  24–12  Luxembourg Vingis Park Rugby Stadium, Vilnius Referee: Mike Hawkins (Denmark) 29 April 2017 15:00 EEST (UTC+03) Latvia  16–9  Sweden (1 BP) Report Daugava Stadium, Riga Attendance: 500 Referee: Sam Grove-White (Scotland) 6 May 2017 15:00 CEST (UTC+02) Sweden  12–52  Lithuania (1 BP) Report Enköpings Rugbyklubb, Enkoping Attendance: 320 Referee: Killian O'Brien (Germany) 6 May 2017 16:00 CEST (UTC+02) Luxembourg  3–33  Czech Republic (1 BP) Report Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg City Attendance: 1,200 Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys (England)

Round 2B: South

Place	Nation	Games				Points			Bonus points	Table points
		played	won	drawn	lost	for	against	diff
1	Malta	4	3	1	0	147	49	+98	3	17
2	Israel	4	3	0	1	135	100	+35	2	14
3	Croatia	4	2	1	1	106	79	+27	2	12
4	Andorra	4	1	0	3	62	181	–119	0	4
5	Cyprus	4	0	0	4	72	113	–41	2	2
Points were awarded to the teams as follows: Win - 4 points Draw - 2 points Offensive Bonus Point is given for 3 more tries than the other team - 1 point Loss within 7 points - 1 point Loss greater than 7 points - 0 points

Matches

22 October 2016 18:00 CEST (UTC+02) Andorra  15–63  Malta (1 BP) Match centre Estadi Nacional, Andorra La Vella Referee: Riccardo Angelucci (Italy) 29 October 2016 14:00 CEST (UTC+02) (1 BP) Malta  31–3  Cyprus Match centre Hibernians Stadium, Paola Referee: Ariel Cabral (Israel) 29 October 2016 15:15 CEST (UTC+02) (1 BP) Croatia  47–15  Andorra Report Stadion Stari plac, Split Attendance: 1,000 Referee: Ionut Bodea (Romania) 5 November 2016 14:00 IST (UTC+02) Israel  23–16  Croatia (1 BP) Report Wingate Institute, Netanya Attendance: 1,700 Referee: John Catteau (Belgium) 12 November 2016 14:30 EET (UTC+02) Cyprus  28–38  Israel (1 BP) Report Pafiako Stadium, Paphos Attendance: 500 Referee: Matéj Rázga (Czech Republic) 11 February 2017 18:00 CET (UTC+01) Andorra  15–14  Cyprus (1 BP) Report Estadi Nacional, Andorra La Vella Attendance: 1,000 Referee: Philippe Lenne (Belgium) 8 April 2017 14:00 IST (UTC+02) (1 BP) Israel  57–17  Andorra Report Wingate Institute, Netanya Attendance: 700 Referee: Yann Benoît (Switzerland) 22 April 2017 14:00 CET (UTC+01) (1 BP) Malta  39–17  Israel Match centre Hibernians Stadium, Paola Referee: Pierre Brousset (France) 29 April 2017 14:00 CEST (UTC+02) Croatia  14–14  Malta Report Stadion NŠC Stjepan Spajić, Zagreb Attendance: 1,500 Referee: Jorge Molpeceres (Spain) 6 May 2017 15:00 EEST (UTC+03) (1 BP) Cyprus  27–29  Croatia Report Pafiako Stadium, Paphos Attendance: 500

Round 2 Final

20 May 2017 14:00 CEST (UTC+02)

Czech Republic	48–14	Malta
	Report

Stadion Markéta, Prague Attendance: 500 Referee: Thomas Charabas (France)

Round 3

27 May 2017 14:00 CEST (UTC+02)

Czech Republic	47–19	Hungary
	Report

Stadion ragby Císařka, Prague Attendance: 500 Referee: François Bouzac (France)

Round 4

Round 4A: Rugby Europe Trophy

Place	Nation	Games				Points			Bonus points	Table points
		played	won	drawn	lost	for	against	diff
1	Portugal	5	5	0	0	179	37	+142	4	24
2	Netherlands	5	3	0	2	159	94	+65	3	15
3	Switzerland	5	3	0	2	140	122	+18	1	13
4	Poland	5	3	0	2	73	73	0	0	12
5	Moldova	5	1	0	4	100	162	-62	2	6
6	Ukraine	5	0	0	5	52	215	–163	0	0
Points were awarded to the teams as follows: Win - 4 points Draw - 2 points Offensive Bonus Point is given for 3 more tries than the other team - 1 point Loss within 7 points - 1 point Loss greater than 7 points - 0 points

Matches

24 September 2016 19:30 CEST (UTC+02) Poland  22–0  Ukraine Report Arena Lublin, Lublin Attendance: 2,500 Referee: Dan Jones (Wales) 5 November 2016 14:00 EET (UTC+02) Ukraine  12–54  Netherlands (1 BP) Report Arena Lviv, Lviv Attendance: 1,000 Referee: Paulo Duarte (Portugal) 12 November 2016 13:00 EET (UTC+02) (1 BP) Moldova  54–15  Ukraine Report Stadionul Central, Bălți Attendance: 500 Referee: Laurent Cardona (France) 19 November 2016 15:00 CET (UTC+01) (1 BP) Netherlands  44–17  Moldova Report NRCA Stadium, Amsterdam Attendance: 3,215 Referee: Sam Grove-White (Scotland) 19 November 2016 15:00 CET (UTC+01) Switzerland   10–28  Portugal Match centre Stade Municipal, Yverdon-les-Bains Attendance: 2,057 Referee: Emanuele Tomo (Italy) 26 November 2016 15:00 CET (UTC+01) Switzerland   29–26  Moldova (1 BP) Report Stade Municipal, Yverdon-les-Bains Attendance: 1,030 Referee: Frank Himmer (Germany) 18 February 2017 15:00 WET (UTC+00) (1 BP) Portugal  35–10  Poland Match centre CAR Rugby do Jamor, Lisbon Attendance: 2,000 Referee: Sam Grove-White (Scotland) 4 March 2017 15:00 CET (UTC+01) Netherlands  10–26  Portugal (1 BP) Match centre NRCA Stadium, Amsterdam Attendance: 3,500 Referee: Giuseppe Vivarini (Italy) 11 March 2017 15:00 WET (UTC+00) (1 BP) Portugal  59–0  Moldova Match centre CAR Rugby do Jamor, Lisbon Attendance: 1,400 Referee: Stuart Gaffikin (Ireland) 12 March 2017 15:00 CET (UTC+01) (1 BP) Switzerland   54–18  Ukraine Report Centre Sportif des Cherpines, Geneva Attendance: 2,000 Referee: Radu Petrescu (Romania) 18 March 2017 13:00 EET (UTC+02) Moldova  3–15  Poland Report Balti Stadium, Bălți Attendance: 350 Referee: Alexei Bryzgalin (Russia) 18 March 2017 15:00 CET (UTC+01) Netherlands  38–25   Switzerland Report NRCA Stadium, Amsterdam Attendance: 2,000 Referee: Iñigo Atorrasagasti (Spain) 1 April 2017 14:00 EEST (UTC+03) Ukraine  7–31  Portugal Match centre Spartak Stadium, Odessa Attendance: 4,000 Referee: Vlad Iordachescu (Romania) 8 April 2017 18:00 CEST (UTC+02) Poland  14–13  Netherlands (1 BP) Report Stadion Widzewa, Łódź Attendance: 400 Referee: Tual Trainini (France) 22 April 2017 17:00 CEST (UTC+02) Poland  12–22   Switzerland Report Stadion Polonii, Warsaw Referee: Matthew Carley (England)

Round 4 Final

This fixture, unlike previous knock out fixtures, doubles as part of the Rugby Europe Trophy competition.

18 November 2017 15:00 WET (UTC+0)

Portugal	v	Czech Republic

Estádio Universitário de Lisboa, Lisbon

Round 5: Rugby Europe Championship

For the Rugby Europe Championship teams, results are considered on a 2-year aggregate from the 2017 and 2018 seasons (excluding matches involving Georgia, who had already qualified). The winner advances to the Rugby World Cup and the runner-up advances to the Round 6 play-off.^[2]

Place	Nation	Games				Points			Bonus points	Table points
		played	won	drawn	lost	for	against	diff
1	Romania	4	3	0	1	114	71	+43	3	15
2	Spain	4	3	0	1	81	34	+47	1	13
3	Russia	4	2	0	2	93	89	+4	1	9
4	Germany	4	2	0	2	115	151	–36	0	8
5	Belgium	4	0	0	4	64	122	–58	2	2
Points were awarded to the teams as follows: Win - 4 points Draw - 2 points Offensive Bonus Point is given for 3 more tries than the other team - 1 point Loss within 7 points - 1 point Loss greater than 7 points - 0 points

2017 Matches

11 February 2017 13:15 CET (UTC+01) Germany  41–38  Romania (1 BP) Match centre Sparda Bank Hessen Stadium, Offenbach Attendance: 3,000 Referee: Maxime Chalon (France) 11 February 2017 15:45 CET (UTC+01) Spain  16–6  Russia Match centre Estadio Nacional Complutense, Madrid Attendance: 8,000 Referee: Dudley Phillips (Ireland) 18 February 2017 14:00 EET (UTC+02) Romania  13–3  Spain Report Stadionul Emil Alexandrescu, Iași Referee: Elia Rizzo (Italy) 18 February 2017 15:00 CET (UTC+01) (1 BP) Belgium  18–25  Russia Match centre King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels Attendance: 2,500 Referee: Salem Attalah (France) 4 March 2017 13:00 MSK (UTC+03) Russia  10–30  Romania (1 BP) Match centre Sochi Central Stadium, Sochi Attendance: 2,000 Referee: Sean Gallagher (Ireland) 4 March 2017 16:15 CET (UTC+01) Germany  34–29  Belgium (1 BP) Match centre Sparda Bank Hessen Stadium, Offenbach Attendance: 4,126 Referee: Iñigo Atorrasagasti (Spain) 11 March 2017 13:00 CET (UTC+01) Germany  15–32  Spain Match centre Sportpark Höhenberg, Cologne Attendance: 4,500 Referee: Lloyd Linton (Scotland) 11 March 2017 15:00 CET (UTC+01) Belgium  17–33  Romania (1 BP) Match centre King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels Attendance: 3,000 Referee: Claudio Blessano (Italy) 18 March 2017 15:00 CET (UTC+01) (1 BP) Spain  30–0  Belgium Match centre Estadio Nacional Complutense, Madrid Attendance: 1,000 Referee: Vlad Iordachescu (Romania) 19 March 2017 14:00 MSK (UTC+03) (1 BP) Russia  52–25  Germany Match centre Sochi Central Stadium, Sochi Attendance: 2,500 Referee: Cédric Marchat (France)

Due to how the European competitions is formatted, the winner of the 2016/17 Trophy (Portugal) and the bottom-placed team in the 2017 Championship (Belgium) had to play each other in a Promotion/Relegation play-off. If the Portugal had defeated Belgium, then all previous matches that had featured Belgium would have been deleted, leaving just the matches featuring Germany, Romania, Russia and Spain count towards qualification, in both the 2017 and 2018 Championships. This would have also meant that matches that featured Portugal in the 2018 Championship would not count towards qualification, as Portugal would still have to compete in the Round 4 Final against the Czech Republic and potentially advance to Round 6.^[3]

On 20 May 2017, Belgium hosted Portugal in the Rugby Europe Championship playoff to decide whether Belgium would remain in the Championship for 2018 and remain in contention of qualifying for the Rugby World Cup - Portugal despite losing still remains in contention through the European Cross-Division play-off's.

20 May 2017 16:00 CEST (UTC+02)

Belgium	29–18	Portugal
	Match centre

King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels Attendance: 1,820 Referee: Frank Murphy (Ireland)

2018 Matches

10 February 2018 14:00 MSK (UTC+03) Russia  v  Spain Sochi Central Stadium, Sochi 10 February 2018 13:00 EET (UTC+02) Romania  v  Germany Stadionul Arcul de Triumf, Bucharest 17 February 2018 12:30 CET (UTC+01) Spain  v  Romania Estadio Nacional Complutense, Madrid 17 February 2018 14:00 MSK (UTC+03) Russia  v  Belgium Sochi Central Stadium, Sochi 3 March 2018 15:00 CEST (UTC+02) Belgium  v  Germany King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels 3 March 2018 13:00 EET (UTC+02) Romania  v  Russia Stadionul Arcul de Triumf, Bucharest 10 March 2018 13:00 EET (UTC+02) Romania  v  Belgium Stadionul Arcul de Triumf, Bucharest 10 March 2018 12:30 CET (UTC+01) Spain  v  Germany Estadio Nacional Complutense, Madrid 18 March 2018 13:00 CET (UTC+01) Germany  v  Russia Sparda Bank Hessen Stadium, Offenbach 18 March 2018 13:00 CEST (UTC+02) Belgium  v  Spain King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels

Round 6: Final play-off

The winner of this play-off advances to the Europe/Oceania play-off.

See also

• 2016–17 Rugby Europe International Championships

References

External links

• "Regional qualification process set for Rugby World Cup 2019" (World Rugby)