2003 Rugby World Cup – European qualification Dates 23 September 2000 – 24 November 2002 No. of nations 32
There were a number of positions open to European nations to qualify for the 2003 Rugby World Cup Ireland , Romania , Georgia and Italy , joining a number of other nations that automatically qualified.
Round 1 (2000–2001) [ edit ] The 18 teams that entered qualification at this stage were divided into three pools of six teams each. The winners of each pool and the best runner-up advanced to the second round of qualifying.
Date Home team Score Away team Venue 23 September 2000 Norway 9–41 Luxembourg Stavanger , Norway 21 October 2000 Austria 10–42 Sweden Vienna , Austria 28 October 2000 Latvia 24–19 Luxembourg Riga , Latvia 28 October 2000 Sweden 44–3 Norway Korsangens , Sweden 11 November 2000 Latvia 38–12 Austria Riga , Latvia 3 March 2001 Luxembourg 3–62 Israel Luxembourg 17 March 2001 Israel 3–21 Latvia Israel 5 May 2001 Israel 43–3 Norway Israel 5 May 2001 Luxembourg 3–116 Sweden Cessange , Luxembourg 12 May 2001 Austria 77–0 Luxembourg Vienna , Austria 19 May 2001 Latvia 37–0 Norway Riga , Latvia 19 May 2001 Sweden 35–20 Israel Växjö , Sweden 2 June 2001 Austria 21–6 Israel Vienna , Austria 9 June 2001 Norway 7–51 Austria Borrebanen , Norway 9 June 2001 Sweden 17–10 Latvia Korsangens , Sweden
Date Home team Score Away team Venue 30 September 2000 Bosnia and Herzegovina 13–12 Hungary Zenica , Bosnia and Herzegovina 7 October 2000 Switzerland 43–6 Bosnia and Herzegovina Geneva , Switzerland 14 October 2000 Bulgaria 9–90 Switzerland Pernik , Bulgaria 14 October 2000 Andorra 12–9 Yugoslavia Andorra la Vella , Andorra 28 October 2000 Hungary 27–21 Andorra Százhalombatta , Hungary 5 November 2000 Yugoslavia 46–6 Bulgaria Dimitrovgrad , Yugoslavia 31 March 2001 Yugoslavia 25–10 Hungary Dimitrovgrad, Yugoslavia 5 May 2001 Switzerland 38–25 Andorra Lausanne , Switzerland 5 May 2001 Bulgaria 30–8 Bosnia and Herzegovina 12 May 2001 Andorra 59–10 Bulgaria Andorra la Vella, Andorra 12 May 2001 Switzerland 61–23 Hungary Basel , Switzerland 12 May 2001 Bosnia and Herzegovina 23–13 Yugoslavia 25 May 2001 Yugoslavia 13–10 Switzerland Gornji , Yugoslavia 25 May 2001 Andorra 23–13 Bosnia and Herzegovina Andorra la Vella, Andorra 25 May 2001 Hungary 46–7 Bulgaria
Date Home team Score Away team Venue 28 October 2000 Monaco 15–17 Moldova Menton , France 28 October 2000 Belgium 24–10 Slovenia King Baudouin Stadium , Brussels, Belgium 18 November 2000 Slovenia 19–19 Lithuania Ljubljana , Slovenia 18 November 2000 Moldova 58–8 Malta Bender , Moldova 25 November 2000 Malta 0–26 Belgium Three Cities , Malta 2 December 2000 Monaco 8–13 Slovenia Menton , France 20 January 2001 Malta 3–9 Monaco Three Cities , Malta 3 March 2001 Monaco 12–18 Belgium Saint-Laurent-du-Var , France 7 April 2001 Belgium 26–10 Moldova Brussels , Belgium 21 April 2001 Malta 11–39 Lithuania Three Cities , Malta 28 April 2001 Slovenia 30–15 Moldova Ljubljana , Slovenia 5 May 2001 Belgium 29–20 Lithuania Laakdal , Belgium 12 May 2001 Slovenia 45–5 Malta Ljubljana , Slovenia 12 May 2001 Lithuania 33–10 Monaco Vilnius , Lithuania 2 June 2001 Moldova 20–16 Lithuania Chișinău , Moldova
Round 2 (2001–2002) [ edit ] The four teams that qualified from Round 1 were joined by the six teams from the European Nations Cup Second Division. They were divided into two pools of five teams each. Each pool was played as a single round-robin tournament, and the winner of each pool advanced to Round 3.
Date Home team Score Away team Venue 22 September 2001 Latvia 18–60 Poland Riga , Latvia 29 September 2001 Poland 18–6 Sweden Gdańsk , Poland 7 October 2001 Sweden 37–12 Latvia Trelleborg , Sweden 20 October 2001 Sweden 32–10 Germany Malmö , Sweden 27 October 2001 Denmark 33–21 Sweden Frederiksberg , Denmark 3 November 2001 Denmark 19–26 Poland Copenhagen , Denmark 10 November 2001 Germany 34–24 Denmark Heidelberg , Germany 24 November 2001 Germany 44–0 Latvia Hanover , Germany 6 April 2002 Poland 20–12 Germany Gdynia , Poland 6 April 2002 Latvia 8–32 Denmark Riga , Latvia
Date Home team Score Away team Venue 22 September 2001 Czech Republic 46–3 Belgium Prague , Czech Republic 6 October 2001 Switzerland 6–32 Czech Republic Lausanne , Switzerland 13 October 2001 Croatia 5–13 Czech Republic Makarska , Croatia 13 October 2001 Ukraine 21–10 Belgium Kyiv , Ukraine 20 October 2001 Ukraine 41–7 Croatia Kyiv , Ukraine 27 October 2001 Belgium 15–22 Switzerland Brussels , Belgium 3 November 2001 Czech Republic 26–8 Ukraine Prague , Czech Republic 10 November 2001 Croatia 18–16 Switzerland Makarska , Croatia 24 November 2001 Belgium 0–26 Croatia Brussels , Belgium 24 November 2001 Switzerland 11–30 Ukraine Hermance , Switzerland
Round 3 (May–June 2002) [ edit ] The two teams that advanced from Round 2 were joined by the four lowest-ranked teams from the 2000–01 European Nations Cup First Division . The six teams were divided into two pools of three teams each, again played as a single round-robin, with the winners of each pool advancing to Round 4.
Round 4 (September–October 2002) [ edit ] In Round 4, the two teams that advanced from Round 3 were joined by the two remaining teams from the 2000–01 European Nations Cup First Division , as well as Ireland and Italy . The six teams were divided into two pools of three teams each, which were again played as a single round-robin. The top two teams from each pool qualified directly for the Rugby World Cup, while the bottom team from each pool advanced to Round 5.
Italy qualified for the Rugby World Cup as Europe 2 and were placed in Pool D , while Romania qualified as Europe 3 and were placed in Pool A .
Pos Team Pld W D L +/− Pts 1 Italy 2 2 0 0 +55 6 2 Romania 2 1 0 1 +53 4 3 Spain 2 0 0 2 −108 2
Ireland qualified for the Rugby World Cup as Europe 1 and were placed in Pool A, while Georgia qualified as Europe 4 and were placed in Pool C .
Round 5 (October–November 2002) [ edit ] The two teams that advanced from Round 4 played a two-legged tie. The winners advanced to the repechage .
Russia won 58–41 on aggregate. However, after it was determined they used ineligible South African players, they were ejected from the competition and Spain advanced to Repechage. [1]
Bibliography [ edit ] References [ edit ]
Tournaments Qualifying Knockout stages Finals Squads Statistics Overview Overall records Notes: There was no qualification for the 1987 World Cup as places were given by invitation only.
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