2007 Rugby World Cup - European qualification

2007 Rugby World Cup
2007 Rugby World Cup
The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 20 October. France won the hosting rights in 2003,...

- European qualification was based around the European Nations Cup

European Nations Cup (rugby union)

The European Nations Cup is the European Championship for tier 2 and tier 3 rugby union nations. The Championship is split into 7 divisions with 5 or 6 teams in each. The divisions play on a two-year cycle with the teams playing each other both home and away...

, and decided which European teams participated in the 2007 Rugby World Cup

2007 Rugby World Cup

The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 20 October. France won the hosting rights in 2003,...

in France. The group stages counted towards both qualification and the European Nations Cup. Hosts France

France national rugby union team

The France national rugby union team represents France in rugby union. They compete annually against England, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales in the Six Nations Championship. They have won the championship outright sixteen times, shared it a further eight times, and have completed nine grand slams...

and other 2003 World Cup

2003 Rugby World Cup

The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup and was won by England. Originally planned to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the New Zealand Rugby Football Union and Rugby World...

quarter finalists England

England national rugby union team

The England national rugby union team represents England in rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, and Wales. They have won this championship on 26 occasions, 12 times winning the Grand Slam, making them the most successful team in...

, Ireland

Ireland national rugby union team

The Ireland national rugby union team represents the island of Ireland in rugby union. The team competes annually in the Six Nations Championship and every four years in the Rugby World Cup, where they reached the quarter-final stage in all but two competitions The Ireland national rugby union...

, Scotland

Scotland national rugby union team

The Scotland national rugby union team represent Scotland in international rugby union. Rugby union in Scotland is administered by the Scottish Rugby Union. The Scotland rugby union team is currently ranked eighth in the IRB World Rankings as of 19 September 2011...

and Wales

Wales national rugby union team

The Wales national rugby union team represent Wales in international rugby union tournaments. They compete annually in the Six Nations Championship with England, France, Ireland, Italy and Scotland. Wales have won the Six Nations and its predecessors 24 times outright, second only to England with...

qualified automatically.

Qualification process

There were three places available for European teams, and one place in the repechage. The teams were ranked according to their division in the European Nations Cup, taking into account the relegations and promotions at the end of the previous competition. Note that for the 2004/05 season Division 1 did not count towards World Cup qualification. The 2005/06 season decided which round (either 4 or 5) the teams entered. In the group rounds, there were three points awarded for a win, two for a draw, and one for a loss. There were no bonus points awarded.

Round 1

The eight teams from divisions 3B (apart from newly relegated from 3A Hungary

Hungary national rugby union team

The Hungary national rugby union team represents Hungary at rugby union. They are governed by the Magyar Rögbi Szövetség , and have yet to qualify for the Rugby World Cup, although they have entered qualifiers for all the tournaments from the 1995 edition onwards...

) and 3C (apart from Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan national rugby union team

The Azerbaijan national rugby union team is the national rugby union team of Azerbaijan. They compete in division 3D of the European Nations Cup. Azerbaijan have yet to qualify for the Rugby World Cup.-External links:* * on rugbydata.com* on IRB.com...

and Armenia

Armenia national rugby union team

The Armenian national rugby union team has recently begun playing in the European Nations Cup. The team is unexpectedly strong due to the large Armenian diaspora in France . So the team has drawn many players, coaches, and trainers from this experienced pool...

) played each other in four two-legged playoffs. The winners entered the next round.

Round 2

The four Round 1 winners, Hungary, and the fifteen teams from divisions 2A, 2B and 3A were drawn into four groups of five. They played each other once, with the best two teams qualifying for the next round. The third placed teams played in two two-legged playoffs to qualify for the next round.

Round 3

The four winners, four runners-up, and two play-off winners from Round 2 were drawn into two groups of five. The best team from each group played each other in a two legged playoff for a place in the next round.

Round 4

The bottom three teams from Division 1 2005/06 and the winner of the previous round played two two-legged playoffs to enter the next round.

Round 5

The winner of Round 4 Playoff 1, the third placed team from Division 1 2005/06 and Six Nations competitor Italy form Pool A. The winner of Round 4 Playoff 2 and the first and second placed teams from Division 1 2005/06 form Pool B. The top team from each pool qualified for the World Cup as Europe 1 and Europe 2. The second placed teams entered the next round.

Round 6

The two second placed teams from Round 5 played a two-legged playoff, with the winner qualifying for the World Cup as Europe 3. The loser entered the repechage as Europe 4.

Round 1

Andorra, Austria, Bulgaria and Lithuania qualified for round 2.
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Andorra won 99-12 on aggregate

The first match was refereed by Andre Watson

André Watson

André Jacobus Watson is a South African former rugby union referee. He officiated a record number of finals in the Rugby World Cup , the Currie Cup and Super Rugby .-Biography:...

. He was called by the International Board, because in this way the first match of qualification the new edition of Rugby World Cup could be refereed by the same judge as the last match (the final) of the Rugby World Cup 2003. Watson had announced his retirement from international rugby only three mounths before after a match between Australia and Pacific Islands.
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Austria won 41-17 on aggregate
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Bulgaria won 92-6 on aggregate
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Lithuania won 113-7 on aggregate

Pool A

Spain and Croatia qualified for Round 3. Andorra entered the playoffs.

146
Place	Nation	Games				Points			Table points
Place	Nation	played	won	drawn	lost	for	against	difference	Table points
1		4	3	1	0	201	55
11
2		4	3	1	0	115	54
11
3		4	2	0	2	88	75
8
4		4	1	0	3	58	141
6
5		4	0	0	4	40	177
4

Match Schedule
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Pool B

Germany and Moldova qualified for Round 3. Denmark entered the playoffs.

221
Place	Nation	Games				Points			Table points
Place	Nation	played	won	drawn	lost	for	against	difference	Table points
1		4	4	0	0	248	27
12
2		4	2	0	2	110	63
8
3		4	2	0	2	33	84
8
4		4	2	0	2	42	111
8
5		4	0	0	4	20	168
4

Pool C

Belgium and the Netherlands qualified for Round 3. Sweden entered the playoffs.

49
Place	Nation	Games				Points			Table points
Place	Nation	played	won	drawn	lost	for	against	difference	Table points
1		4	4	0	0	95	46
12
2		4	3	1	0	133	53
10
3		4	2	0	2	76	98
8
4		4	1	0	3	63	103
6
5		4	0	0	4	56	123
4

Pool D

Poland and Serbia and Montenegro qualified for round 3. Malta entered the playoffs.

49
Place	Nation	Games				Points			Table points
Place	Nation	played	won	drawn	lost	for	against	difference	Table points
1		4	4	0	0	125	49
12
2		4	2	1	1	79	52
9
3		4	2	0	2	65	85
8
4		4	1	1	2	77	51
7
5		4	0	0	4	38	148
4

Playoffs

Andorra and Malta qualified for Round 3.
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Malta win 31-30 on aggregate
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Andorra won 40-34 on aggregate

Pool A

Spain entered playoff.

131
Place	Nation	Games				Points			Table points
Place	Nation	played	won	drawn	lost	for	against	difference	Table points
1		4	4	0	0	163	32
12
2		4	3	1	0	88	96
10
3		4	2	0	2	113	75
8
4		4	1	0	3	63	131
6
5		4	0	0	4	30	123
4

Pool B

Germany entered playoff.

179
Place	Nation	Games				Points			Table points
Place	Nation	played	won	drawn	lost	for	against	difference	Table points
1		4	4	0	0	209	30
12
2		4	3	1	0	81	68
10
3		4	2	0	2	42	85
8
4		4	1	0	3	76	86
6
5		4	0	0	4	27	166
4

Playoff

Spain qualified for Round 4.
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Spain win 42-28 on aggregate

European Nations Cup Division 1 2004/06

See European Nations Cup (rugby union)

European Nations Cup (rugby union)

Romania, Georgia, and Portugal qualified for Round 5. Russia, Czech Republic, and Ukraine qualified for Round 4.

295
Place	Nation	Games				Points			Table points
Place	Nation	played	won	drawn	lost	for	against	difference	Table points
1		10	8	0	2	389	94
26
2		10	8	0	2	353	125
26
3		10	6	1	3	193	183	+10	23
4		10	4	1	5	290	202	+88	19
5		10	3	0	7	164	306
16
5		10	0	0	10	77	556
10

Round 4 - September 2006

Spain and Russia qualified for Round 5.
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Spain won 79-29 on aggregate

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Russia won 62-28 on aggregate

Pool A

Italy qualified for World Cup as Europe 1. Portugal entered Round 6.

143
Place	Nation	Games				Points			Table points
Place	Nation	played	won	drawn	lost	for	against	difference	Table points
1		2	2	0	0	150	7
6
2		2	1	0	1	26	106
4
3		2	0	0	2	30	93
2

Match Schedule

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Pool B

Romania qualified for World Cup as Europe 2. Georgia entered Round 6.

35
Place	Nation	Games				Points			Table points
Place	Nation	played	won	drawn	lost	for	against	difference	Table points
1		2	2	0	0	63	28
6
2		2	1	0	1	45	43
4
3		2	0	0	2	43	80
2

Match Schedule

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Round 6 - November 2006

Georgia qualified for World Cup as Europe 3. Portugal entered repechage as Europe 4.

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Georgia won 28-14 on aggregate

External links

World Cup website

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