2003 Rugby World Cup – European qualification

There were a number of positions open to European nations to qualify for the 2003 Rugby World Cup in Australia. Ireland, Romania, Georgia and Italy, joining a number of other nations that automatically qualified.

Round 1 – 2000-2001

Three Pool Winners and top Runner-Up advanced to Round 2.

Pool A

Winner (Sweden) and Runner-Up (Latvia) advanced to Round 2.

Final Standings
CountryGPWDL+/-Pts
 Sweden 5500+20815
 Latvia 5401+7913
 Austria 5302+7811
 Israel 5203+519
 Luxembourg 5104-2227
 Norway 5005-1945
Match Schedule
DateMatchVenueResult
23-Sep-2000 Norway - Luxembourg Stavanger, Norway 9-41
21-Oct-2000 Austria - Sweden Vienna, Austria 10-42
28-Oct-2000 Latvia - Luxembourg Riga, Latvia 24-19
28-Oct-2000 Sweden - Norway Korsangens, Sweden 44-3
11-Nov-2000 Latvia - Austria Riga, Latvia 38-12
3-Mar-2001 Luxembourg - Israel Luxembourg 3-62
17-Mar-2001 Israel - Latvia Israel 3-21
5-May-2001 Israel - Norway Israel 43-3
5-May-2001 Luxembourg - Sweden Cessange, Luxembourg 3-116
12-May-2001 Austria - Luxembourg Vienna, Austria 77-0
19-May-2001 Latvia - Norway Riga, Latvia 37-0
19-May-2001 Sweden - Israel Växjö, Sweden 35-20
2-Jun-2001 Austria - Israel Vienna, Austria 21-6
9-Jun-2001 Norway - Austria Borrebanen, Norway 7-51
9-Jun-2001 Sweden - Latvia Korsangens, Sweden 17-10

Pool B

Winner (Switzerland) advanced to Round 2.

Final Standings
CountryGPWDL+/-Pts
  Switzerland 5401+16613
 Yugoslavia 5302+4511
 Andorra 5302+4311
 Hungary 5203-99
 Bosnia and Herzegovina 5203-589
 Bulgaria 5104-1877
Match Schedule
DateMatchVenueResult
30-Sep-2000 Bosnia and Herzegovina - Hungary Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina 13-12
07-Oct-2000 Switzerland - Bosnia and Herzegovina Geneva, Switzerland 43-6
14-Oct-2000 Bulgaria - Switzerland Pernik, Bulgaria 9-90
14-Oct-2000 Andorra - Yugoslavia Andorra la Vella, Andorra 12-9
28-Oct-2000 Hungary - Andorra Százhalombatta, Hungary 27-21
5-Nov-2000 Yugoslavia - Bulgaria Dimitrovgrad, Yugoslavia 46-6
31-Mar-2001 Yugoslavia - Hungary Dimitrovgrad, Yugoslavia 25-10
05-May-2001 Switzerland - Andorra Lausanne, Switzerland 38-25
05-May-2001 Bulgaria - Bosnia and Herzegovina ? 30-8
12-May-2001 Andorra - Bulgaria Andorra la Vella, Andorra 59-10
12-May-2001 Switzerland - Hungary Basel, Switzerland 61-23
12-May-2001 Bosnia and Herzegovina - Yugoslavia ? 23-13
25-May-2001 Yugoslavia - Switzerland Gornji, Yugoslavia 13-10
25-May-2001 Andorra - Bosnia and Herzegovina Andorra la Vella, Andorra 23-13
25-May-2001 Hungary - Bulgaria ? 46-7

Pool C

Winner (Belgium) advanced to Round 2.

Final Standings
CountryGPWDL+/-Pts
 Belgium 5500+7115
 Slovenia 5311+4612
 Moldova 5302+2511
 Lithuania 5212+3810
 Monaco 5104-307
 Malta 5005-1505
Match Schedule
DateMatchVenueResult
28-Oct-2000 Monaco - Moldova Menton, France 15-17
28-Oct-2000 Belgium - Slovenia Heysel, Belgium 24-10
18-Nov-2000 Slovenia - Lithuania Ljubljana, Slovenia 19-19
18-Nov-2000 Moldova – Malta Bender, Moldova 58-8
25-Nov-2000 Malta - Belgium Three Cities, Malta 0-26
2-Dec-2000 Monaco - Slovenia Menton, France 8-13
20-Jan-2001 Malta - Monaco Three Cities, Malta 3-9
3-Mar-2001 Monaco – Belgium Saint-Laurent-du-Var, France 12-18
7-Apr-2001 Belgium – Moldova Brussels, Belgium 26-10
21-Apr -2001 Malta – Lithuania Three Cities, Malta 11-39
28-Apr -2001 Slovenia - Moldova Ljubljana, Slovenia 30-15
5-May-2001 Belgium - Lithuania Laakdal, Belgium 29-20
12-May-2001 Slovenia - Malta Ljubljana, Slovenia 45-5
12-May-2001 Lithuania - Monaco Vilnius, Lithuania 33-10
2-Jun-2001 Moldova – Lithuania Chişinău, Moldova 20-16

Round 2 – 2001-2002

Pool Winners advanced to Round 3.

Pool A

Winner (Poland)advanced to Round 3.

Final Standings
CountryGPWDL+/-Pts
 Poland 4400+6912
 Germany 4202+248
 Sweden 4202+238
 Denmark 4202+198
 Latvia 4004-1354
Match Schedule
DateMatchVenueResult
22-Sep-2001 Latvia - Poland Riga, Latvia 18-60
29-Sep -2001Poland – Sweden Gdańsk, Poland 18-6
7-Oct-2001Sweden - Latvia Trelleborg, Sweden 37-12
20-Oct -2001 Sweden – Germany Malmö, Sweden 32-10
27-Oct-2001 Denmark - Sweden Frederiksberg, Denmark 33-21
3-Nov -2001 Denmark – Poland Copenhagen, Denmark 19-26
10-Nov-2001 Germany – Denmark Heidelberg, Germany 34-24
24-Nov-2001 Germany – Latvia Hanover, Germany 44-0
6-April-2002 Poland – Germany Gdynia, Poland 20-12
6-April -2002 Latvia – Denmark Riga, Latvia 8-32

Pool B

Winner (Czech Republic) advanced to Round 3.

Final Standings
CountryGPWDL+/-Pts
 Czech Republic 4400+9512
 Ukraine 4301+4610
 Croatia 4202-148
  Switzerland 4103-406
 Belgium 4004-874
Match Schedule
DateMatchVenueResult
22-Sep-2001Czech Republic - Belgium Prague, Czech Republic 46-3
6-Oct-2001Switzerland – Czech Republic Lausanne, Switzerland 6-32
13-Oct -2001Croatia - Czech Republic Makarska, Croatia 5-13
13-Oct -2001Ukraine – Belgium Kiev, Ukraine 21-10
20-Oct -2001 Ukraine - Croatia Kiev, Ukraine 41-7
27-Oct -2001 Belgium – Switzerland Brussels, Belgium 15-22
3-Nov-2001 Czech Republic – Ukraine Prague, Czech Republic 26-8
10-Nov -2001 Croatia – Switzerland Makarska, Croatia 18-16
24-Nov -2001 Belgium – Croatia Brussels, Belgium 0-26
24-Nov -2001 Switzerland – Ukraine Hermance, Switzerland 11-30

Round 3 – May–June, 2002

Pool Winners advanced to Round 4.

Pool A

Winner (Spain) advanced to Round 4.

Final Standings
CountryGPWDL+/-Pts
 Spain 2101+14
 Portugal 210104
 Poland 2101-14
Match Schedule
DateMatchVenueResult
04-May-2002Poland - SpainWarsaw (Poland) 27-15
18-May-2002Portugal - Poland Jamor (Portugal) 39-26
2-June-2002Spain - PortugalMadrid (Spain) 34-21

Pool B

Winner (Russia) advanced to Round 4.

Final Standings
CountryGPWDL+/-Pts
 Russia 2200+816
 Czech Republic 2101+234
 Netherlands 2002-1042
Match Schedule
DateMatchVenueResult
05-May-2002Czech Republic - RussiaPrague (Czech Republic) 18-37
21-May-2002Netherlands - Czech Republic Amsterdam (Netherlands) 12-54
1-June-2002Russia - NetherlandsMonino (Russia) 65-3

Round 4 – September–October, 2002

Pool Winners and Runners-Up qualified to 2003 Rugby World Cup. 3rd-Place advanced to Round 5.

Pool A

Italy qualified as Europe 2 to Pool D, Romania as Europe 3 to Pool A. Spain advanced to Round 5.

Final Standings
CountryGPWDL+/-Pts
 Italy 2200+556
 Romania 2101+534
 Spain 2002-1082
Match Schedule
DateMatchVenueResult
22-Sep-2002Spain - ItalyValladolid (Spain) 3-50
28-Sep-2002Italy - Romania Parma (Italy) 25-17
05-Oct-2002Romania - SpainIaşi (Romania) 67-6

Pool B

Ireland qualified as Europe 1 to Pool D, Georgia as Europe 4 to Pool C. Russia advanced to Round 5.

Final Standings
CountryGPWDL+/-Pts
 Ireland 2200+816
 Georgia 2101-454
 Russia 2002-362
Match Schedule
DateMatchVenueResult
21-Sep-2002Russia - IrelandKrasnoyarsk (Russia) 3-35
28-Sep-2002Ireland - Georgia Dublin (Ireland) 63-14
13-Oct-2002Georgia - RussiaTblisi (Georgia) 17-13

Round 5 – October–November, 2002

Spain advanced to Repechage as Europe 5 to play Africa 2.

Match Schedule

Date Match Venue Result
27-October-2002  Spain - Russia Madrid, Spain 3-36
24-November-2002  Russia - Spain Krasnodar, Russia 22-38

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]

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, January 18, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.