World Rugby Confirm RWC23 Qualification Details

World Rugby has announced details of the qualification process for Rugby World Cup 2023 in France.

Ireland is one of 12 countries to have already secured its place at the 2023 finals after finishing in the top three of their pool at RWC19 in Japan.    The other countries already qualified for RWC23 are South Africa, England, New Zealand, Wales, Japan, France (host), Australia, Scotland, Italy, Argentina and Fiji.

The remaining eight places will be determined by a process of regional and cross-regional qualifiers.

Americas: the Americas will qualify two teams by September 2022.  The third best team in the region will enter the Final Qualification – Americas 1 & Americas 2

Europe: the existing Rugby Europe Championship will have two qualifying places, with the two best teams in March 2022 qualifying directly and the third placed entering the Final Qualification Tournament – Europe 1 & Europe 2

Africa: the Rugby Africa Cup 2022 winner will qualify directly and the runner-up team will go to the Final Qualification – Africa 1

Oceania: a home and away play-off between Tonga and Samoa in 2021 will determine the direct qualifier for the Oceania region – Oceania 1

The loser will then play the Oceania Rugby Cup 2021 winner in the highest ranked team’s country with the eventual winner contesting Asia / Pacific as Oceania 2

Asia / Pacific: the winner of the Asian Rugby Men’s Championship 2021 will play Oceania 2 home and away.  The winner on aggregate will determine the qualifier and the lose will go to Final Qualification – Asia / Pacific 1

Final Qualification Tournament: the tournament in November 2022 will feature four teams playing in a round-robin format with the winner qualifying for RWC2023 – Final Qualification winner