There were a number of positions open to European nations to qualify for the

2003 Rugby World Cup The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup. Originally planned to be hosted by India, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the Indian Rugby Union and Rugby World Cup ...

in Australia.

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, 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 , - bgcolor="C0FFC0" , , 5, , 5, , 0, , 0, , +208, , 15 , - bgcolor="E0FFE0" , , 5, , 4, , 0, , 1, , +79, , 13 , - , , 5, , 3, , 0, , 2, , +78, , 11 , - , , 5, , 2, , 0, , 3, , +51, , 9 , - , , 5, , 1, , 0, , 4, , −222, , 7 , - , , 5, , 0, , 0, , 5, , −194, , 5 ;Match Schedule

Pool B

''Winner (Switzerland) advanced to Round 2.'' ;Final Standings , - bgcolor="C0FFC0" , , 5, , 4, , 0, , 1, , +166, , 13 , - , , 5, , 3, , 0, , 2, , +45, , 11 , - , , 5, , 3, , 0, , 2, , +43, , 11 , - , , 5, , 2, , 0, , 3, , −9, , 9 , - , , 5, , 2, , 0, , 3, , −58, , 9 , - , , 5, , 1, , 0, , 4, , −187, , 7 ;Match Schedule

Pool C

''Winner (Belgium) advanced to Round 2.'' ;Final Standings , - bgcolor="C0FFC0" , , 5, , 5, , 0, , 0, , +71, , 15 , - , , 5, , 3, , 1, , 1, , +46, , 12 , - , , 5, , 3, , 0, , 2, , +25, , 11 , - , , 5, , 2, , 1, , 2, , +38, , 10 , - , , 5, , 1, , 0, , 4, , −30, , 7 , - , , 5, , 0, , 0, , 5, , −150, , 5 ;Match Schedule

Round 2 – 2001–2002

''Pool Winners advanced to Round 3.''

Pool A

''Winner (Poland) advanced to Round 3.'' ;Final Standings , - bgcolor="C0FFC0" , , 4, , 4, , 0, , 0, , +69, , 12 , - , , 4, , 2, , 0, , 2, , +24, , 8 , - , , 4, , 2, , 0, , 2, , +23, , 8 , - , , 4, , 2, , 0, , 2, , +19, , 8 , - , , 4, , 0, , 0, , 4, , −135, , 4 ;Match Schedule

Pool B

''Winner (Czech Republic) advanced to Round 3.'' ;Final Standings , - bgcolor="C0FFC0" , , 4, , 4, , 0, , 0, , +95, , 12 , - , , 4, , 3, , 0, , 1, , +46, , 10 , - , , 4, , 2, , 0, , 2, , −14, , 8 , - , , 4, , 1, , 0, , 3, , −40, , 6 , - , , 4, , 0, , 0, , 4, , −87, , 4 ;Match Schedule

Round 3 – May–June, 2002

''Pool Winners advanced to Round 4.''

Pool A

''Winner (Spain) advanced to Round 4.'' ;Final Standings , - bgcolor="C0FFC0" , , 2, , 1, , 0, , 1, , +1, , 4 , - , , 2, , 1, , 0, , 1, , 0, , 4 , - , , 2, , 1, , 0, , 1, , −1, , 4 ;Match Schedule

Pool B

''Winner (Russia) advanced to Round 4.'' ;Final Standings , - bgcolor="C0FFC0" , , 2, , 2, , 0, , 0, , +81, , 6 , - , , 2, , 1, , 0, , 1, , +23, , 4 , - , , 2, , 0, , 0, , 2, , −104, , 2 ;Match Schedule

Round 4 – September–October, 2002

''Pool Winners and Runners-Up qualified to

. 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 , - bgcolor="C0FFC0" , , 2, , 2, , 0, , 0, , +55, , 6 , - bgcolor="C0FFC0" , , 2, , 1, , 0, , 1, , +53, , 4 , - bgcolor="E0FFE0" , , 2, , 0, , 0, , 2, , −108, , 2 ;Match Schedule

Pool B

''Ireland qualified as Europe 1 to Pool D, Georgia as Europe 4 to Pool C. Russia advanced to Round 5.'' ;Final Standings , - bgcolor="C0FFC0" , , 2, , 2, , 0, , 0, , +81, , 6 , - bgcolor="C0FFC0" , , 2, , 1, , 0, , 1, , −45, , 4 , - bgcolor="E0FFE0" , , 2, , 0, , 0, , 2, , −36, , 2 ;Match Schedule

Round 5 – October–November, 2002

''Spain advanced to Repechage as Europe 5 to play Africa 2.'' Match Schedule ''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.''Russia frozen out of World Cup over illegal South Africans

Bibliography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:qualification

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

European European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...

2000–01 in European rugby union 2001–02 in European rugby union