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 and was won by England national rugby union team, England. Originally planned to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispu ...

in Australia.

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

and

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, joining a number of other nations that automatically qualified.

Round 1 (2000–2001)

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.

Pool A

Pool B

Pool C

Round 2 (2001–2002)

The four teams that qualified from Round 1 were joined by the six teams from the

European Nations Cup European Nations Cup may refer to: *UEFA European Championship, formerly known as European Nations' Cup * Europcar Cup, a European Tour golf tournament *European Nations Cup (golf), a European Ladies Tour golf tournament * European Nations Cup (fie ...

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.

Pool A

Pool B

Round 3 (May–June 2002)

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 2001 Rugby Europe International Championships#European Nations Cup (2000–2016), European Nations Cup was the second annual competition for tier 2 and 3 European rugby union nations. The competition was originally planned to continue on an an ...

. 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.

Pool A

Pool B

Round 4 (September–October 2002)

In Round 4, the two teams that advanced from Round 3 were joined by the two remaining teams from the

, as well as

and

. 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.

Pool A

Italy qualified for the Rugby World Cup as Europe 2 and were placed in

Pool D Pool may refer to: Bodies of water * Swimming pool, usually an artificial structure containing a large body of water intended for swimming * Reflecting pool, a shallow pool designed to reflect a structure and its surroundings * Tide pool, a roc ...

, while Romania qualified as Europe 3 and were placed in

Pool A Pool may refer to: Bodies of water * Swimming pool, usually an artificial structure containing a large body of water intended for swimming * Reflecting pool, a shallow pool designed to reflect a structure and its surroundings * Tide pool, a roc ...

Pool B

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 Pool may refer to: Bodies of water * Swimming pool, usually an artificial structure containing a large body of water intended for swimming * Reflecting pool, a shallow pool designed to reflect a structure and its surroundings * Tide pool, a roc ...

Round 5 (October–November 2002)

The two teams that advanced from Round 4 played a two-legged tie. The winners advanced to the

repechage Repechage ( , ; , ) is a practice in series competitions that allows participants who failed to meet qualifying standards by a small margin to continue to the next round. A well-known example is the wild card system. Types Different type ...

. ''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 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

European European, or Europeans, 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 and other West ...

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