The qualification process for the

2021 Rugby World Cup The 2021 Rugby World Cup was the ninth staging of the Rugby World Cup (women), women's Rugby World Cup, as organised by World Rugby. It was held from 8 October to 12 November 2022 in Auckland and Whangārei, New Zealand. It was originally sche ...

began on 9 August 2019 with 12 teams qualifying to the tournament which was to be held in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. The 2021 Rugby World Cup was postponed by one year in March 2021 to 2022 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Qualification process

Following the previous World Cup, seven teams received an automatic qualification berth - these berths being given to the top 7 teams (New Zealand, England, France, United States, Canada, Australia and Wales). The remaining five berths for the tournament will be awarded through regional tournaments. The non-automatic qualification process began on 9 August 2019.

Regional qualification

Twelve nations are participating in the

. Seven teams qualified automatically by virtue of their performance at the previous tournament, leaving five teams to qualify through regional matches.

Qualification process

Africa

Rugby Africa was granted one spot which was awarded to the winner of the Rugby Africa Women's Cup (Africa 1). The runner-up (Africa 2) progressed to a cross-regional Final Qualification play-off against the South American winner.

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

qualified by winning all three of their matches while

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

competed in the South America/Africa play-off.

Americas

Rugby Americas North Rugby Americas North (RAN) is the Sports governing body, governing body for rugby union in the North American continental region. Rugby Americas North operates under the authority of World Rugby, and is one of six regional unions represented withi ...

was not granted a spot to the World Cup, but

Sudamérica Rugby Sudamérica Rugby (previously known as Confederación Sudamericana de Rugby (abbreviated CONSUR) between 1988 and 2015),Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

and

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

to compete against the runner-up of the 2019 Rugby Africa Women's Cup for a place in the Final Qualification tournament. Colombia moved on to the South America/Africa play-off against Kenya (Africa 2), who were runners-up of the 2019 Rugby Africa Women's Cup. The match was originally planned for 18 April, but was postponed due to the

Asia

Asia Rugby Asia Rugby, formerly the Asian Rugby Football Union, is the governing body of rugby union in Asia under the authority of World Rugby. Founded in 1968 by eight charter nations, the Union today has 36 member unions in countries across Asia, stretc ...

was granted one spot, Asia 1, to the highest ranked team in the 2021 Asia Rugby Women's Championship (ARWC).

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

and

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

, the two teams from the 2017 World Cup, were joined by the winner of the 2019 playoff for promotion to the tournament. The runner-up of the tournament progressed to the Final Qualification as Asia 2. The winner of the 2019 Asia Division I Championship progressed to the playoff for promotion to the ARWC against

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

. As winners, China faced Kazakhstan in two matches. The team with the highest aggregate score qualified for the ARWC. With an aggregate score of 13–23, Kazakhstan qualified for the ARWC. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the tournament was postponed several times, originally from 14 to 22 March 2020 to 8–16 May 2020, then to November 2020, then to 5–13 March 2021, then to 2–12 October 2021 and then finally cancelled altogether. Due to quarantine challenges, Japan were awarded qualification to the World Cup for being highest in the World Rankings. Hong Kong and Kazakhstan were scheduled to play a single qualification match to advance to the Final Qualification. The Asia Rugby Women's Championship did not take place; Hong Kong withdrew due to the challenges caused by the

. Kazakhstan qualified automatically as Asia 2 for the Final Qualification Tournament.

Europe

Rugby Europe Rugby Europe is the administrative body for rugby union in Europe. It was formed in 1999 to promote, develop, organise, and administer the game of rugby in Europe under the authority of World Rugby (the sport's global governing body). However, it ...

was granted one spot to the highest ranked team in a qualifying tournament (Europe 1) consisting of Six Nations sides that had not already qualified automatically from the previous World Cup, and the winner of the 2020 Rugby Europe Women's Championship. As

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

had qualified automatically, the tournament consisted of

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 ...

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 ...

and

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, along with winner of the European Championship consisting of the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. The runner-up of the tournament progressed to the Final Qualification as Europe 2. As winners of the Rugby Europe Women's Championship, Spain joined Ireland, Italy and Scotland in the European Qualification Tournament. It took place from the 13 to 25 September 2021in

Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

Oceania

Oceania Rugby Oceania Rugby, previously known as the Federation of Oceania Rugby Unions (FORU), is the regional governing body for rugby union in Oceania. It was founded in 2000 to represent the interests of Oceania rugby within World Rugby, the international g ...

was granted one spot to the winner of the playoff of the highest ranked teams in the 2019 Oceania Rugby Women's Championship (Oceania 1) which was held in Fiji from 18 to 30 November; the loser of the playoff would play against the winner of another playoff between the lowest ranked teams to gain the right enter the Final Qualification tournament as Oceania 2. Six teams competed in the competition with Australia and New Zealand each sending a development team to the tournament. The six teams were separated into two groups with New Zealand A joining

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

and

Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...

in Pool A while Australia A,

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

and

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

went into Pool B. A split pool format was used whereby each team was scheduled to play three matches, but only against teams in the opposite pool.

Pool A

Pool B

Tonga withdrew from the competition shortly before their first game with Australia A due to the measles outbreak in Tonga. The match was declared a 0–0 draw. As New Zealand and Australia had already qualified for the World Cup, Samoa and Fiji met in the playoff match with the winner gaining qualification to the World Cup and the loser to play against the winner of a match between Tonga and Papua New Guinea to earn a place in the Final Qualification tournament. As a result, Fiji qualified for the World Cup, while Samoa awaited the winner of Tonga and Papua New Guinea. Tonga played Samoa to determine who advanced to the tournament. As a result, Samoa became the first team to qualify for the Final Qualification tournament.

South America/Africa play-off

A play-off between Africa 2 (the runner-up of the 2019 Rugby Africa Women's Cup) and South America 1 (the winner of the South America play-off between Colombia and Brazil) was played for a place in the Final Qualification. Kenya finished in second in the RAWC, and Colombia defeated Brazil. The match was scheduled for 18 April 2020 but was postponed to 25 August 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, Colombia qualified for the Final Qualification tournament.

Final Qualification Tournament

The final team to qualify for the 2021 Rugby World Cup was decided via a Final Qualification tournament. Four teams competed in the tournament: the second placed teams from the regional tournaments of Asia (Asia 2) and Europe (Europe 2), the winner of the play-off between the loser of the Oceania World Cup qualifying play-off and the winner of another play-off between the bottom ranked teams in the same tournament (Oceania 2), and the winner of the South America/Africa play-off. Samoa withdrew from the Final Qualification Tournament due to challenges caused by the ongoing

. As the two bottom ranked teams, Kazakhstan and Colombia played a semi-final match on 19 February 2022. Colombia defeated Kazakhstan and played Scotland in the final on 25 February 2022. Scotland claimed the final spot in the 2021 Rugby World Cup by defeating Colombia 59 points to 3.

Semi-final

Final

References

External links

RWCWomens.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Qualifying 2021 Rugby World Cup 2019 in women's rugby union 2020 in women's rugby union Rugby World Cup Qualifying, 2021 2021 in women's rugby union