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

Template:RugbyTableStart |- bgcolor="C0FFC0" |Sweden |5||5||0||0||+208||15 |- bgcolor="E0FFE0" |Latvia |5||4||0||1||+79||13 |- |Austria |5||3||0||2||+78||11 |- |Israel |5||2||0||3||+51||9 |- |Luxembourg |5||1||0||4||-222||7 |- |Norway |5||0||0||5||-194||5 |}

Match Schedule

Date	Match	Venue	Result
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

Template:RugbyTableStart |- bgcolor="C0FFC0" |Switzerland |5||4||0||1||+166||13 |- |Yugoslavia |5||3||0||2||+45||11 |- |Andorra |5||3||0||2||+43||11 |- |Hungary |5||2||0||3||-9||9 |- |Bosnia and Herzegovina |5||2||0||3||-58||9 |- |Bulgaria |5||1||0||4||-187||7 |}

Match Schedule

Date	Match	Venue	Result
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

Template:RugbyTableStart |- bgcolor="C0FFC0" |Belgium |5||5||0||0||+71||15 |- |Slovenia |5||3||1||1||+46||12 |- |Moldova |5||3||0||2||+25||11 |- |Lithuania |5||2||1||2||+38||10 |- |Monaco |5||1||0||4||-30||7 |- |Malta |5||0||0||5||-150||5 |}

Match Schedule

Date	Match	Venue	Result
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

Template:RugbyTableStart |- bgcolor="C0FFC0" |Poland |4||4||0||0||+69||12 |- |Germany |4||2||0||2||+24||8 |- |Sweden |4||2||0||2||+23||8 |- |Denmark |4||2||0||2||+19||8 |- |Latvia |4||0||0||4||-135||4 |}

Match Schedule

Date	Match	Venue	Result
22-Sep-2001	Latvia - Poland	Riga, Latvia	18-60
29-Sep -2001	Poland – Sweden	Gdańsk, Poland	18-6
7-Oct-2001	Sweden - 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

Template:RugbyTableStart |- bgcolor="C0FFC0" |Czech Republic |4||4||0||0||+95||12 |- |Ukraine |4||3||0||1||+46||10 |- |Croatia |4||2||0||2||-14||8 |- |Switzerland |4||1||0||3||-40||6 |- |Belgium |4||0||0||4||-87||4 |}

Match Schedule

Date	Match	Venue	Result
22-Sep-2001	Czech Republic - Belgium	Prague, Czech Republic	46-3
6-Oct-2001	Switzerland – Czech Republic	Lausanne, Switzerland	6-32
13-Oct -2001	Croatia - Czech Republic	Makarska, Croatia	5-13
13-Oct -2001	Ukraine – 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

Template:RugbyTableStart |- bgcolor="C0FFC0" |Spain |2||1||0||1||+1||4 |- |Portugal |2||1||0||1||0||4 |- |Poland |2||1||0||1||-1||4 |}

Match Schedule

Date	Match	Venue	Result
04-May-2002	Poland - Spain	Warsaw (Poland)	27-15
18-May-2002	Portugal - Poland	Jamor (Portugal)	39-26
2-June-2002	Spain - Portugal	Madrid (Spain)	34-21

Pool B

Winner (Russia) advanced to Round 4.

Final Standings

Template:RugbyTableStart |- bgcolor="C0FFC0" |Russia |2||2||0||0||+81||6 |- |Czech Republic |2||1||0||1||+23||4 |- |Netherlands |2||0||0||2||-104||2 |}

Match Schedule

Date	Match	Venue	Result
05-May-2002	Czech Republic - Russia	Prague (Czech Republic)	18-37
21-May-2002	Netherlands - Czech Republic	Amsterdam (Netherlands)	12-54
1-June-2002	Russia - Netherlands	Monino (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

Template:RugbyTableStart |- bgcolor="C0FFC0" |Italy |2||2||0||0||+55||6 |- bgcolor="C0FFC0" |Romania |2||1||0||1||+53||4 |- bgcolor="E0FFE0" |Spain |2||0||0||2||-108||2 |}

Match Schedule

Date	Match	Venue	Result
22-Sep-2002	Spain - Italy	Valladolid (Spain)	3-50
28-Sep-2002	Italy - Romania	Parma (Italy)	25-17
05-Oct-2002	Romania - Spain	Iaşi (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

Template:RugbyTableStart |- bgcolor="C0FFC0" |Ireland |2||2||0||0||+81||6 |- bgcolor="C0FFC0" |Georgia |2||1||0||1||-45||4 |- bgcolor="E0FFE0" |Russia |2||0||0||2||-36||2 |}

Match Schedule

Date	Match	Venue	Result
21-Sep-2002	Russia - Ireland	Krasnoyarsk (Russia)	3-35
28-Sep-2002	Ireland - Georgia	Dublin (Ireland)	63-14
13-Oct-2002	Georgia - Russia	Tbilisi (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.