2007 Rugby World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup () was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition organised by the International Rugby Board. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by F ...

– European qualification was a European Nations Cup competition that decided which European teams participated in the

in France. The group stages counted towards both qualification and the European Nations Cup. Hosts

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 other 2003 World Cup quarter finalists

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

qualified automatically.

Qualification process

''There were three places available for European teams, and one place in 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 ...

. The teams were ranked according to their division in the European Nations Cup, taking into account the

relegation Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

s and promotions at the end of the previous competition. Note that for the 2004/05 season Division 1 did not count towards World Cup qualification. The 2005/06 season decided which round (either 4 or 5) the teams entered. In the group rounds, there were three points awarded for a win, two for a draw, and one for a loss. There were no bonus points awarded.''

Round 1

''The eight teams from divisions 3B (apart from those newly relegated from 3A

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

) and 3C (apart from

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

and

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

) played each other in four two-legged playoffs. The winners entered the next round.''

Round 2

''The four Round 1 winners, Hungary, and the fifteen teams from divisions 2A, 2B and 3A were drawn into four groups of five. They played each other once, with the best two teams qualifying for the next round. The third placed teams played in two two-legged playoffs to qualify for the next round.''

Round 3

''The four winners, four runners-up, and two play-off winners from Round 2 were drawn into two groups of five. The best team from each group played each other in a two legged playoff for a place in the next round.''

Round 4

''The bottom three teams from Division 1 2005/06 and the winner of the previous round played two two-legged playoffs to enter the next round.''

Round 5

''The winner of Round 4 Playoff 1, the third placed team from Division 1 2005/06 and Six Nations competitor Italy form Pool A. The winner of Round 4 Playoff 2 and the first and second placed teams from Division 1 2005/06 form Pool B. The top team from each pool qualified for the World Cup as ''Europe 1'' and ''Europe 2''. The second placed teams entered the next round.''

Round 6

''The two second placed teams from Round 5 played a two-legged playoff, with the winner qualifying for the World Cup as ''Europe 3''. The loser entered the repechage as Europe 4.''

Round 1

''Andorra, Austria, Bulgaria and Lithuania qualified for round 2.'' ---- ---- Andorra won 99–12 on aggregate The first match was refereed by André Watson. He was called by the International Board, because in this way the first match of qualification the new edition of Rugby World Cup could be refereed by the same judge as the last match (the final) of the Rugby World Cup 2003. Watson had announced his retirement from international rugby only three months before after a match between Australia and Pacific Islands. ---- ---- Austria won 41–17 on aggregate ---- ---- Bulgaria won 92–6 on aggregate ---- ---- Lithuania won 113–7 on aggregate

Round 2

Pool A

''Spain and Croatia qualified for Round 3. Andorra entered the playoffs.'' Match Schedule ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----

Pool B

''Germany and Moldova qualified for Round 3. Denmark entered the playoffs.'' Match Schedule ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----

Pool C

''Belgium and the Netherlands qualified for Round 3. Sweden entered the playoffs.'' Match Schedule ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----

Pool D

''Poland and Serbia and Montenegro qualified for round 3. Malta entered the playoffs.'' Match Schedule ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----

Playoffs

''Andorra and Malta qualified for Round 3.'' ---- ---- Malta win 31–30 on aggregate ---- ---- Andorra won 40–34 on aggregate

Round 3

Pool A

''Spain entered playoff.'' Match Schedule ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----

Pool B

''Germany entered playoff.'' Match Schedule ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----

Playoff

''Spain qualified for Round 4.'' ---- ---- Spain win 42–28 on aggregate

European Nations Cup Division 1 2004/06

''See

2004–2006_European_Nations_Cup_First_Division The 2004–06 European Nations Cup (Rugby Union), European Nations Cup doubled up as an element of qualification for the Rugby World Cup 2007. Ukraine replaced Spain as Champions of Division 2A. Romania national rugby union team, Romania and Georg ...

'' ''Romania, Georgia, and Portugal qualified for Round 5. Russia, Czech Republic, and Ukraine qualified for Round 4.''

Round 4 – September 2006

''Spain and Russia qualified for Round 5.'' ---- ---- Spain won 79–29 on aggregate ---- ---- Russia won 62–28 on aggregate

Round 5 – October 2006

Pool A

''Italy qualified for World Cup as ''Europe 1''. Portugal entered Round 6.'' ;Match Schedule ---- ---- ----

Pool B

''Romania qualified for World Cup as ''Europe 2''. Georgia entered Round 6.'' ;Match Schedule ---- ---- ----

Round 6 – November 2006

''Georgia qualified for World Cup as ''Europe 3''. Portugal entered

as ''Europe 4''.'' ---- ---- Georgia won 28–14 on aggregate

References

External links

World Cup website
{{DEFAULTSORT:qualification

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

2004–05 in European rugby union 2005–06 in European rugby union