2019 Rugby World Cup qualifying
The 2019 Rugby World Cup qualifying process began during the pool stages of the 2015 Rugby World Cup, where the top three teams of each pool automatically qualified for the 2019 event. Twelve teams qualified for the 2019 Rugby World Cup by virtue of finishing in the top 3 in their respective pools during the 2015 Rugby World Cup. Japan, who finished third in their group, would have automatically qualified as hosts in any case.
A further eight teams are to qualify by playing qualifying matches between 2016 and 2018 in regional tournaments and a repechage round-robin tournament. The qualifying matches began on 5 March 2016, when Jamaica defeated Saint Vincent and the Grenadines by 48–0.
Qualification started in the pool stage of RWC 2015 tournament. 12 teams received an automatic qualification berth by finishing in the top 3 positions of their respective pools.
A further 8 berths for the tournament were then available through regional tournaments and the repechage process.
The non-automatic qualification process began in 2016, by the end of which the final 8 berths will be filled by November 2018.
The pool draw for the 2019 Rugby World Cup will take place in May 2017. As with the 2015 tournament, the top 12 teams will be grouped into 3 bands for the pool draw as per their World Rugby Rankings on that date, while the other 8 qualifying teams will be split into a fourth and fifth band. One team from each band will be drawn into each pool.
Six of the final eight places were assigned to different regions by World Rugby; with the final two places being decided by an inter-confederation play-off and a repechage round-robin tournament.
1European Qualifying: The European qualification process will incorporate results from the 2017-2018 European Nations Cup, however, the specifics of the playoff process have not been released. (In the 2015 Rugby World Cup, 31 teams competing in Divisions 1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, 2C and 2D of the European Nations Cup were theoretically able to qualify). The top placed team other than Georgia will qualify for the 2019 Rugby World Cup, while the second placed team (other than Georgia) will qualify for a play-off against the third-placed team from the World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup.
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