2019 Rugby World Cup – Americas qualification

Qualifying for the 2019 Rugby World Cup for the Americas began in March 2016, where across 3 years, 20 teams competed for two direct qualification spots into the final tournament, and one spot in the Repechage tournament. For qualification purposes, the two Americas regions Rugby Americas North and Sudamérica Rugby formed the Americas region to compete for the two Americas berths in the World Cup.

2019 Rugby World Cup – Americas qualification
Tournament details
Dates5 March 2016 – 3 February 2018
No. of nations21
Tournament statistics
Matches played38
2015
2023
Americas play-off match between Uruguay and Canada

One team in the Americas zone, Argentina, qualified automatically after reaching the semi-finals of the 2015 World Cup. The United States and Uruguay qualified as Americas 1 and Americas 2 respectively, while Canada moved to the Repechage tournament.

Format edit

The qualification process for the Americas region was a four-round process, the same process used for the 2015 Americas qualification.

Round 1 took place in 2016. Two pre-existing competitions, the Rugby Americas North Championship and the South American Rugby Championship Division B served as qualification tournaments, designated as Round 1A and Round 1B respectively. Round 1A was formed by the nine World Rugby members in RAN who were separated into two zones, a south and north zone. The bottom placed team from the 2015 tournament, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines had to play the returning team to the tournament, Jamaica, to earn the right to compete in the main tournament, with the winner of the qualifier match joining the south zone. The winners of each zone then competed in the Championship final, who thereby progressed to the Round 1 final. The other round 1 finalist was the winner of Round 1B, the 2016 South American Rugby Championship "B", where the winner of Round 1 advanced through to Round 2.

Round 2 also took place in 2016, with the 2016 South American Rugby Championship "A" forming Round 2A. The team placed bottom at the end of the Championship, played the winner of Round 1 in a promotion/relegation playoff to earn a place in the 2017 CONSUR Rugby Championship "A" competition and progress to Round 3.

Round 3 took place in 2017, with the top Sudamérica Rugby division, 2017 South American Rugby Championship "A", forming Round 3A. The winner of that round, advanced to Round 4. Round 3B was formed by a home-and-away play-off series between the top two non-automatic Americas qualifiers, Canada and the United States, where the winner of the play-off series qualified for the World Cup as Americas 1. The loser advanced to Round 4.

Round 4 took place in early 2018, matching the winner of Round 3A and the loser of 3B against each other in a home and away play-off. The winner of this round on aggregate, qualified as Americas 2. The loser moved to the Repechage tournament as Americas 3 for a second chance to qualify.

Entrants edit

Twenty teams competed during for the 2019 Rugby World Cup – Americas qualification; teams world rankings are prior to the first Americas qualification match on 5 March 2016 and bold nations denotes teams have previously played in a Rugby World Cup.

Nation Rank Zone Began play Qualifying status
  Argentina 5 South America N/A Qualified with Top 12 finish at 2015 World Cup
  Bahamas 86 North America 7 May 2016 Eliminated by Cayman Islands on 21 May 2016
  Barbados 75 North America 23 April 2016 Eliminated by Trinidad and Tobago on 21 May 2016
  Bermuda 67 North America 21 May 2016 Eliminated by Cayman Islands on 18 June 2016
  Brazil 38 South America 23 April 2016 Eliminated by Uruguay on 20 May 2017
  Canada 19 North America 24 June 2017 Advanced to the Repechage as Americas 3
  Cayman Islands 61 North America 21 May 2016 Eliminated by Mexico on 2 July 2016
  Chile 27 South America 23 April 2016 Eliminated by Uruguay on 27 May 2017
  Colombia 47 South America 2 October 2016 Eliminated by Paraguay on 19 November 2016
  Ecuador NR South America 27 August 2016 Eliminated by Venezuela on 5 October 2016
  Guatemala NR South America 27 August 2016 Eliminated by Ecuador on 27 August 2016
  Guyana 54 North America 23 April 2016 Eliminated by Mexico on 1 October 2016
  Jamaica 78 North America 5 March 2016 Eliminated by Guyana on 21 May 2016
  Mexico 56 North America 7 May 2016 Eliminated by Colombia on 29 October 2016
  Paraguay 37 South America 23 April 2016 Eliminated by Chile on 20 May 2017
  Peru 78 South America 2 October 2016 Eliminated by Colombia on 5 October 2016
  St Vincent and the Grenadines 79 North America 5 March 2016 Eliminated by Jamaica on 5 March 2016
  Trinidad and Tobago 44 North America 23 April 2016 Eliminated by Guyana on 18 June 2016
  Uruguay 20 South America 23 April 2016 Qualified by defeating Canada on 3 February 2018
  United States 17 North America 24 June 2017 Qualified by defeating Canada on 1 July 2017
  Venezuela 68 South America 2 October 2016 Eliminated by Colombia on 8 October 2016

Round 1 edit

Round 1A: 2016 Rugby Americas North Championship edit

The qualifying match between Jamaica and St Vincent and the Grenadines was the first qualifying match for the 2019 tournament, three-and-a-half years before the start of the tournament. Jamaica defeated St Vincent and the Grenadines 48–0, eliminating them from qualifying. The match was played in front of a record crowd of 1,000 at Arnos Vale Sports Complex, and was refereed by Nigel Owens who had refereed the 2015 Rugby World Cup final.[1] The victory boosted Jamaica to a World Rugby ranking of 72, their highest ever.[1]

Qualifier edit

5 March 2016
13:00
St Vincent and the Grenadines  0–48  Jamaica
Match centre[2]
Arnos Vale Stadium, Arnos Vale
Attendance: 1,000
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)

North Zone edit

Advances to Championship final


Rank Team Games Points Bonus
Points
Table Points
Played Won Drawn Lost For Against Diff
1   Mexico 3 3 0 0 148 37 +111 3 15
2   Cayman Islands 3 2 0 1 91 53 +38 1 9
3   Bermuda 3 1 0 2 51 135 –84 1 5
4   Bahamas 3 0 0 3 24 89 –65 1 0
Points were awarded to the teams as follows:
Win - 4 points
Draw - 1 points
4 or more tries - 1 point
Loss within 7 points - 1 point
Loss greater than 7 points - 0 points

South Zone edit

Advances to Championship final


Rank Team Games Points Bonus
Points
Table Points
Played Won Drawn Lost For Against Diff
1   Guyana 3 3 0 0 93 40 +53 2 14
2   Trinidad and Tobago 3 2 0 1 91 41 +48 3 11
3   Barbados 3 1 0 2 22 87 –65 0 4
4   Jamaica 3 0 0 3 19 57 –38 0 0
Points were awarded to the teams as follows:
Win - 4 points
Draw - 1 points
4 or more tries - 1 point
Loss within 7 points - 1 point
Loss greater than 7 points - 0 points

Championship final edit

Mexico, as winners, advance to the Round 1 final.

1 October 2016
14:00
Mexico  32–3  Guyana
Estadio Roberto Tapatío Méndez, Mexico City
Referee: Jim Rogers (United States)

Round 1B: 2016 CONSUR Rugby Championship B edit

Qualifier edit

27 August 2016
15:00
Ecuador  26–25  Guatemala
Estadio Alberto Spencer Herrera, Guayaquil
Referee: Henrique Platais (Brazil)

2016 CONSUR Rugby Championship B edit

The 2016 South American Rugby Championship "B" was held in October 2016 and hosted by Peru in Lima.

Advances to Round 1 Final
Place Nation (rank) Games Points Table
points
Played Won Drawn Lost For Against Diff
1   Colombia 3 3 0 0 151 29 120 9
2   Venezuela 3 2 0 1 95 53 44 6
3   Peru 3 1 0 2 87 79 8 3
4   Ecuador 3 0 0 3 20 192 -172 0
Points were awarded to the teams as follows:
Win-3 points; Draw-1 point

Round 1 Final edit

Colombia, as winners, advance to the round 2 final.

29 October 2016
15:00
Colombia  29–11  Mexico
Estadio Cincuentenario, Medellín

Round 2 edit

Round 2A: 2016 CONSUR Rugby Championship "A" edit

Advances to Round 3A
Advances to Round 2 Final
Place Nation (rank) Games Points Table
points
Played Won Drawn Lost For Against Diff
1   Uruguay 3 3 0 0 135 43 +92 9
2   Chile 3 1 1 1 102 66 +36 4
3   Brazil 3 1 1 1 66 77 –11 4
4   Paraguay 3 0 0 3 43 160 –117 0
Points were awarded to the teams as follows:
Win-3 points; Draw-1 point

Round 2 Final edit

Paraguay, as winners, advance to round 3A.

19 November 2016
16:00
Paraguay  39–27  Colombia
Estadio Héroes de Curupayty, Luque
Referee: Joaquín Montes (Uruguay)

Round 3 edit

Round 3A: 2017 CONSUR Rugby Championship "A" edit

Advances to Americas
Repechage play-off
Place Nation (rank) Games Points Table
points
Played Won Drawn Lost For Against Diff
1   Uruguay 3 3 0 0 113 57 +56 9
2   Chile 3 2 0 1 92 44 +48 6
3   Brazil 3 1 0 2 94 62 +32 3
4   Paraguay 3 0 0 3 32 168 –136 0
Points were awarded to the teams as follows:
Win-3 points; Draw-1 point

Round 3B: United States v Canada Home & Away playoffs edit

The United States, as winners, qualify for the Rugby World Cup. Canada, as runners-up, qualify for the Americas repechage play-off.

24 June 2017
15:00 EDT (UTC-04)
Canada  28–28  United States
Try: van der Merwe (2) 6' c, 17' m
Carpenter 69' c
Con: O'Leary (2/3) 7', 69'
Pen: O'Leary (3/5) 25', 45', 77'
Report[28]Try: Civetta (2) 8' c, 35' c
Te'o (2) 39' c, 52' c
Con: MacGinty (4/4) 9', 36', 40', 52'
Tim Hortons Field, Hamilton
Attendance: 13,138
Referee: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)

1 July 2017
15:00 PDT (UTC-07)
United States  52–16  Canada
Try: Dolan (2) 9' m, 15' c
Brakeley 21' c
Taufete'e (2) 54' c, 61' c
Augspurger 63' c
Waldren 67' c
Tameilau 78' m
Con: MacGinty (6/7) 16', 22', 56', 62', 65', 68'
Report[29]Try: Cejvanovic 41' c
Con: McRorie (1/1) 42'
Pen: McRorie (3/3) 19', 32', 40'
Torero Stadium, San Diego
Attendance: 5,000
Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)

Round 4: Americas Repechage play-off edit

Uruguay, as winners, qualify for the Rugby World Cup, their second time without an international play-off (first time in 2003 qualyfiers). Canada, as runners-up, qualify for the Repechage qualifying tournament.

27 January 2018
17:00 PST (UTC-08)
Canada  29–38  Uruguay
Try: Olmstead 17' c
Van der Merwe 24' c
Penalty try 46'
Blevins 71' m
Con: Braid (2/2) 19', 25'
Pen: Braid (1/1) 22'
ReportTry: Silva 1' c
Leivas 30' c
Arata 40' c
Dotti 51' c
Capó Ortega 56' c
Con: Berchesi (5/5) 2', 31', 40', 52', 57'
Pen: Berchesi (1/5) 75'
BC Place, Vancouver
Attendance: 16,132
Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)
3 February 2018
17:00 UYT (UTC-03)
Uruguay  32–31  Canada
Try: Dotti 32' c
Cat 41' m
Vilaseca (2) 64' c, 73' c
Con: Berchesi (3/4) 33', 65', 74'
Pen: Berchesi (2/3) 36', 55'
ReportTry: van der Merwe (2) 11' m, 80' m
Paris 24' c
Sears-Duru 70' m
Con: Staller (1/3) 25'
Pen: Staller (3/4) 6', 39', 53'
Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo
Attendance: 14,000
Referee: Luke Pearce (England)

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b worldrugby.org. "Jamaica kick off RWC 2019 qualification in style". www.worldrugby.org. Retrieved 2016-03-06.
  2. ^ SVG-Jamaica report
    World Rugby match centre
  3. ^ Bahamas-Mexico report
  4. ^ rugbybworldcup.com. "Rugby World Cup 2019". www.rugbyworldcup.com. Archived from the original on 14 September 2017. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  5. ^ rugbybworldcup.com. "Rugby World Cup 2019". www.rugbyworldcup.com. Archived from the original on 14 September 2017. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  6. ^ "Mexico blast Bermuda in World Cup Qualifier - Americas Rugby News". www.americasrugbynews.com. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  7. ^ rugbybworldcup.com. "Rugby World Cup 2019". www.rugbyworldcup.com. Archived from the original on 14 September 2017. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  8. ^ "Bermuda See off Bahamas in Rugby World Cup Qualifier - Americas Rugby News". www.americasrugbynews.com. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  9. ^ "Reasons for optimism in first win of the season". royalgazette.com. Retrieved 2017-05-22.
  10. ^ rugbybworldcup.com. "Rugby World Cup 2019". www.rugbyworldcup.com. Archived from the original on 14 September 2017. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  11. ^ "Cayman Islands Overpower Bermuda in RWC Qualifier - Americas Rugby News". www.americasrugbynews.com. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  12. ^ rugbybworldcup.com. "Rugby World Cup 2019". www.rugbyworldcup.com. Archived from the original on 14 September 2017. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  13. ^ "Mexico Eliminate Cayman Islands from RWC Qualifiers - Americas Rugby News". www.americasrugbynews.com. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  14. ^ Guyana-Barbados Report
  15. ^ T&T-Jamaica Report
  16. ^ rugbybworldcup.com. "Rugby World Cup 2019". www.rugbyworldcup.com. Archived from the original on 14 September 2017. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  17. ^ rugbybworldcup.com. "Rugby World Cup 2019". www.rugbyworldcup.com. Archived from the original on 14 September 2017. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  18. ^ "Jamaica Forfeit RWC Qualifier to Barbados - Americas Rugby News". www.americasrugbynews.com. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  19. ^ rugbybworldcup.com. "Rugby World Cup 2019". www.rugbyworldcup.com. Archived from the original on 14 September 2017. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  20. ^ "Guyana Edge out Trinidad & Tobago to Advance in RWC Qualifiers - Americas Rugby News". www.americasrugbynews.com. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  21. ^ a b worldrugby.org. "Brazilian rugby on the rise despite Uruguay loss". worldrugby.org. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  22. ^ "ESPNscrum - Brazil v Uruguay at Sao Jose dos Campos". espnscrum.com. Retrieved 2017-05-22.
  23. ^ a b worldrugby.org. "Uruguay on verge of South American title". worldrugby.org. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  24. ^ "COM BOM PÚBLICO, BRASIL E CHILE FICAM NO EMPATE EM CLÁSSICO ELETRIZANTE NO PACAEMBU". brasilrugby.com.br. Retrieved 2017-05-22.
  25. ^ a b worldrugby.org. "Uruguay crowned South American A champions". worldrugby.org. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  26. ^ Victor Ramalho. "Na despedida de Nativo, Brasil vence Paraguai pelo maior placar da historia". Portal do Rugby. Retrieved 2017-05-29.
  27. ^ Union de Rugby del Uruguay. "GRACIAS a todas las 7.500 personas". facebook.com. Retrieved 2017-05-29.
  28. ^ worldrugby.org. "USA have the edge as one of rugby's fiercest rivalries resumes". worldrugby.org. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  29. ^ worldrugby.org. "USA book place at RWC 2019 in style". worldrugby.org. Retrieved 14 September 2017.

External links edit