How To Qualify For The 2023 Rugby World Cup

There is plenty of rugby still to be played, but in defeating Georgia 45-10, Fiji have given themselves a wonderful opportunity to qualify for the 2023 Rugby World Cup.

After losing out to Australia and then suffering a shock loss against Uruguay, making the global showcase in four years time has become the motivation for the Flying Fijians. They turned it on against The Lelos, and after the game Fiji boss John McKee said of automatic qualification: “(It was) very pleasing today.

“That was a great effort by the boys and a real arm-wrestle for the first, probably, 45 or 50 minutes, but to come home so strong and score some really good tries is very pleasing.”

Related: Rugby World Cup bonus points explained

But hold on. How do you qualify for France 2023 at this event?

As with the event in Japan, there will be 20 teams in the World Cup in France. And 12 of those teams will  automatically gain qualification to the tournament by finishing in the top three of their pool at the Rugby World Cup in Japan (as hosts, France automatically qualify too, but will still finish in the top three of their pool).

LAst to qualify for 2019: Canada in the last repechage (Getty Images)

The remaining spots will be decided by the regional competitions as well as some cross-regional play-offs closer to 2023. The final World Cup spot will be decided by a repechage tournament in November 2022.

So if you want to avoid a drawn-out process, finish in the top three of your World Cup pool in Japan.

However, due to the use of bonus points at the World Cup, deciding who finishes where can get a little complicated. At the end of the pool stages, if two teams are level on points there are certain criteria used  to determine their final standings – you can find all of these details in our post explaining bonus points at the Rugby World Cup.

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