Rugby World Cup 2021 Final Qualification Tournament Dates & Venue

World Rugby has confirmed the Rugby World Cup 2021 Final Qualification Tournament will take place on 19 and 25 February 2022 at The Sevens Stadium in Dubai.

UPDATE: December 20221

On 22 December 2021, World Rugby announced the date changed to the matches, rescheduling them from 18th and 24th, stating “In-line with the United Arab Emirates adopting a 4.5 day work week and weekends now consisting of Friday afternoon, Saturday and Sunday, World Rugby can today confirm that it has amended the dates of the Rugby World Cup 2021 Final Qualification Tournament to 19^th and 25^th February 2022.”

UPDATE: Jan 2022

World Rugby confirmed that Hong Kong Rugby Union and Samoa Rugby Union had withdrawn from the qualifiers. Changes are indicated in the article below.

The Hong Kong v Kazakhstan play-off was confirmed for the 13^th February 2021 as the Asia Rugby Women’s Championship. (This was since cancelled and Kazakhstan automatically enter the qualifying tournament in Dubai).

This means that the women’s XVs national teams from Scotland, Colombia and Kazakhstan are confirmed.  The Rugby World Cup in New Zealand is planned to take place from 8 October – 12 November 2022.

Tom Burwell, The Sevens Stadium General Manager, said: “We are hugely excited to host world-class women’s 15s rugby at The Sevens Stadium. It will be the first time such a competition has taken place in the UAE.

With the Emirates Dubai 7s returning over the next two weekends, it’s an exciting time for rugby in the region. We are honoured to be working with World Rugby once more in delivering international rugby. With the winner going onto New Zealand and RWC 2021, we are excited to be part of a nation’s journey to the very top of the women’s game.”

Rugby World Cup 2021 Final Qualification Tournament Format

The Final Qualification Tournament was set to feature with a semi-final, final format over two match days. Teams were to be seeded as per World Rugby Women’s Rankings powered by Capgemini as of 20 December 2021 with seed 1 v seed 4 and seed 2 v seed 3 meeting in the semi-finals.

The new format due to Hong Kong and Samoa withdrawing means:

• The Asia Rugby Women’s Championship will no longer take place and Kazakhstan will automatically qualify for the Final Qualification Tournament.
• The bottom two ranked teams (Kazakhstan and Colombia) will now play in a semi-final on 19 February 2022 at 16:30 local time.
• The winner of Kazakhstan v Colombia will play Scotland in the final on 25 February 2022 at 19:00 local time.
• The winner of the final will secure the last remaining spot for Rugby World Cup 2021.

Match Officials

Amber McLachlan (Australia), Kat Roche (USA), Shanda Assmus (Canada) and TMO Ian Tempest (England) have all been selected to officiate the Final Qualification Tournament, it was confirmed on 2 February 2022.

Photo Credit: World Rugby

The Rugby World Cup 2021 Final Qualification Tournament match schedule is:

• Kazakhstan v Colombia – Feb 19, 2022, @4:30pm (local time)
• Referee: Kat Roche
  AR1: Amber McLachlan
  AR2: Shanda Assmus
  TMO: Ian Tempest
• Scotland vs Winner of Feb 19 match – Feb 25, 2022, @7pm (local time)
• Referee: Amber McLachlan
  AR1: Kat Roche
  AR2: Shanda Assmus
  TMO: Ian Tempest

Emirates Stadium in Dubai will host the Rugby World Cup 2021 Final Qualification Tournament

World Rugby Women’s Rankings*

• Scotland – 9th
• Kazakhstan – 15th
• Samoa – 16th (WITHDRAWN)
• Hong Kong – 18th (WITHDRAWN)
• Colombia  -26th

*World Rugby (at time of publishing)*

Who has qualified for RWC 2021?

Eleven teams have already booked their place at Rugby World Cup 2021. Japan recently (somewhat controversially) was awarded automatic qualification from Asia in 2021.

• New Zealand
• England
• France
• Canada
• USA
• Australia
• Wales
• South Africa
• Fiji
• Italy
• Japan

World Rugby Tournaments

• HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2022.
• Dialog Asia Rugby Sevens Series 2021 Results
• Tickets For Rugby World Cup 2021 Announced.
• Rugby World Cup 2021 And 2023 Broadcaster Confirmed.