2021 Men's Rugby League World Cup qualification – Europe Repechage explained

Year:2019
European play-off tournament
Finalists:6
Matches:6
Points:357
Tries:64
Topscorer-Flag:SCO
Topscorer:Ryan Brierley (42)
Top Try Scorer-Flag:SCO
Top Try Scorer:Will Oakes (4)
Top Try Scorer2-Flag:SCO
Top Try Scorer2:David Scott (4)

The 2019 Rugby League European play-off tournament was the final phase of European qualifying to the 2021 Rugby League World Cup, played in October and November 2019. It featured six nations, five of whom have come through the previous phases of European qualifying - 2018 European Championship, 2018 European Championship B and 2018–19 European Championship C. The competition was played in two groups of three with the winners and runners up in each group qualifying for the World Cup.

Teams and pool draw

!Team!Qualified via!Seeding for tournament
2018 European Championship 3rd place1st
2018 European Championship 4th place1st
Direct entry to play-off2nd
2018 European Championship B winner2nd
2018 European Championship B runner-up3rd
2018–19 European Championship C winner3rd
Replaced Russia

The draw for the two groups was made on 12 December 2018. Teams with the same seeding will not play in the same group, each group will be a single round-robin with each team playing each other once.[1] Group A was drawn as Ireland, Italy, and Spain, and Group B as Scotland, Russia, and the winners of the Euro C play-off game. Greece defeated Norway in May 2019 to take the position in Group B.

In August 2019, it was announced that Russia were withdrawing from the competition and would be replaced by, who finished third in the 2018 Euro B tournament. No specific reason was given for Russia's withdrawal,[2] though the decision was foreshadowed by allegations from the Serbian Rugby League that Russia's Association of Rugby League Clubs did not provide the necessary paperwork for VISA removal for their Australian-based players ahead of their Euro B match in Moscow in October 2018.[3]

Fixtures

Group A

Notes:
  • This match was originally fixtured to be played at Estadio Matías Prats in Torredonjimeno.[4]

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Group B

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Notes and References

  1. Web site: International stars to make final Euro qualifying group draw for 2021 World Cup . Rugby Football League . 10 December 2018 . 10 December 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181210133253/https://www.rugby-league.com/article/54065/international-stars-to-make-final-euro-qualifying-group-draw-for--world-cup . 10 December 2018 . live.
  2. Caplan. Phil. 25 August 2019. Serbia replace Russia in Rugby League World Cup qualifiers. Rugby League European Federation. 25 August 2019. 26 August 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190826075100/https://www.rlef.eu.com/articles/1746/serbia-replace-russia-in-rugby-league-world-cup-qualifiers. dead.
  3. Web site: 19 October 2018. Srbija ruši Španiju za nastavak kvalifikacija. srbijasport.net. Serbian. 4 June 2019.
  4. Web site: 20 June 2019. España vs Irlanda: RLWCQ Torredonjimeno. España Rugby League. Twitter. 20 June 2019. Spanish.