- 2011 Rugby World Cup qualifying
2011 Rugby World Cup qualifying began at the 2007 tournament in
France where the first 3 teams in each pool earned a place in the finals of the2011 Rugby World Cup inNew Zealand [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/7258823.stm] .After much speculation, it was confirmed on 30th November 2007 that 20 teams would contest the next edition of the tournament [http://www.rugbyworldcup.com/home/news/newsid=2021307.html#twenty+teams+compete+rugby+world+2011] . The qualification system for the remaining eight places will be region-based with Europe and the Americas allocated two qualifying places; Africa, Asia and Oceania one place each; and the last place determined by a playoff [http://www.rugbyworldcup.com/home/news/newsid=2022896.html#caribbean+kick+rwc+2011+qualifying] .
Qualified teams
*Africa
**ru|RSA (automatic qualifier)*Americas
**ru|ARG (automatic qualifier)*Europe
**ru|ENG (automatic qualifier)
**ru|FRA (automatic qualifier)
**ru|IRE (automatic qualifier)
**ru|ITA (automatic qualifier)
**ru|SCO (automatic qualifier)
**ru|WAL (automatic qualifier)*Oceania
**ru|AUS (automatic qualifier)
**ru|FIJ (automatic qualifier)
**ru|NZL (automatic qualifier)
**ru|TON (automatic qualifier)Regional qualifiers
8 nations will be able to qualify for the 2011 event.
=Africa=One team will qualify directly to the World Cup Finals, the winner of the 2009
Africa Cup . The Runner-up will progress to theRugby World Cup 2011 20th Place Playoff .
=Europe=Two teams will qualify directly to the World Cup Finals, the top two in the
2008-2010 European Nations Cup First Division . Europe's representative in the 20th Place Playoff will be determined by a tournament involving the third place team in the 2008-2010 ENC First Division, the champion of the2008-2010 European Nations Cup Second Division , and the leaders of the remaining ENC divisions (excluding 3D) at the end of the 2008-2009 season.
=Asia=One team will qualify directly to the World Cup Finals, the winners of the 2010
Asian Five Nations . The runner-up will progress to theRugby World Cup 2011 20th Place Playoff .
=Americas=Two teams will qualify directly to the World Cup Finals. Third place will progress to the
Rugby World Cup 2011 20th Place Playoff .
=Oceania=One team will qualify directly to the World Cup Finals, the winner of a series between the
2009 Oceania Nations Cup Champions and Samoa.Rugby World Cup 2011 20th Place Playoff There will be a 4 team playoff to decide the 20th place at
Rugby World Cup 2011 . The playoffs will include the third place teams from the American and European qualifying tournaments and the second place teams from the African and Asian qualifying tournaments.ources
http://www.rugbyworldcup.com/qualifying/overview/index.html
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