2021 Rugby World Cup (Kylaris)

2021 Rugby World Cup

Rugbywêreldbeker 2021
Tournament details
Host nation	Satavia
Dates	15 January – 17 March
No. of nations	20 (52 qualifying)
Final positions
Champions	Garambura
Runner-up	Satavia
Third place	Caldia
Tournament statistics
Matches played	48
Attendance	2,581,211 (53,775 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Jean-Loup Dupuy (93)
Most tries	Jonty Warwick (9)
← 2017 2025 →

The 2021 Rugby World Cup was the eleventh edition of the Rugby World Cup, hosted in Satavia and held from 15 January to 17 March across twelve venues in the country. The opening match between Caldia and Rwizikuru was played at the Stadium of the Satavians, Port Hope where the final was also held. This marked the first time that the opening match of the tournament did not involve the host nation after the match was postponed due to a flash flood the night before the match was due to be held. The tournament marked the second time the tournament had been hosted in Asteria Inferior (after the 1993 tournament, held in Nuvania) and the first time Satavia had hosted.

The tournament saw 20 nations compete, with two (Alsland and Gapolania) making their debuts having successfully qualified for the first time. 12 nations gained automatic qualification having finished in the top three of their pools from 2017, whilst the remaining eight slots were filled through qualification processes. Garambura went on to beat hosts Satavia 28-17 in the final to claim their second title, whilst defending champions Caldia defeated Rizealand 17-3 to clinch third place.

Bids

Kylaris Rugby, the international rugby union governing body, announced the bidding process for the 2017 and 2021 tournaments in early 2011. Four bids for the 2021 tournament were entered: Maucha, Nuvania Rizealand and Satavia. The deadline for entering a bid was December 31, 2012, although this was extended until January 15, 2013, at the request of the Satavian Rugby Football Association (SRFA). Nuvania withdrew their bid in March 2013 in support of the Satavian bid, whilst Maucha withdrew their bid later that month to strengthen their own bid for 2017 (which would ultimately be awarded to Garambura). On July 14 Kylaris Rugby confirmed that Satavia had won the right to host the 2021 tournament, with venues across eight Satavian cities: Bloemstad, Kingsleigh, Konningstad, Northport, Port Arthur, Port Hope, Windstad, Victoriaburg.

Venues

Proposed stadia for the tournament were announced by the SRFA in December 2013 and were confirmed in May 2015. Having originally proposed 12 stadiums, this number was reduced to 9 in the final plan, with two stadiums in the Port Hope/Burnaby region. The SRFA drew significant criticism from politicians and the public in the Central Territory, Diereplek Province and New Borland after all three were excluded from the final plan.

Port Hope International Stadium	Fort Kinnon Arena	DePex Stadium (Stadium of the Satavians)
Port Hope	Port Arthur-Fort Kinnon	Port Hope
Capacity: 59,373	Capacity: 54,211	Capacity: 70,758
P. J. Van der Herdens Stadium	Krooksveld Road Stadium	Satavian Airlines Oval
Konningstad	Northport	Windstad
Capacity: 28,476	Capacity: 34,822	Capacity: 26,183
Victoriaburg City Stadium	Brooksveld Park	Kingsleigh Blues RFC Park
Victoriaburg	Bloemstad	Kingsleigh
Capacity: 65,445	Capacity: 36,290	Capacity: 24,512

Qualifying

The top three teams from each pool of the 2017 tournament received automatic qualification, as did Satavia as the host nation. The remaining eight places were filled through qualification tournaments around the world. Two slots were available for Asterian teams, filled by Cassier and Gapolania, two spots for Coian teams, filled by Mabifia and Rwizikuru, whilst three slots were open for Euclean teams, filled by Alsland, Galenia and Montecara. The final slot was decided by a repechage tournament held in Port Hope, in September 2018. It was unexpectedly won by Alsland, who defeated favourites Senria 36-24 in the deciding game.

Qualifying teams

Region	Team	Qualification method	Previous Apps	Previous best result	World Ranking¹
Asterias
	Cassier	Asterias 1	8	Fourth place (2001)	16
	Gapolania	Asterias 2	0	Debut	34
	Nuvania	Automatic	10	Champions (1981, 1993, 2013)	6
	Rizealand	Automatic	10	Champions (1985)	5
	Satavia	Automatic	10	Champions (1997)	2
Coius
	Garambura	Automatic	10	Champions (2001)	3
	Mabifia	Coius 1	8	Pool stage (eight times)	13
	Maucha	Automatic	10	Third place (2009)	7
	Rwizikuru	Coius 2	6	Pool stage (six times)	14
Euclea
	Alsland	Repechage	0	Debut	29
	Azmara	Automatic	7	Quarter-finals (2005, 2013)	15
	Caldia	Automatic	10	Champions (1989, 2005, 2009, 2017)	1
	Template:Country data Estmere	Automatic	10	Third place (1997)	4
	Etruria	Automatic	10	Quarter-finals (1989, 2005)	12
	Galenia	Euclea 1	3	Pool stage (2009, 2013, 2017)	20
	Gaullica	Automatic	10	Third place (1989)	8
	Montecara	Euclea 2	1	Pool stage (2017)	26
	Soravia	Automatic	7	Fourth place (2013)	11
	Tengaria	Euclea 3	6	Quarter-finals (2009, 2013)	10
	West Miersa	Automatic	1	Pool stage (2017)	9

¹as of 1 January 2019, the final standings before pools were drawn

Participants of the 2021 RWC, in blue, with the host, Satavia, in Green

Draw

The pool draw took place on January 7, 2019, with five bands, three of which were made up of the automatically qualifying teams and two made up of the teams which had to qualify to participate. The seeding system used at previous world cups was retained for the 2021 tournament. The draw was criticised as it was conducted two years before the world cup began; by 2021, Satavia was ranked first in the world (up from second), whilst Nuvania were second (up from sixth) and yet both were in Pool B.

• Band 1: The four highest ranked teams
• Band 2: The next four highest ranked teams
• Band 3: The final four automatically qualified teams

The remaining two bands were made up of qualifying teams:

• Band 5: Asterias 1, Coius 1, Euclea 1, Euclea 2
• Band 6: Asterias 2, Coius 2, Euclea 3, Repechage

This means the 20 competing teams were seeded thus (world ranking as of 1 January 2019):

Band 1	Band 2	Band 3	Band 4	Band 5
Caldia (1) Satavia (2) Garambura (3) Template:Country data Estmere (4)	Rizealand (5) Nuvania (6) Maucha (7) Gaullica (8)	West Miersa (9) Soravia (11) Etruria (12) Azmara (15)	Cassier (Asterias 1) Mabifia (Coius 1) Galenia (Euclea 1) Montecara (Euclea 2)	Gapolania (Asterias 2) Rwizikuru (Coius 2) Tengaria (Euclea 3) Alsland (Repechage)

Squads

Each team submitted a squad of 31 players for the tournament, with a deadline of 1 January, with Estmere being the last team to unveil a squad, doing so on the 31 December 2020. In the originally named Etruria squad, two players, Aleki Ioane and brother Enele Ioane were named, but removed after the deadline and replaced with the consent of Kylaris Rugby as they were ineligible to play for Etruria (at that time they were only eligible to play for Satavia, through the Patrick Islands, but became eligible for Etruria on the 17 January, two days after the start of the World Cup).

Match officials

For the 2021 World Cup, Kylaris Rugby named twelve referees, eight assistant referees and four television match officials to oversee all 48 matches.

Referees	Assistant referees	Television match officials
Template:Country data Estmere Daniel McCaw (Estmere) Template:Country data Estmere Richie Parker (Estmere) Cyril Batteux (Gaullica) Gaël Frère (Gaullica) Bruno Cormier (Gaullica) Éamonn Ó Cadhla (Caldia) Guillaume Jalibet (Garambura) Edward Scott (Satavia) William Walker (Satavia) Hendrik de Klerk (Nuvania) Mark Goldbridge (Rizealand)	Template:Country data Estmere Matthew Drake (Estmere) Template:Country data Estmere Arthur Grath (Estmere) Cian Mac Murchú (Caldia) Malcolm Farrell (Satavia) Patrick de Jong (Nuvania) Liam Henshaw (Nuvania) Mitsugi Sessue (Senria) Manuel Lopez (Rizealand)	Chase Lawson (Satavia) Piet Steph du Plessis (Nuvania) Ben Lowbridge (Rizealand) Cory Carter (Rizealand)

Pool stage

All twenty teams are divided into four pools of five teams, which play each other in a round-robin tournament of ten matches. Teams are awarded four points for a win, two for a draw and none for a defeat. Furthermore, bonus points are awarded to teams who score four or more tries in one game, as well as to teams that lose by less than seven points. The top two teams progress to the knockout stage, whilst the top three teams all recieve automatic qualification for the 2025 world cup.

Key to colours in pool tables
	Advanced to the quarter-finals and qualified for the 2025 Rugby World Cup
	Eliminated but qualified for 2025 Rugby World Cup

Pld = Number of games played; W = Number of games won; D = Number of games drawn; L = Number of games lost; BP = Bonus pool points; Pts = Total number of pool points

Pool A

Caldia taking on Rwizikuru at DePex Stadium, Port Hope

Team	Pld	W	D	L	BP	Total Pts
Rizealand	4	4	0	0	4	20
Caldia	4	3	0	1	1	13
Rwizikuru	4	1	1	2	1	7
Etruria	4	1	1	2	0	6
Montecara	4	0	0	4	0	0

The opening match of the 2021 Rugby World Cup was held between Caldia and Rwizikuru at the DePex Stadium in Port Hope on 15 January 2021, with Caldia winning 7-3. Anthoine Loup-Gasly scored the first points of the tournament, with a penalty from inside Caldia's 22 after twelve minutes. Caldia trailed 0-3 after half time, before Eoin Mac Diarmada, Caldia's replacement fly-half, scored a converted try in the 63rd minute. Despite a drop goal attempt with six minutes to go, the score remained unchanged and ended 7-3. Rizealand would defeat Montecara 35-3 two days later, whilst Rwizikuru would draw 0-0 with Etruria, missing four shots at goal. The draw came just two days after a Pool D match between Soravia and Azmara also ended in a draw, which was itself the first game to be drawn 0-0 at a world cup since Caldia drew 0-0 with Senria at the 1997 tournament. Caldia and Rizealand met for a grudge match at the DePex Stadium in Port Hope on 21 January. Rizealand led 7-0 at halftime and continued to pull out ahead of Caldia before leading 26-0 with twenty minutes to go. Two tries from Caldian scrum-half James O'Leary within six minutes of each other opened up the game again, with Caldia successfully converting both to bring them up to 26-14. Padraig Mac Donaill scored his first try for Caldia in his first international game, bringing the score to 26-21 with two minutes to go. Caldia were unable to score again despite a late swing in momentum, and Rizealand held off Caldia to win. Two days later, Etruria struggled to defeat Montecara, winning the game 11-0, whilst Rizealand would defeat Rwizikuru 37-18 on 25 January. On 31 January, Rwizikuru and Montecara faced off, with Montecara holding Rwizikuru to a 10-0 defeat. Caldia faced Etruria on 2 February, defeating them 21-0 at Krooksveld Road. Four days later, Rizealand would demolish Eturira 65-0, which was followed a day later by the final game of Pool A, where Caldia defeated Montecara 24-0. Rizealand, having won all their matches, took the maximum available points with four wins and bonus points from every match, to top the table with twenty points. Caldia finished seven points behind to take the runners-up spot, and progress to the knockout stage. Whilst Rwizikuru were knocked out, by finishing third they automatically qualified for the 2025 Rugby World Cup, one point ahead of Etruria because of a bonus point awarded to Rwizikuru for losing within seven points of Caldia, whilst Montecara finished bottom of the table with no points, having scored just three points. Montecara's three points for gives them the lowest total points scored by any team at a Rugby World Cup.

15 January 2021	Rwizikuru	3-7	Caldia	DePex Stadium, Port Hope
17 January 2021	Montecara	3-35	Rizealand	Fort Kinnon Arena, Port Arthur-Fort Kinnon
19 January 2021	Rwizikuru	0-0	Etruria	Krooksveld Road Stadium, Northport
21 January 2021	Caldia	21-26	Rizealand	DePex Stadium, Port Hope
23 January 2021	Etruria	11-0	Montecara	Satavian Airlines Oval, Windstad
25 January 2021	Rwizikuru	18-37	Rizealand	Kingsleigh Blues RFC Park, Kingsleigh
31 January 2021	Montecara	0-10	Rwizikuru	Brooksveld Park, Bloemstad
2 February 2021	Caldia	21-0	Etruria	Krooksveld Road Stadium, Northport
6 February 2021	Rizealand	65-0	Etruria	P. J. Van der Herdens Stadium, Konningstad
7 February 2021	Caldia	24-0	Montecara	Kingsleigh Blues RFC Park, Kingsleigh

Pool B

Satavia taking on Alsland at Brooksveld Park, Bloemstad

Team	Pld	W	D	L	BP	Total Pts
Satavia	4	4	0	0	3	19
Nuvania	4	3	0	1	4	16
Mabifia	4	2	0	2	0	8
West Miersa	4	1	0	3	0	4
Alsland	4	0	0	4	1	1

Pool B was due to commence with Satavia taking on West Miersa on 15 January, but the match was postponed after flooding damaged the pitch at the Victoriaburg City Stadium. The match was moved to the 7 February and was the last game played in Pool B as a result. As a result, the first game of Pool B was played as scheduled on 16 January, between Mabifia and Alsland, which Mabifia comfortably won, 21-7. Two days later, West Miersa faced off Nuvania, with Nuvania comfortably beating them 28-12. On 20 January, Satavia beat Alsland 28-5 and two days later Nuvania bulldozed over Mabifia 45-0. On 24 January, West Miersa narrowly beat Alsland 3-0 whilst Satavia kept their 100% win rate against Mabifia on the international stage, winning 31-7. Nuvania continued the Asterian dominance in Pool B with a 64-24 victory over Alsland on 30 January, followed two days later by Mabifia taking on West Miersa, winning 21-3. Satavia faced down Nuvania a day later at the DePex Stadium in Port Hope. The try-less encounter was won 9-6 by Satavia, which all but secured Satavia's place at the top of the Pool B table. The postponed Satavia v West Miersa clash occurred on 7 February and was won 35-3 by Satavia. This saw Satavia advance through the pool stages at the top of the table, whilst Nuvania finished as runners-up and also progressed to the knockout stage. Mabifia finished third, and in doing so automatically qualified for the 2025 tournament.

16 January 2021	Alsland	7-21	Mabifia	Port Hope International Stadium, Port Hope
18 January 2021	West Miersa	12-28	Nuvania	Brooksveld Park, Bloemstad
20 January 2021	Satavia	28-5	Alsland	Brooksveld Park, Bloemstad
22 January 2021	Nuvania	45-0	Mabifia	Fort Kinnon Arena, Port Arthur-Fort Kinnon
24 January 2021	Alsland	0-3	West Miersa	P. J. Van der Herdens Stadium, Konningstad
26 January 2021	Satavia	31-7	Mabifia	Fort Kinnon Arena, Port Arthur-Fort Kinnon
30 January 2021	Nuvania	64-24	Alsland	Victoriaburg City Stadium, Victoriaburg
1 February 2021	Mabifia	21-3	West Miersa	Kingsleigh Blues RFC Park, Kingsleigh
2 February 2021	Satavia	9-6	Nuvania	DePex Stadium, Port Hope
7 February 2021	Satavia	35-3	West Miersa	Victoriaburg City Stadium, Victoriaburg

Knockout Stage

	Quarter-finals				Semi-finals				Final
	29 January – Port Hope
	Rizealand	19
					5 February – Port Hope
	Azmara	7
					Rizealand	12
	29 January – Fort Kinnon
					Satavia	13
	Satavia	14
									16 February – Port Hope
	Gapolania	10
									Satavia	17
	31 January – Northport
									Garambura	28
	Garambura	8
					6 February – Port Hope
	Nuvania	5
					Garambura	18
	30 January – Port Hope
					Caldia	14			Third place
	Template:Country data Estmere	17
									13 February – Port Hope
	Caldia	19
									Rizealand	3
									Caldia	17

Broadcasting

• Gapolania: RTG Sport
• Montecara: Telè1
• Satavia: SBC
• Template:Country data Estmere: EBS 1 & EBS Sport