Colombia Hosts Rugby World Cup Qualifiers in September
By Priscilla Jepchumba
The Rugby World Cup Qualifiers are set to take place in Colombia in September. The matches will be held on September 25th and 29th at the Cincuentenario Stadium in Medellín. Colombia will face Costa Rica on the first match day, while Venezuela will face Peru. On the second match day, the winners and losers of the first match day fixtures will play against each other.
Colombia is currently ranked as a tier-three nation in rugby and has yet to qualify for the Rugby World Cup. Despite this, they have been actively involved in various qualifying tournaments, demonstrating their strong presence and commitment to the sport. They hope to make it through to the Rugby World Cup for the first time in history.
Colombia, Costa Rica, Venezuela, and Peru compete in the Sudamerica Rugby lower division’s third level. The tournament will coincide with a triangular series involving Brazil, Chile, and Paraguay. The series kicked off with Brazil achieving a historic victory over Paraguay. Chile will host Paraguay on September 28 and Brazil on October 5 this year.
Chile is aiming to secure a spot in consecutive Rugby World Cups, and they have had memorable moments in their campaign in France against Japan, Samoa, England, and Argentina in a past soccer arrangement. Established in 2008 in Sydney for Australia 2027, the competition structure will involve 24 teams.
The winners of the triangular series will compete against each other in a Best of Three matches, and the victorious team will qualify for the Sudamericano 2025. This means that two out of Brazil, Chile, and Paraguay will proceed to the final round along with Uruguay. The team placing at the bottom, currently Paraguay, will face the tournament winner in Medellin on Saturday, October 12.
Based on the results of the October 12 match, the team will participate in the South American World Cup Qualifiers as one of the four representatives from Sudamericano 2025. The runner-up in this qualifying event will compete in a play-off against the lowest-ranked team from the Pacific Nations Cup, with the winner securing a spot in the Rugby World Cup 2027.
Notably, Fiji and Japan have already secured qualification for Australia 2027. The South American team will go up against the weakest team among Canada, Samoa, Tonga, and the USA. Additionally, the World Rugby Final qualification tournament will feature the winner of the Asia/Africa play-off, Europe, and a match between South America and the Pacific Nations Cup representative.
JUDY ROTICH