| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 5 October 1996 – 5 December 1998 |
| No. of nations | 30 |
←1995 2003 → | |
In the1999 Rugby World Cup qualifying process, European teams played for six places in thefinal tournament. Three more places were available in the repechage. France and Wales were automatic qualifiers.
Ukraine qualify for Round B.
| Place | Nation | Games | Points | Table points | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against | Diff. | |||
| 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 177 | 21 | +156 | 12 | |
| 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 18 | 70 | -52 | 8 | |
| 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 40 | 50 | -10 | 7 | |
| 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 46 | 73 | -27 | 7 | |
| 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 15 | 82 | -67 | 6 | |
Croatia qualify for Round B.
| Place | Nation | Games | Points | Table points | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against | Diff. | |||
| 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 192 | 67 | +125 | 12 | |
| 2 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 165 | 52 | +113 | 10 | |
| 3 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 53 | 81 | -28 | 8 | |
| 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 42 | 125 | -83 | 6 | |
| 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 44 | 171 | -127 | 4 | |
Andorra qualify for Round B.
| Place | Nation | Games | Points | Table points | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against | Diff. | |||
| 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 139 | 65 | +74 | 12 | |
| 2 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 191 | 60 | +131 | 10 | |
| 3 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 50 | 79 | -29 | 8 | |
| 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 70 | 157 | -87 | 6 | |
| 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 27 | 116 | -89 | 4 | |
Italy and Georgia qualify for Round C.
| Place | Nation | Games | Points | Table points | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against | Diff. | |||
| 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 220 | 62 | +158 | 12 | |
| 2 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 74 | 60 | +14 | 10 | |
| 3 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 105 | 90 | +15 | 8 | |
| 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 85 | 92 | -7 | 6 | |
| 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 26 | 206 | -180 | 4 | |
Romania and Netherlands qualify for Round C.
| Place | Nation | Games | Points | Table points | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against | Diff. | |||
| 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 238 | 51 | +187 | 12 | |
| 2 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 106 | 78 | +78 | 10 | |
| 3 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 97 | 87 | +10 | 8 | |
| 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 58 | 152 | -94 | 6 | |
| 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 49 | 180 | -131 | 4 | |
Spain and Portugal qualify for Round C.
| Place | Nation | Games | Points | Table points | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against | Diff. | |||
| 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 158 | 42 | +116 | 12 | |
| 2 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 120 | 60 | +60 | 10 | |
| 3 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 102 | 82 | +20 | 8 | |
| 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 80 | 105 | -25 | 6 | |
| 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 45 | 216 | -171 | 4 | |
Ireland and Romania qualify for RWC 1999, Georgia goes forward to Repechage.
| Place | Nation | Games | Points | Table points | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against | Diff. | |||
| 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 123 | 35 | +88 | 6 | |
| 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 62 | 76 | -14 | 4 | |
| 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 23 | 97 | -74 | 2 | |
| 14 November 1998 | Ireland | 70–0 | Lansdowne Road,Dublin | ||
| Try: Bell, Costello Dempsey 2, Duignan Johns, Maggs O'Shea, Scally Wallace Con: Elwood 10 | Referee: Robert Davies (Wales) | ||||
| Ireland: 15.Conor O'Shea, 14.Justin Bishop, 13.Pat Duignan, 12.Jonny Bell, 11.Kevin Maggs, 10.Eric Elwood, 9.Conor McGuinness, 8.Victor Costello, 7.Andy Ward, 6.Eric Miller, 5.Malcolm O'Kelly, 4.Paddy Johns, (cap) 3.Paul Wallace, 2.Ross Nesdale, 1.Peter Clohessy,Replacements:Allen Clarke,Girvan Dempsey,Cieran Scally,Jeremy Davidson,Dion O'Cuinneagain,Justin Fitzpatrick, | |||||
| Georgia : 15.Vassil Abashidze, 14.George Buguianishvili, 13.Emzar Dzagnidze, 12.Vassil Katsadze, 11.Archil Kavtarahvili, 10.Besso Tepnadze, 9.Shavleg Janelidze, 8.Kakha Kobakhidze, 7.Grigol Labadze, 6.Archil Kobakhidze, 5.Vano Nadiradze, (cap) 4.Ilia Zedginidze, 3.Goderdzi Shvelidze, 2.Levan Javelidze, 1.Irakli Chikava,Replacements:Zurab Mtchedlishvili,Levan Tsabadze,Paliko Jimsheladze,Bessik Khamashuridze, | |||||
England and Italy qualify for RWC 1999, Netherlands goes forward to Repechage.
| Place | Nation | Games | Points | Table points | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against | Diff. | |||
| 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 133 | 15 | +118 | 6 | |
| 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 82 | 30 | +52 | 4 | |
| 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 177 | -170 | 2 | |
Scotland and Spain qualify for RWC 1999, Portugal goes forward to Repechage.
| Place | Nation | Games | Points | Table points | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against | Diff. | |||
| 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 170 | 14 | +156 | 6 | |
| 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 24 | 102 | -78 | 4 | |
| 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 28 | 106 | -78 | 2 | |