2021 World Cup Qualifiers - Europe A

The fixtures below are all in 2018, involving four nations and each side played three games. They involve Group A ranked countries and a full list of the groups can be found by clicking here. The top two go through and the other two go into a playoff series, involving six sides with four going on to the 20121 WC.

Round One:

27th October, Carcassonne, France:

France 54-18

Wales put a team out with few heritage players which would test their depth of local talent. France has a team that looks the best they've had for some time. They soon took a 14-0 lead in as many minutes and led 26-0 after half an hour. Wales came back to trail 12-26 at the turnaround. France then showed their class in the second period and pulled away for a comfortable victory.

27th October, Dublin, Ireland:

Ireland 36-10 Scotland

Scotland has been overachieving for some years now so it was interesting to see how they would perform here. The answer was swift as Ireland hit the ground running and established a 20-0 buffer by the break. The second half was more even but the damage had been done from Scotland's perspective.

France v Wales. Pic source RLEF.

Round Two:

3rd November, Galashiels, Scotland:

Scotland 12-50 Wales

Scotland hit the ground running and raced to an early 12-0 lead. Wales then stemmed the tide and fought back to be behind 8-12 at the break. It the second period it was all Wales, scoring nine tries in all and scoring 50 unanswered points.

3rd November, Dublin, Ireland:

Ireland 10-24 France

In an absorbing first half, France showed their class by shutting down Ireland which running in three tries to lead 18-0 at the break. Ireland scored early and late in the second half but also conceded one try so while Ireland tried hard, it was reasonably safe for France. France now qualifies for the WC, and Ireland needs to win against Wales to avoid the repechage route.

Round Three:

10th November, Carcassonne, France:

France 28-10 Scotland

In a scrappy game, France showed their greater experience and class in taking a 14-4 halftime lead. The second period, France went to a 28-4 lead before a late score gave the scoreline a more respectable look from the visitor's point of view. The result handed France the Group A title, going through the three games undefeated.

11th November, Wrexham, Wales:

Wales 40-8 Ireland

The match had much riding on it, as was mentioned above. I expected a close encounter but it wasn't the case. The Welsh side took control from the outset and was a more effective team. They went to a 20-0 lead and by halftime, it was 20-4. The second half proved the first performance by the hosts wasn't a fluke and went on to take the encounter 40-8.

Wales are off to the 2021 WC and Ireland have some more games to play to make it there also. Scotland will join Ireland in the repechage route.