Dates confirmed for Scotland's final World Cup qualifying tournament

Scotland are off to Dubai in February to try to book their place in the 2022 World Cup. Image: Craig Watson - www.craigwatson.co.uk

SCOTLAND will play their final World Cup qualifying repechage tournament in Dubai in late February, it has been confirmed.

This will involve a semi-final match on 18th and then, hopefully, a final on the 24th, as Bryan Easson‘s side seek to claim the last available spot at next Autumn’s World Cup in New Zealand, which would see them become the first Scottish team to make it to the main tournament since 2010.

The draw will be seeded based on world rankings as of 20th December, which means – as it stands – ninth placed Scotland will face 26th placed Colombia in their semi-final, and if they come through that match they will face the winner of the match Samoa (currently 16th in world) and either Kazakhstan (15th) or Hong Kong (18th) in the final. All three games will be will be The Sevens Stadium in Dubai.

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Eleven teams have already booked their place at Rugby World Cup 2021, including New Zealand, England, France, Canada, USA, Australia and Wales, who qualified through their final ranking at Ireland 2017, and South Africa, Fiji, Italy and Japan who qualified through their regions.

“We are pleased to be able to share the details of the Rugby World Cup 2021 Final Qualification Tournament,” said Rugby World Cup 2021 Tournament Director Alison Hughes. “A first for a women’s edition of a Rugby World Cup the tournament offers teams a second opportunity to qualify for the pinnacle event and we anticipate a thrilling contest between competing teams in Dubai in February.”

The RWC 2021 Final Qualification Tournament will be live streamed across World Rugby and RWC 2021 digital and social platforms.

Scotland will approach this tournament with confidence having secured an impressive 36-12 win in their warm-up game against Japan at the DAM Health Stadium earlier this month.