Putting the world into the Rugby World Cup

St Vincent and the Grenadines will host Jamaica on 5 March in a test match that symbolises all that is exciting about the modern game. Whether either of those particular teams will be playing at the next Rugby World Cup in Japan remains to be seen but the fact is both have the opportunity to do so. Indeed, every full member of World Rugby can now aspire to playing the game at the highest level.

While the opening ceremony is still three and a half years away, the Rugby World Cup 2019 begins in earnest this month. In total, RWC now features more than 90 nations. The qualifiers comprise around 200 matches, featuring in excess of 3,000 players across six continents, including the emerging rugby markets of Brazil, Russia, India and China as well as USA and Mexico.

Rugby participation has increased to 7.73 million owing to a combination of World Rugby investment in grass-roots programmes such as Get Into Rugby, the positive effect of being included in the Olympic Games programme and the global reach of the game's flagship tournament. The fact all national teams have a pathway towards the top has given every side a knowledge of its place in global rankings and, more importantly, a clear vision as to how to move onwards and upwards.

Rugby World Cup provides an international stage to promote the game and it generates 90 per cent of the revenue World Rugby invests in achieving its strategic goals, including growing the global game. Therefore the success of the tournament is vital for achieving World Rugby's strategic goals.

As far as RWC 2019 is concerned, qualification is split into regional tournaments with eight places ultimately up for grabs.

World Rugby Chairman Bernard Lapasset said: "The qualifying teams did themselves proud at Rugby World Cup 2015 and we are committed to improving further the competitiveness of the qualifier process off the back of that success.

"This qualifying structure gives opportunities to all full member unions to play in a competitive global World Rugby tournament and create a benchmark for them within the context of the World Rugby Rankings. In the process, we are also bringing rugby to new commercial markets so we can create a more attractive and marketable event in itself, which in turn helps with global participation rates through World Rugby investment.

"It is important that through this process, ambitious unions can take ownership of their own development, implement effective strategic plans and aspire towards breaking through to the next level."

Japan Rugby 2019 Chief Executive Akira Shimazu said: "We at the RWC 2019 organising committee and our host cities are very excited with the fact that the qualifying process is starting. The entire nation of Japan will give all teams and fans a huge welcome in 2019.

"From attending and observing RWC 2015, as well as receiving a full debrief from the organisers, we have learned a lot from their experience and we are thrilled to be entering a new phase of preparation for what will be Asia's first Rugby World Cup. We will continue to work hard to make it a ground-breaking tournament of which everyone can be proud."

With 12 teams having secured their place at Japan 2019 courtesy of finishing in the top three of their respective pools, the remaining eight places will be determined by a process of regional and cross-regional qualifiers and, for the first time, a stand-alone round-robin repechage tournament to determine the final qualifier in 2018.

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