2023 Rugby World Cup – Regional play-off and Final Qualification Tournament

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The 2023 Rugby World Cup regional play-off and Final Qualification Tournament were the final two stages of the qualifying process for the 2023 Rugby World Cup. A cross-regional play-off match determined the Asia/Pacific play-off winner berth, after which a global repechage tournament between four teams (Africa 2, Americas 3, Europe 3 and the loser of the Asia/Pacific play-off) decided the twentieth and final team qualifying for the 2023 Rugby World Cup. [1]

Contents

Tonga and Portugal secured the last two berths by winning respectively the Asia/Pacific play-off and Final Qualification Tournament.

Format

Asia/Pacific play-off

This match will be a single leg qualification match between Asia 1 (the winner of the Asian qualification process) and Oceania 2 (the winner of Round 3 in the Oceania qualification process). The winner of this play-off qualifies for the World Cup as Asia/Pacific Play-off winner and join Pool B, whilst the loser advances to the Final Qualification Tournament.

Final Qualification Tournament

The Final Qualification Tournament will be contested as a four-team round-robin tournament and hosted at a neutral venue in Dubai, replicating the process first introduced for the 2019 Rugby World Cup. The participating teams include the runner-up of the African qualification round 3 (Africa 2), the losing side of the Americas 2 qualifier (Americas 3), the third-ranked side of the Europe qualification (Europe 3), and the loser of the Asia/Oceania play-off (Asia 1 or Oceania 2). The winner will qualify for the 2023 Rugby World Cup and will join Pool C.

Teams

Five teams progressed to the regional play-off and Final Qualification Tournament stages for the final two non-regional seeds in the World Cup. World rankings are as per date progressing to the play-off phase.

Nation Rank Progression dateQualifying status
Regional Qualification play-off
Flag of Tonga.svg  Tonga 1617 July 2021Qualified by defeating Hong Kong on 23 July 2022
Final Qualification Tournament
Flag of Hong Kong.svg  Hong Kong 2223 July 2022Eliminated by United States on 12 November 2022
Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 3310 July 2022Eliminated by Portugal on 12 November 2022
Flag of Portugal.svg  Portugal 2027 June 2022Qualified on 18 November 2022
Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1916 July 2022Eliminated by Portugal on 18 November 2022

Asia/Pacific play-off

23 July 2022
17:30 AEST (UTC+10)
Tonga  Flag of Tonga.svg44–22Flag of Hong Kong.svg  Hong Kong
Try: Takulua (3) 15' c, 25' c, 42' m
Fisi'ihoi 47' m
Veainu 60' c
Tuitavuki 62' c
Con: Havili (4/6) 16', 27', 61', 63'
Pen: Havili (2/2) 11', 35'
Report
WR Report
Try: Post 18' m
Worley (2) 77' c, 80' c
Con: McNeish (2/3) 78', 80'
Pen: McNeish (1/1) 30'
Sunshine Coast Stadium, Sunshine Coast, Australia
Referee: Damon Murphy (Australia)

Notes:

Final Qualification Tournament

Qualified as Final Qualification Tournament winner
Pos.NationGamesPointsTry
Bonus
Losing
Bonus
Table
points
PlayedWonDrawnLostForAgainstDiff.
1Flag of Portugal.svg  Portugal 321014330+1132012
2Flag of the United States.svg  United States 321013337+962012
3Flag of Hong Kong.svg  Hong Kong 310243109–66004
4Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 300332175–143011
Points were awarded to the teams as follows:
4 points for a win, 2 points for a draw, no points for a loss
1 bonus point for scoring 4 or more tries (TBP)
1 bonus point for a loss by 7 points or under (LBP)

Fixtures

Round 1

6 November 2022
16:00 GST (UTC+04)
(1 BP) United States  Flag of the United States.svg68–14Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya
Try: Fawsitt (3) 22' m', 33' c, 48' c
Faʻanana-Schultz 40' c
Dyer (3) 51' c, 61' c, 64' c
Augspurger 59' c
Sosene-Feagai 69' c
Wilson 76' c
Con: Carty (4/5) 33', 40', 49', 53'
MacGinty (5/5) 60', 63', 66', 70', 76'
Report Try: Juma 55' c
Weru 78' c
Con: Mukidza (2/2) 56', 79'
The Sevens Stadium, Dubai
Referee: Tual Trainini (France)

Notes:


6 November 2022
18:30 GST (UTC+04)
(1 BP) Portugal  Flag of Portugal.svg42–14Flag of Hong Kong.svg  Hong Kong
Try: Madeira 16' c
Storti (2) 24' c, 50' c
Morais 29' c
Marta 43' c
Lima 55' c
Con: Marques (6/6)
17', 25', 30', 44', 52', 56'
Pen: Marques (0/1)
Report Try: Post 7' c
Neville 60' c
Con: McNeish (2/2) 8', 61'
The Sevens Stadium, Dubai
Referee: Chris Busby (Ireland)

Notes:

  • Sean Taylor (Hong Kong) made his international debut.
  • This was Portugal's first victory over Hong Kong.
  • No replacement was issued for João Granate.

Round 2

12 November 2022
16:00 GST (UTC+04)
(1 BP) Portugal  Flag of Portugal.svg85–0Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya
Try: Tadjer (3) 1' c, 7' c, 45' m
Cardoso Pinto 16' c
Lima 22' c
Pinto (2) 32' c, 47' m
Appleton (2) 49' c, 60' c
de Andrade 53' c
Penalty try 69'
Bello 72' m
Campergue 77' c
Con: Marques (7/9)
2', 8', 17', 23', 34', 49', 54'
Portela (1/2) 61'
Guedes (1/1) 78'
Report
The Sevens Stadium, Dubai
Referee: Nika Amashukeli (Georgia)

12 November 2022
18:30 GST (UTC+04)
(1 BP) United States  Flag of the United States.svg49–7Flag of Hong Kong.svg  Hong Kong
Try: Faʻanana-Schultz 12' c
K. Pifeleti 20' c
Augspurger (2) 25' c, 57' c
Dolan 36' c
Wilson 47' c
Tonga’uiha 77' c
Con: MacGinty (6/6)
14', 22', 27', 37', 49', 58'
Carty (1/1) 78'
Report Try: Worley 65' c
Con: Cumming (1/1) 66'
The Sevens Stadium, Dubai
Referee: Matthew Carley (England)

Notes:

  • Nickolas Cumming (Hong Kong) made his international debut.

Round 3

18 November 2022
17:00 GST (UTC+04)
Hong Kong  Flag of Hong Kong.svg22–18Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya (1 BP)
Try: van der Smit 19' c
Taylor 45' c
Lam 68' m
Con: McNeish (2/3) 21', 46'
Pen: McNeish (1/1) 44'
Report Try: Okoth 10' m
Ojee 30' c
Con: Ominde (1/2) 31'
Pen: Ominde (2/3) 35', 42'
The Sevens Stadium, Dubai
Referee: Angus Gardner (Australia)

18 November 2022
19:30 GST (UTC+04)
United States  Flag of the United States.svg16–16Flag of Portugal.svg  Portugal
Try: K. Pifeleti 60' c
Con: MacGinty (1/1) 60'
Pen: MacGinty (3/4) 3', 22', 40'
Report Try: Storti 8' c
Con: Marques (1/1) 9'
Pen: Marques (3/5) 37', 50', 80+2'
The Sevens Stadium, Dubai
Referee: Paul Williams (New Zealand)

Notes:

  • José Lima (Portugal) earned his 50th test cap.
  • This was the first draw between these two sides.
  • With this result, Portugal qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 2007.
  • With this result, USA miss the World Cup for the first time since 1995.

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References

  1. rugbyworldcup.com. "QUALIFICATION PROCESS SET FOR RUGBY WORLD CUP 2023".