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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]

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

Format

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Asia/Pacific play-off

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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

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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

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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 date Qualifying status
Regional Qualification play-off
 Tonga 16 17 July 2021 Qualified by defeating Hong Kong on 23 July 2022
Final Qualification Tournament
 Hong Kong 22 23 July 2022 Eliminated by United States on 12 November 2022
 Kenya 33 10 July 2022 Eliminated by Portugal on 12 November 2022
 Portugal 20 27 June 2022 Qualified on 18 November 2022
 United States 19 16 July 2022 Eliminated by Portugal on 18 November 2022

Asia/Pacific play-off

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23 July 2022
17:30 AEST (UTC+10)
Tonga 44–22 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:

  • This was the first meeting between the two sides.

Final Qualification Tournament

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Qualified as Final Qualification Tournament winner
Pos. Nation Games Points Try
Bonus 		Losing
Bonus 		Table
points
Played Won Drawn Lost For Against Diff.
1  Portugal 3 2 1 0 143 30 +113 2 0 12
2  United States 3 2 1 0 133 37 +96 2 0 12
3  Hong Kong 3 1 0 2 43 109 –66 0 0 4
4  Kenya 3 0 0 3 32 175 –143 0 1 1
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

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Round 1

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6 November 2022
16:00 GST (UTC+04)
(1 BP) United States 68–14 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'		ReportTry: 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 42–14 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)		ReportTry: 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

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12 November 2022
16:00 GST (UTC+04)
(1 BP) Portugal 85–0 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 49–7 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'		ReportTry: 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

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18 November 2022
17:00 GST (UTC+04)
Hong Kong 22–18 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'		ReportTry: 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 16–16 Portugal
Try: K. Pifeleti 60' c
Con: MacGinty (1/1) 60'
Pen: MacGinty (3/4) 3', 22', 40'		ReportTry: 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.

References

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