2003 Rugby World Cup – Oceania qualification explained

In qualification for the 2003 Rugby World Cup, a number of positions were available to Oceania nations. Fiji and Samoa qualified, joining automatic qualifiers Australia and New Zealand, while Tonga progressed to the repechage, where they faced South Korea.

Round 1

The six teams in the "Small Islands" group were divided into Western and Eastern pools, comprising three teams each. The teams in each pool played each other in a single round robin, with the top team in each pool qualifying for round 3.

Pool A (Eastern Zone)

Date Home team Score Away team Venue
2 June 2001 86–0[1] Rarotonga, Cook Islands
9 June 2001 8–28[2] Alofi, Niue
16 June 2001 41–6[3] Papeete, Tahiti

Pool B (Western Zone)

Date Home team Score Away team Venue
2 June 2001 32–10[4] Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
9 June 2001 10–32[5] Port Vila, Vanuatu
16 June 2001 11–3[6] Honiara, Solomon Islands

Round 2

In Round 2, the traditional three biggest Pacific Island nations played a single round-robin tournament. The top two qualified directly for the Rugby World Cup as Oceania 1 and 2 respectively, while the bottom-placed team went to Round 4 of qualifying. Fiji finished top and qualified for Pool B as Oceania 1, while Samoa finished second and were placed in Pool C as Oceania 2.

Date Home team Score Away team Venue
1 June 2002 16–17 Apia, Samoa
7 June 2002 22–47[7] Nukuʻalofa Tonga
15 June 2002 16–27[8] Nukuʻalofa, Tonga
22 June 2002 12–22[9] Suva Fiji
28 June 2002 31–13[10] Apia, Samoa
6 July 2002 47–20[11] Suva Fiji

Round 3

Round 3 saw the winners of the two pools in round 1 play home and away to qualify for round 4.

Date Home team Score Away team Venue
19 October 2002 29–14[12] Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
26 October 2002 21–13[13] Rarotonga, Cook Islands

Round 4

Round 4 saw Papua New Guinea, the winners from round 3, take on Tonga, the third-placed team from round 2. The winners would qualify for the repechage. Tonga won 131–26 on aggregate to progress.

Date Home team Score Away team Venue
30 November 2002 14–47 Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
6 December 2002 84–12 Nukuʻalofa, Tonga

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Cook Islands v Tahiti at Raratonga. ESPN. 2018-08-05.
  2. Web site: Niue Island v Cook Islands at Paliati. ESPN. 2018-08-05.
  3. Web site: Niue Island v Tahiti at Papetee. ESPN. 2018-08-05.
  4. Web site: Papua New Guinea v Solomon Islands at Port Moresby. ESPN. 2018-08-05.
  5. Web site: Vanuatu v Papua New Guinea at Port Vila. ESPN. 2018-08-05.
  6. Web site: Solomon Islands v Vanuatu at Honiara . ESPN. 2018-08-05.
  7. Web site: Fiji vs Tonga – Match Statistics – Rugby World Cup Qualifier 2003. ESPN. 2018-08-05.
  8. Web site: Tonga vs Samoa – Summary – Rugby World Cup Qualifier 2003. ESPN. 2018-08-05.
  9. Web site: Fiji vs Samoa – Summary – Rugby World Cup Qualifier 2003. ESPN. 2018-08-05.
  10. Web site: Samoa vs Tonga – Summary – Rugby World Cup Qualifier 2003. ESPN. 2018-08-05.
  11. Web site: Fiji vs Tonga – Summary – Rugby World Cup Qualifier 2003. ESPN. 2018-08-05.
  12. News: PNG grabs advantage. ESPN. 2018-08-05.
  13. Web site: Cook Islands v Papua New Guinea. ESPN scrum. 2018-08-05.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "2003 Rugby World Cup – Oceania qualification".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.