2003 Rugby World Cup – Oceania qualification

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)

Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts
1  Cook Islands 2 2 0 0 114 8 +106 6
2  Tahiti 2 1 0 1 41 92 −51 4
3  Niue 2 0 0 2 14 69 −55 2
Source: [citation needed]
Date Home team Score Away team Venue
2 June 2001  Cook Islands 86–0[1]  Tahiti Rarotonga, Cook Islands
9 June 2001  Niue 8–28[2]  Cook Islands Alofi, Niue
16 June 2001  Tahiti 41–6[3]  Niue Papeete, Tahiti

Pool B (Western Zone)

Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts
1  Papua New Guinea 2 2 0 0 64 20 +44 6
2  Solomon Islands 2 1 0 1 21 35 −14 4
3  Vanuatu 2 0 0 2 13 43 −30 2
Source: [citation needed]
Date Home team Score Away team Venue
2 June 2001  Papua New Guinea 32–10[4]  Solomon Islands Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
9 June 2001  Vanuatu 10–32[5]  Papua New Guinea Port Vila, Vanuatu
16 June 2001  Solomon Islands 11–3[6]  Vanuatu 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.

Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts
1  Fiji 4 3 0 1 123 80 +43 10
2  Samoa 4 3 0 1 96 58 +38 10
3  Tonga 4 0 0 4 71 152 −81 4
Source: [citation needed]
Date Home team Score Away team Venue
1 June 2002  Samoa 16–17  Fiji Apia, Samoa
7 June 2002  Tonga 22–47[7]  Fiji Nukuʻalofa Tonga
15 June 2002  Tonga 16–27[8]  Samoa Nukuʻalofa, Tonga
22 June 2002  Fiji 12–22[9]  Samoa Suva Fiji
28 June 2002  Samoa 31–13[10]  Tonga Apia, Samoa
6 July 2002  Fiji 47–20[11]  Tonga 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  Papua New Guinea 29–14[12]  Cook Islands Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
26 October 2002  Cook Islands 21–13[13]  Papua New Guinea 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  Papua New Guinea 14–47  Tonga Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
6 December 2002  Tonga 84–12  Papua New Guinea Nukuʻalofa, Tonga

References

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