2003 Rugby World Cup – Oceania qualification

Rugby World Cup

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

[edit]

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)

[edit]

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)

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

|
|
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|
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|
|

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

[edit]

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

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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

[edit]

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.

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2003 Rugby World Cup qualifying

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*[Pos]: Position
*[Pld]: Played
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*[PD]: Point difference
*[Pts]: Points
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