2007 Rugby World Cup – Asia qualification

In qualification for the 2007 Rugby World Cup, thirteen Asian Rugby Football Union (ARFU) nations compete for one full place, and one repechage place (Repechage 2, against Oceania 3). No Asian teams qualified for the quarter finals in 2003, so none qualify automatically in 2007. Only Japan has been to the World Cup, participating in all five RWCs to date, with only one win in 1991 (England) against Zimbabwe, 52-8. Asia 1 will go into Group B with Australia, Wales, Fiji and Canada.

Contents

Qualification process

Initial pools were based on results from 2004 as given below:

Division 1 (2005) Division 2 (2005) Division 3 Pool A (2005) Division 3 Pool B (2005)
1st Division 1 (2004) 3rd Division 1 (2004) 3rd Division 2 (2004) 2nd Division 3 (2004)
2nd Division 1 (2004) 2nd Division 2 (2004) 1st Division 4 (2004) 3rd Division 3 (2004)
1st Division 2 (2004) 1st Division 3 (2004) 2nd Division 4 (2004) 3rd Division 4 (2004)
Guam

Thus initial division allocations for 2005 were:

Division 1:  Japan,  South Korea,  Hong Kong.

Division 2:  Chinese Taipei,  China, Arabian Gulf.

Division 3A:  Singapore,  Sri Lanka,  Thailand.

Division 3B:  Kazakhstan,  Malaysia,  India,  Guam.

Round 1a

Division 1 play off for placings, all three teams going into Round 2, along with the winner and runner up of Division 2. The winners of Divisions 3A and 3B go into Round 1b.

Round 1b

The winners of Divisions 3A and 3B playoff (home and away) for the final place in Round 2.

Round 2

The top two teams from Division 1 and the winner of Division 2 form the new Division 1 (2006). Third place from Division 1, the runner up of Division 2, and the playoff winner from Round 1b form the new Division 2 (2006). The winner and runner up of Division 1 (2006), and the winner of Division 2 (2006), go through to Round 3.

Round 3

The three qualifiers from the previous round form a new Division 1. The winner goes to World Cup 2007 as Asia 1. The runner up plays off against Oceania 3 for Repechage 2.

Round 1a – 2005

Home OR Away basis.

Division 1 (2005)

All three teams go through to Round 2 - the winner and runner up into Division 1 (2006), third place into Division 2 (2006).

Final Standings

Country GP W D L +/- Pts
 Japan 2 2 0 0 107 6
 South Korea 2 1 0 1 34 4
 Hong Kong 2 0 0 2 -141 2

Match Schedule

Date Match Venue Result
8-May-2005 Japan - Hong Kong Tokyo 91-3
15-May-2005 Korea - Japan Seoul 31-50
22-May-2005 Hong Kong - Korea Hong Kong 3-56

Division 2 (2005)

The top two teams go through to Round 2, the winner (Arabian Gulf) into Division 1 (2006), the runner up (China) into Division 2 (2006).

Final Standings

Country GP W D L +/- Pts
Arabian Gulf 2 2 0 0 6 6
 China 2 1 0 1 1 4
 Chinese Taipei 2 0 0 2 -7 2

Match Schedule

Date Match Venue Result
4-Jun-2005 China - Chinese Taipei Kunming 22-19
20-May-2005 Chinese Taipei - Arabian Gulf Taipei 26-30
11-Nov-2005 Arabian Gulf - China Dubai 24-22

Division 3 Pool A (2005)

Sri Lanka qualifies for home and away playoff (Round 1b) against winner of Division 3 Pool B (Kazakhstan).

Final Standings

Country GP W D L +/- Pts
 Sri Lanka 2 2 0 0 27 6
 Singapore 2 1 0 1 3 4
 Thailand 2 0 0 2 -30 2

Match Schedule

Date Match Venue Result
4-Jun-2005 Thailand - Sri Lanka Thailand 38-48
11-Jun-2005 Singapore - Thailand Singapore 47-27
25-Jun-2005 Sri Lanka - Singapore Sri Lanka 34-17

Division 3 Pool B (2005)

Kazakhstan qualifies for home and away playoff (Round 1b) against winner Division 3 Pool A (Sri Lanka).

Final Standings

Country GP W D L +/- Pts
 Kazakhstan 3 3 0 0 104 9
 India 3 1 1 1 22 6
 Malaysia 3 1 0 2 -52 5
 Guam 3 0 1 2 -74 4

Match Schedule

Date Match Venue Result
5-Jun-2005 India - Kazakhstan Mumbai 22-36
7-Jun-2005 Kazakhstan - Malaysia Mumbai 48-3
11-Jun-2005 India - Malaysia Mumbai 48-12
19-Jun-2005 Guam - India Guam 8-8
22-Jun-2005 Kazakhstan - Guam Kazakhstan 51-6
25-Jun-2005 Malaysia - Guam Malaysia 44-15

Round 1b – October 2005

Winners of two Division 3 pools from Round 1b – winner (Sri Lanka) goes through to round 2.

Date Match Venue Result
25-Oct-2005  Kazakhstan - Sri Lanka Almaty, Kazakhstan 25-19
12-Nov-2005  Sri Lanka v Kazakhstan Colombo, Sri Lanka 24-12

Sri Lanka win 43-37 on aggregate

Round 2 – April – May 2006

Home OR Away basis. Top two teams from Division 1 (Japan, Korea) and top team from Division 2 (Hong Kong) go through to round 3.

Division 1 (2006)

Final Standings

Country GP W D L +/- Pts
 Japan 2 2 0 0 109 6
 South Korea 2 1 0 1 -21 4
Arabian Gulf 2 0 0 2 -88 2

Match Schedule

Date Match Venue Result
16-Apr-2006 Japan - Arabian Gulf Tokyo, Japan 82-9
23-Apr-2006 Japan - Korea Tokyo, Japan 50-14
05-May-2006 Arabian Gulf - Korea Dubai 5-20

Division 2 (2006)

Final Standings

Country GP W D L +/- Pts
 Hong Kong 2 2 0 0 47 6
 Sri Lanka 2 1 0 1 -1 4
 China 2 0 0 2 -46 2

Match Schedule

Date Match Venue Result
29-Apr-2006 Sri Lanka - China Colombo, Sri Lanka 30-0
14-May-2006 Hong Kong - Sri Lanka Hong Kong 45-14
21-May-2006 China - Hong Kong Beijing, China 7-23

Round 3 – 18-25 November 2006, Hong Kong

All games in Hong Kong. Winner (Japan) qualifies directly to RWC 2007 as Asia 1. Runner up (Korea) advances to Repechage round as Asia 2, to play Tonga for Repechage 2. The series was originally scheduled to be played in Sri Lanka. However, security considerations prompted the series to be moved to Hong Kong.

Final Standings

Country GP W D L +/- Pts
 Japan 2 2 0 0 +103 6
 South Korea 2 1 0 1 -36 4
 Hong Kong 2 0 0 2 -67 2

Match Schedule

Date Match Venue Result
18-Nov-2006 Japan - Hong Kong Hong Kong 52-3
21-Nov-2006 Hong Kong - Korea Hong Kong 5-23
25-Nov-2006 Korea - Japan Hong Kong 0-54

External links
Overview
Statistics
Tournaments
Finals
Squads
Qualifying
Nations who have competed in the Rugby World Cup by tier
Tier 1 teams
Tier 2 teams
Tier 3 teams