2008 Rugby League World Cup qualification
Tournament details
DatesApril 2006 – November 2007
Teams14 (from 3 confederations)
Tournament statistics
Matches played9

2008 Rugby League World Cup qualifying matches took place from April 2006 to November 2007. Of the ten teams to compete in the 2008 Rugby League World Cup, five of them qualified based on their performance in these matches. The other five teams had qualified automatically.

Qualified teams

6 Asian-Pacific teams qualified for the World Cup; 3 qualified automatically, with the top 2 in the Pacific qualifying group also reaching the finals. Samoa finished third in the Pacific qualifying group and earned a qualification spot by winning the repechage. 4 European teams qualified for the World Cup. 2 qualified automatically, with a further 2 finals berths for the winner of each European qualifying group. No teams from the Atlantic qualifying group reached the finals, with the USA losing at the repechage semi-final stage.

Team Method of
qualification		 Date of
qualification		 Finals
appearance		 Last
appearance		 Previous best
performance
 AustraliaHostN/AFinal2000Winners (1957, 1968, 1970, 1975, 1977, 1988, 1992, 1995, 2000)
 New ZealandAutomatic qualifierN/AChampions2000Runners-up (1988, 2000)
 Papua New GuineaAutomatic qualifierN/ANo2000Quarter-finals (2000)
 EnglandAutomatic qualifierN/ASemi Final2000Runners-up (1975, 1995)
 FranceAutomatic qualifierN/ANo2000Runners-up (1954, 1968)
 ScotlandEurope Pool A winners4th November 2007No2000Group stage (2000)
 IrelandEurope Pool B winners2nd November 2007Quarter Final2000Quarter-finals (2000)
 TongaPacific Pool winners22nd October 2006No2000Group stage (1995, 2000)
 FijiPacific runners-up7th October 2006Semi Final2000Group stage (1995, 2000)
 SamoaRepechage winners14th November 2007No2000Quarter-finals (2000

Europe

First round

Team Pld W D L PF PA +/− Pts Qualification
 Russia330010820+886Second Round
 Georgia320110250+524Ejected from competition
 Netherlands310268123–552Failed to qualify for World Cup
 Serbia300342127–850
28 April 2006
Netherlands 14–40 Russia
Hook of Holland
Attendance: 250
13 May 2006
Serbia 10–45 Georgia
FK Radnički Stadium, Belgrade
Attendance: 500
26 May 2006
Georgia 57–16 Netherlands
Locomotive Stadium, Tbilisi
Attendance: 10,935
4 June 2006
Serbia 6–44 Russia
FK Radnički Stadium, Belgrade
Attendance: 500
17 June 2006
Netherlands 38–26 Serbia
Rotterdamse RC Beekweg, Rotterdam
Attendance: 250
22 June 2006
Russia 24–0[1] Georgia
–

Second round

Group A

Team Pld W D L PF PA +/− Pts Qualification
 Scotland21013732+52Qualified for World Cup
 Wales21013237–52Intercontinental playoff
29 October 2006
Wales 14–21 Scotland
Tries: Briers
Hughes
Johnson
Goal: Briers		Tries: Benn
Brough
Liddell
Nanyn

Goals: Morton
Nanyn

Field Goal: Brough
Brewery Field, Bridgend
Attendance: 2,378
4 November 2007
Scotland 16–18 Wales
Tries: Benn
Fisher
Goals: Brough (4/4)		Tries: Dyer
Gibson
Hughes
Goals: Harris (3/4)
Old Anniesland, Glasgow
Attendance: 911

Group B
In early 2011, Ireland and Lebanon's two draws, which involved Ryan Tandy and Jai Ayoub, became subject to police investigation as the two had been connected to match-fixing.[2]

Team Pld W D L PF PA +/− Pts Qualification
 Ireland422014264786Qualified for World Cup
 Lebanon422010442626Interncontinental playoff
 Russia400438178−1400Failed to qualify for World Cup
22 October 2006
Russia 12–50 Ireland
Tries: Baskakov
Iliassov
Ovchinnikov		Tries: Dodd (3)
Bridge (2)
Cantillon (2)
Littler (2) Goals: Bridge (7/9)
Fili Stadium, Moscow
Attendance: 120
28 October 2006
Lebanon 22–8 Russia
New River Stadium, London
Attendance: 300
5 November 2006
Ireland 18–18 Lebanon
Tries: Grix
Littler
Tandy
Goals: Bridge (3/3)		Tries: Chiha
Koborsi
Salem
Goals: El Masri (2/2)
Salem (1/2)
Tolka Park, Dublin
Attendance: 140
20 October 2007
Ireland 58–18 Russia
Tries: Blanch (3)
Littler (3)
Beswick (2)
Gleeson (2)
Handforth
Goals: Finn (4/6)
Handforth (3/5)		Tries: Baskakov
Logunov
Zagoskin Goals: Grigoryan (2/3)
Zdobnikov (1/1)
Oak Park, Carlow
Attendance: 2,958
27 October 2007
Russia 0–48 Lebanon
Nara Stadium, Narofominsk
Attendance: 1,426
2 November 2007
Lebanon 16–16 Ireland
Tries: Farah
Salem
Samia Goals: Nicholas (2)		Tries: Finn
Handforth
Goals: Finn (2)
Bridge (2)
Crown Flatt, Dewsbury
Attendance: 6,812

Pacific

Team Pld W D L PF PA +/− Pts Qualification
 Tonga320110254484Qualified for World Cup
 Fiji32019862364
 Samoa32018652344Advances to the repechage round
 Cook Islands300324142−1180Failed to qualify for World Cup
29 September 2006
Tonga 56–14 Cook Islands
Campbelltown Stadium, Sydney
Attendance: 3,013
29 September 2006
Samoa 30–28 Fiji
Campbelltown Stadium, Sydney
Attendance: 3,013
4 October 2006
Fiji 30–28 Tonga
Western Weekender Stadium, Sydney
Attendance: 3,813
4 October 2006
Samoa 46–6 Cook Islands
Western Weekender Stadium, Sydney
Attendance: 3,813
7 October 2006
Fiji 40–4 Cook Islands
CUA Stadium, Penrith
Attendance: 1,713
22 October 2006
Tonga 18–10 Samoa
Headingley Rugby Stadium, Leeds
Attendance: 5,547

Other

Originally, the USA, Japan, South Africa and West Indies were going to compete in a four-team tournament at Bernie Robbins Stadium, Atlantic City, from 21–28 October.

However, the West Indies and South Africa withdrew before the draw, and a one-off match was played between Japan and the USA.[3]

28 October 2006
United States 54–18 Japan
Aston Community Center Field, Aston
Attendance: 1,200

Repechage

Semi-finals

9 November 2007
Wales 26–50 Lebanon
Tries: Gibson (3)
Blackwood
Bracek
Goals: Harris (2/4)
Briers		Tries: Salem (3)
El Zbaideh
Kourouche
Moujalli
Ndaira
Saab
Samia Goals: Nicolas (7/9)
Halton Stadium, Widnes
Attendance: 753
9 November 2007
United States 10–42 Samoa
Halton Stadium, Widnes
Attendance: 753

Final

14 November 2007
Lebanon 16–38 Samoa
Post Office Road, Featherstone
Attendance: 1,323
  • Therefore, Samoa qualified for the final position at the World Cup to be held in Australia in 2008.

See also

References

  1. ↑ The match was originally abandoned after the Georgian team had their visa applications rejected. A subsequent investigation discovered that Georgia had actually been forced to forfeit the match because their players were representing the rugby union team. Georgia were found guilty of bringing the game into disrepute, ejected from the competition and banned from RLIF events for two years; Russia were awarded the match 24–0.
  2. ↑ Proszenko, Adrian (6 March 2011). "Police identify final punter". The Sydney Morning Herald. Australia: Fairfax Media. Retrieved 6 March 2011.
  3. ↑ "Tips regarding supplementation - American National Rugby League - Rugby league in the United States". www.amnrl.com.

Sources

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.