RWC 2023 Qualifying & Miscellany

[Dctarget]

Damn, Australia has landed on the lucky side of the draw again. Still could go horribly wrong, lose to Fiji and not make it out of the pool matches.
But if we can beat Wales, which I would say is the weakest out of the top 9 teams, then we play Argentina in a QF and through to a semi.

Whereas on the other side of the draw, one team out of SA, Ireland & Scotland aren't making it out of the pool. Money would be on Scotland but they also have a not insignificant chance of beating 1/2 of the others. It wouldn't be ridiculous if SA don't get out of the pool. Then the winner of that exhausting death pool has to go up against France or NZ in the quarter final lol.

Either way Australia if lucky enough to get through to the semi will likely play NZ or France. So, the fun stops there. Ideally a Ireland/SA knocks them off before us.

But yeah, out of five teams: SA, Ireland, Scotland, NZ, France, which has the top 4 ranked teams currently, only 2 can go through.

 

[Dismal Pillock]

Either way Australia if lucky enough to get through to the semi will likely play NZ or France.

Sure as fuck won't be NZ. No way Fozzie's brigade of uncoached chancers have what it takes to bump off the dynamic, rambunctious French.
David Havili? Scrote Barrett? The DV cohort? Our cadre of fat lazy puddinged props?

Never in my life have I been so unenthused about an All Black setup.

Please don't get me started on this topic, I get wound up.

Site Admin please delete this thread and ban @Dctarget thank you.

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

Stuff

www.stuff.co.nz

Romania take Spain's place at RWC, Portugal go to repechage.

Heads need to roll esp if it turns out a forged passport was involved.

 

[KevinO]

Sure as fuck won't be NZ. No way Fozzie's brigade of uncoached chancers have what it takes to bump off the dynamic, rambunctious French.
David Havili? Scrote Barrett? The DV cohort? Our cadre of fat lazy puddinged props?

Never in my life have I been so unenthused about an All Black setup.

Please don't get me started on this topic, I get wound up.

Site Admin please delete this thread and ban @Dctarget thank you.

It's ok Dismal, in 2007 everyone expected the All Blacks to hockey the Frogs in Cardiff. Look what happened, maybe this uninspiring uncoached fat lazy puddinged side can pull off a miracle against your RWC bogey side.

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

After initially saying they wouldn't, Hong Kong have now said they will take part in the Asia/ Pacific qualifiers.

4 June South Korea v Malaysia
8 or 9 June Hong Kong v winner of SK v M
23 June Tonga v winner of HK v SK or M

Winner qualifies for RWC in Pool B (SA, Ireland, Scotland & Europe 2 qualifier), loser goes through to Final Qualification Tournament in November.

Hong Kong back in the equation for Rugby World Cup 2023 qualification ｜ Rugby World Cup 2023

In just over a month, the qualification process for Rugby World Cup 2023 will step up a pace in Asia.

www.rugbyworldcup.com

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

Update on Spain's disqualification:

World Rugby confirms 'despicable' reason for Spain's expulsion

The organisation has slammed the behaviour of those involved.

www.nzherald.co.nz

TLDR: player's Club altered his passport to make him appear to be a local player. Club officials have been stood down & Club Final postponed while Spanish RU decides whether to relegate them from the top tier. I'm gunna make a wild prediction that they will & hope that satisfies World Rugby wrt further punishment.

Player claims to have been unaware of the shenanigans but geez you'd have to be almost wilfully ignorant of the relevant Reg & have a pretty poor grasp of maths to not think "this can't be right what with all that time I spent back in SA".

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

Interesting:

Spain to appeal independent judicial committee decision

Spain have lodged an appeal against the independent Judicial Committee’s decision in respect of a breach of the World Rugby eligibility regulation in the context of Europe region Rugby World Cup 2023 qualifiers.

www.world.rugby

No details given but I'm guessing they're going with "we didn't know" as nothing else really makes sense.

 

[Rugbynutter39]

Interesting:

Spain to appeal independent judicial committee decision

Spain have lodged an appeal against the independent Judicial Committee’s decision in respect of a breach of the World Rugby eligibility regulation in the context of Europe region Rugby World Cup 2023 qualifiers.

www.world.rugby

No details given but I'm guessing they're going with "we didn't know" as nothing else really makes sense.

Well if it was the club that duped them with forged passport it may be they have a case. As I think the national body may have been duped as well and if so seems unfair to kick them out.

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

Spain's appeal has been lodged & it's a doozy:

"...Irish backs James Lowe and Bundee Aki; Scottish prop Pierre Schoeman; and the Tongan-born halfback on the cusp of a first All Blacks cap, Folau Fakatava, have all been named as evidence in Spain’s appeal against their World Cup disqualification for fielding an ineligible player, Gavin van den Berg."

Stuff

i.stuff.co.nz

 

[fatprop]

Squidge on England and eddie jones, interesting ...........................

 

[Braveheart81]

Spain's appeal has been lodged & it's a doozy:

This is good.

The passport tampering bit is clearly the key but the fact World Rugby cited the guy saying he didn't feel at home in Spain in the first year is absolute bullshit.

Presumably they removed details of him leaving Spain? I wonder for how long and how that compares to other people who have qualified under the residency rules?

 

[Derpus]

Spain's appeal has been lodged & it's a doozy:

"...Irish backs James Lowe and Bundee Aki; Scottish prop Pierre Schoeman; and the Tongan-born halfback on the cusp of a first All Blacks cap, Folau Fakatava, have all been named as evidence in Spain’s appeal against their World Cup disqualification for fielding an ineligible player, Gavin van den Berg."

Stuff

i.stuff.co.nz

I know it's not a realistic, but it would be quite amusing if WR (World Rugby) doubled down and ruled all those other players ineligible.

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

This is good.

The passport tampering bit is clearly the key but the fact World Rugby cited the guy saying he didn't feel at home in Spain in the first year is absolute bullshit.

Presumably they removed details of him leaving Spain? I wonder for how long and how that compares to other people who have qualified under the residency rules?

Yeah, the claim is that it was the Club who doctored the passport without the knowledge of the Spanish Union (plausible) & the player (not so plausible, to say the least).

 

[Dismal Pillock]

Spain's appeal has been lodged & it's a doozy:

"...Irish backs James Lowe and Bundee Aki; Scottish prop Pierre Schoeman; and the Tongan-born halfback on the cusp of a first All Blacks cap, Folau Fakatava, have all been named as evidence in Spain’s appeal against their World Cup disqualification for fielding an ineligible player, Gavin van den Berg."

Stuff

i.stuff.co.nz

Lowe: In a 2019 interview with The42, however, the New Zealand-born wing said that it was "weird that [he] could be Irish, isn’t it?", branding World Rugby’s eligibility laws as “stupid” and “weird”.

It is stupid and weird. Players like him and Aki will probably never set foot in Ireland again the day after they retire from representing the country.

Does "English" test international Riki Flutey consider himself a pom?

The whole thing is a laughable sham.

7 years minimum residency to weed out the charlatans and mercenaries.

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

This is good.

The passport tampering bit is clearly the key but the fact World Rugby cited the guy saying he didn't feel at home in Spain in the first year is absolute bullshit.

Presumably they removed details of him leaving Spain? I wonder for how long and how that compares to other people who have qualified under the residency rules?

Apparently a few recent Irish and Scottish international spent extended periods outside of both respective countries within their qualification periods. Or so Spain will be arguing. If true then I will be interesting to see what comes of it. I'll be honest here.

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

It is stupid and weird. Players like him and Aki will probably never set foot in Ireland again the day after they retire from representing the country.

Does "English" test international Riki Flutey consider himself a pom?

The whole thing is a laughable sham.

7 years minimum residency to weed out the charlatans and mercenaries.

Agree with most of that but they're two seperate issues & I think Spain RU are being a tad disingenuous by conflating them.

 

[Rugbynbeers]

I know it's not a realistic, but it would be quite amusing if WR (World Rugby) doubled down and ruled all those other players ineligible.

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

Appeal dismissed:

Independent Appeal Committee decision regarding Spain player eligibility | World Rugby

Following an appeal lodged by the Federación Española de Rugby (FER) (Spanish Union), an Independent Appeal Committee has upheld the original decision of the Independent Judicial Committee relating to breaches of player eligibility during the European regional Rugby World Cup 2023 qualification...

www.world.rugby

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

Rugby Africa Cup results:

Namibia 71-5 Burkina Faso
Zimbabwe 38-11 Cote D’Ivoire
Kenya 42-7 Uganda
Algeria 35-12 Senegal

SF this Wednesday:

Namibia v Zimbabwe
Kenya v Algeria

Rugby Africa Cup 2022 semi-final line-up decided in south of France ｜ Rugby World Cup 2023

Algeria, Kenya, Namibia and Zimbabwe will contest the semi-finals on Wednesday as they each target a place at Rugby World Cup 2023.

www.rugbyworldcup.com

 

[RebelYell]

Rugby Africa Cup results:

Namibia 71-5 Burkina Faso
Zimbabwe 38-11 Cote D’Ivoire
Kenya 42-7 Uganda
Algeria 35-12 Senegal

SF this Wednesday:

Namibia v Zimbabwe
Kenya v Algeria

Rugby Africa Cup 2022 semi-final line-up decided in south of France ｜ Rugby World Cup 2023

Algeria, Kenya, Namibia and Zimbabwe will contest the semi-finals on Wednesday as they each target a place at Rugby World Cup 2023.

www.rugbyworldcup.com

Read a good intrerview with Collins Injera who is playing XVs for Kenya as they try and qualify - hope they get there

https://www.bbc.com/sport/africa/61909799