World Cup: Asia/Oceania qualifier

Fiji celebrate after their win over Papua New Guinea (Photo:Radio New Zealand)

The final two places in the 2017 World Cup will be decided next week in a three-team tournament, taking place in Hong Kong.

Ireland 2017 will be a new experience for all of the teams. Hong Kong and Fiji have never qualified before, while Japan’s last appearance in the finals was back in 2002.

The Fijiana begin as the unknown outsiders. Samoa have always been the Pacific islands’ representative at previous World Cups but, despite having appeared in the 2002, 2006 and 2014 tournaments, their entry for 2017 was rejected due to insufficient of domestic fifteens in the islands (almost all of their World Cup players in previous tournaments have been residents of New Zealand or Australia).

As a result, it was left to Fiji and Papua New Guinea to compete for a place in this play-off a few weeks ago, with the Fijiana – playing at home – winning thegame 37-10.

That was Fiji’s first game since 2006, and only their third overall. Yet they now stand effectively one win away from the World Cup - one game away from playing the likes of New Zealand or France.

But they know the level of challenge ahead of them. Assistant coach Ro Alifereti Doviverata has been monitoring Hong Kong’s performance and know what to expect.

“We will be facing two different teams all together when we go to Hong Kong compared to PNG,” Doviverata said. “Hong Kong have been playing for the last 10 years, whereas for us it will be the second game for us. We have watched their games and we have seen their weaknesses and strengths, so we are preparing accordingly.

“Judging from the way they played, we know what to expect from them and we need to make sure that we are prepared ourselves going into this competition. A lot is at stake, so we are just making sure we get things right.”

Though the team impressed the coaching staff with their performance against PNG, Doviverata said there are some changes that will need to be made.

“Our preparations have been refreshing and we have been touching up on what we have learnt from our game against PNG,” he said. “Only a few changes will be made, a few new players will be coming in, we have been in constant contact with head coach Seremaia Bai about the players which he has been away in Europe.

“At the moment, we are just trying to build up the team so that we have a good outing and depending on the results we get, we can get more girls interested.”

Seremaia Bai said they had achieved their short term goal of beating Papua New guinea for the Oceania Championship.

"We set our goals and the long term plan is to play in the World Cup," he said."We have achieved our short term goal which is beating Papua New Guinea in the Oceania series. But it will be different from the PNG game as it will be a step up in Hong Kong.

"We are creating history because the last time the Fijiana played 15s was back in 2006."

The Fijiana have been working hard on their fitness as Hong Kong and Japan like to play the game at pace.

"First and foremost we need to get fitter. We were pleased where we were at with PNG but we need to get fitter to compete going into the World Cup if we want to qualify," he said. "We just need to be in terms of awareness and understanding of our gameplan - at times I think we lack concentration but some parts of our games are really positive...we need to be beyond the goal for 80 minutes."

Hong Kong have been trying to reach the World Cup since 2000 and hope that this at last will be their year. Coach Jo Hull see this as their best chance yet:

“It is an amazing opportunity to go to a World Cup that I don’t think the players have had before and there is a real belief in the team that it is not a dream anymore and we are trying to grab it with both hands,” she said.

“These players know they need to get everything right against Fiji, which means our set pieces and most importantly the contact area and breakdown, are our key focus. The players are excited, but we know we will need to earn this.”

Hong Kong warmed up for the competition with two games against Kazakhstan, who have been Asia leading representative in every tournament since 1994, but withdrew from the Asian Championships earlier this year, a decision that also meant that they could not compete for a place in Ireland. However, Hong Kong’s 2-0 victory in the unofficial series suggests that qualification for Kazakhstan, even if they had entered, would certainly not have been guaranteed.

Hong Kong welcome back experienced forwards Royce Chan Leong-sze and Christy Cheng Ka-chi to the squad along with new prop Wong Yuen-shan, while USRC Tigers’ Jessica Ho Wai-on is a new addition to the backs.

“We are looking at players who are performing at the moment, whether it be with their club or in the Super Series, and that is what we are judging our selection on. The players know that and have bought into it,” added Hull. “The squad has worked very hard over the summer with a series of training camps and strength and conditioning sessions to help minimise errors, but also to bring out the style of rugby we want to develop.

“We are very positive in our approach to the qualifiers and the Fiji game is everything as it is the first game and a win would position us very well to advance to the World Cup.”

Hong Kong’s “Super Series” – a tournament bringing together the best players in three teams – is in its second year and is becoming a vital proving ground for the region’s emerging talent.

“The Super Series helped us draw a line in the sand as to how we wanted to play and the players were then able to take that into training,” said Hull. “It has also been encouraging to see the club games getting to a higher level, but we still need to prepare for that step up to international rugby that the Super Series helps to provide.”

Looking to the challenge ahead Hull added:

“Fiji are big and strong, so we need to go into that first game knowing how we want to play against them. We haven’t played them before in fifteens and that will pose some challenges in our preparations.”

“Japan are fast and like to play a high tempo game, but we are confident that we are approaching both games with the objective of finishing in the top two,” added Hull.

Despite Hong Kong having hope advantage, Japan start as clear favourites. They lost to both Hong Kong and Kazakhstan in 2014 but since then have dramatically turned their game around. Asian champions in 2015 and 2016, they beat Hong Kong home and away this year with an aggregate score of69-6 over the two games. It would be a major shock if they did not qualify.

The winner of the qualifier will join Ireland, France and Australia in Pool C with their opening game against the French. The runners-up will open their programme against Canada, followed by New Zealand and Wales in Pool A.

Fixtures:

9 December: Hong Kong v Fiji

13 December: Japan v Fiji

17 December: Hong Kong v Japan