KUALA LUMPUR, May 15 — It’s a possible but uphill battle for the Malaysian rugby squad to qualify for the 2023 World Cup in France, says Malaysian Rugby Union (KRM) competition director Fahmy Jalil.
He said Malaysia, ranked 49th in the world, would first need to win the 2021 Asian Rugby Championship (ARC) against some of Asia’s best teams, including Hong Kong and South Korea, who are ranked 22nd and 31st, respectively.
If the Hibiscus squad win the ARC, they would then meet the winner of the Oceania playoff, namely between Cook Island (52nd in the world) and either Tonga (13) or Samoa (14).
“The winner between the Samoa and Tonga match will automatically qualify for the World Cup. The losing team (Samoa/Tonga) will meet Cook Island to decide which team will face the ARC champions (in a playoff) for another automatic World Cup slot.
“The losing team in the playoff will go to the ‘repechage’ stage. This third stage is a four-cornered ‘repechage’ round involving representatives from Africa, Europe, America and Asia/Ocenia,” said Fahmy, who is also KRM vice-president.
Fahmy said only one slot was offered through the stage to complete the list of 20 teams that will play at the World Cup, which is scheduled from Sept 8 to Oct 21, 2023. — Bernama
