Paraguay Rugby will be on the world stage like never before. Los Yakares remarkable home-and-away victories over Brazil in Rugby World Cup 2027 Qualifying saw them claiming the final spot in repechage for the RWC 2027 Final Qualification Tournament.
Paraguay join Rugby World Cup regulars Namibia and Samoa as well as Belgium in repechage. This gives the repechage a split of two different worlds: two of the four competitors have never played at a Rugby World Cup while two others are regulars. Only one of the four will qualify for Australia 2027.
| REPECHAGE RWC 2027 FINAL QUALIFICATION TOURNAMENT: FORMAT |
The four teams will compete against each other over a series of three rounds in November. The matches will be played on November 08, November 13 and November 18. All matches will take place in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
The team that finishes top of the table will officially qualify for Rugby World Cup 2027. That team will claim the last remaining spot at Australia 2027. As mentioned, Belgium and Paraguay are both competing for the right to play in a first-ever Rugby World Cup tournament.
Namibia has competed at seven Rugby World Cups. The Welwitschias qualified direct from Africa for Rugby World Cups 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015 and 2023. The team has the worst record of all teams to have competed at Rugby World Cups. The Welwitschias has lost all of their 26 matches in Rugby World Cups.
Namibia faced Samoa at Rotorua, New Zealand during Rugby World Cup 2011. Samoa were 49-12 winners. Samoa also defeated Fiji at RWC 2011. Samoa finished third in the pool at that tournament. Samoa has competed in every Rugby World Cup except for the inaugural tournament in 1987. They were simply not invited to RWC 1987.
Samoa is a two-time Rugby World Cup Quarter Finalist. Samoa shocked Wales in Rugby World Cup 1991 and backed-up by reaching the Quarter Finals again in 1995. Samoa has been competitive ever since but peaked under the 16-team RWC model which was used until RWC 1995.
RWC 2023 saw Samoa defeating Chile and losing to England by a single point. The result against England mirror’s Namibia’s best result in a RWC match, a one-point loss against Georgia in 2015. Both Samoa and Namibia were well-placed to qualify for RWC 2027 but fell-short. Zimbabwe defeated Namibia while the USA and Chile both qualified by beating Samoa.
RWC 2027 may therefore be the first Men’s Rugby World Cup since 1987 to not include Samoa and the first since 1995 to not feature Namibia.
The referees for the repechage matches are Damián Schneider (Argentina), Jordan Way (Australia), Eoghan Cross (Ireland) and Craig Evans (Wales). Griffin Colby (South Africa) and Brett Cronan (Australia) will be busy as assistant referee and TMO respectively for all six matches.
Despite being a Spanish-Speaking country, Paraguay will not have Schneider as their referee for any of the matches. Schneider refereed Uruguay vs Paraguay earlier this year, doing so in Spanish. Notwithstanding, all RWC repechage games will be officiated in English with Paraguay’s three matches being officiated by referees from Australia and Ireland.
Schneider will referee Samoa vs Namibia on November 13. He will also referee two other matches in November: Scotland vs USA on November 01 in Edinburgh and Spain vs Fiji in Málaga on November 22.
| REPECHAGE RWC 2027 FINAL QUALIFICATION TOURNAMENT: MATCHES |
NOV 08 
VS
NOV 08
VS
NOV 13VS
NOV 13VS
NOV 18 VS
NOV 18 VS
| REPECHAGE RWC 2027 FINAL QUALIFICATION TOURNAMENT: OFFICIALS |
Samoa vs Paraguay
Referee: Jordan Way (Australia)
Assistant Referees: Eoghan Cross (Ireland); Griffin Colby (South Africa)
TMO: Brett Cronan (Australia)
Belgium vs Namibia
Referee: Craig Evans (Wales)
Assistant Referees: Damián Schneider (Argentina); Griffin Colby (South Africa)
TMO: Brett Cronan (Australia)
BelgiumvsParaguay
Referee: Eoghan Cross (Ireland)
Assistant Referees: Jordan Way (Australia); Griffen Colby (South Africa)
TMO: Brett Cronan (Australia)
SamoavsNamibia
Referee: Damián Schneider (Argentina)
Assistant Referees: Craig Evans (Wales); Griffen Colby (South Africa)
TMO: Brett Cronan (Australia)
NamibiavsParaguay
Referee: Jordan Way (Australia)
Assistant Referees: Eoghan Cross (Ireland); Griffen Colby (South Africa)
TMO: Brett Cronan (Australia)
BelgiumvsSamoa
Referee: Craig Evans (Wales)
Assistant Referees: Damián Schneider (Argentina); Griffen Colby (South Africa)
TMO: Brett Cronan (Australia)
16 (66.94)
22 (61.20)
27 (56.97)
34 (50.53)
