A disastrous campaign from Samoa sees the Pacific Islanders on the brink of missing out on a first Rugby World Cup since the inaugural tournament in 1987. A winless campaign in Rugby World Cup Qualifiers sees Samoa not to compete in repechage for the last remaining Rugby World Cup 2027 spot.
SAMOA RUGBY RESULTS: 2025
Sep 27, 2025 – Chile 31-12 Samoa (Viña del Mar, CL)
Sep 20, 2025 – Samoa 32-32 Chile (Salt Lake City, UT, USA)
Sep 14, 2025 – USA 29-13 Samoa (Denver, CO, USA)
Sep 06, 2025 – Samoa 15-29 Fiji (Rotorua, NZ)
Aug 23, 2025 – Tonga 30-16 Samoa (Nuku’alofa, TO)
July 18, 2025 – Samoa 12-41 Scotland (Auckland, NZ)
Samoa is the third of four teams confirmed for the global repechage tournament. The winner of the four-team repechage tournament will qualify as the 24th, and final, competitor for Australia 2027. The 2027 tournament will be contain 24 teams, four more than the total at Rugby World Cups 1999-2023 and eight more than from Rugby World Cups 1987-1995.
Dubai will play host to the tournament in November. Standing in the way of the official announcement is the final participant. That team will be wither Brazil or Paraguay. The two South American teams will contest the Sudamérica 3 spot to keep the dream alive of appearing in a first ever Men’s Rugby World Cup.
Namibia qualified for repechage after defeating the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The result of the Africa 2 vs Asia 2 play-off saw the Welwitschias advancing in Rugby World Cup 2027 qualifying. Namibia was the second team to be confirmed following Belgium.
Namibia played in all twenty-team Rugby World Cups. The Welwitschias debuted in 1999, becoming the fourth African country to compete at a Rugby World Cup. Zimbabwe compete at Rugby World Cups 1987 and 1991, Cotê d’Ivoire at Rugby World Cup 1995 and South Africa at all tournaments from 1995 onwards.
Zimbabwe’s win over Namibia ended a 34 year wait. The Sables booked a spot in a third Rugby World Cup with a 30-28 nail-bitting win over Namibia. That result sent Namibia to the play-off against the UAE.
Belgium, who have never qualified for a Rugby World Cup are ranked higher than Namibia in 22nd. Namibia will also have stiffer competition from the other teams who compete in the repechage tournament. Canada (25) and Brazil (28) are cases in points.
Samoa’s loss against Chile will see ramifications for the updated Rugby World Rankings on Monday. Chile will rise from 20th to 17th in the world while others fall. Uruguay and Portugal will now be ranked 19th and 20th respectively. Samoa’s new ranking will be a fall from 15th to 16th, trading places with the USA.
