The current status of the qualifying games is:
>>> European zone qualifying rounds >>> =============================== >>> West European (9 teams) >>> ------------- >>> Eliminated: Andorra, Switzerland, Denmark, Luxembourg, Belgium, >>> Switzerland >>> Spain vs Portugal (date TBA) >>> Portugal vs Wales 1994/05/18: 11-102 >>> Spain vs Wales 1994/05/21: 0-54 (Andora had the distinction of being the first country eliminated from the 1995 World Cup.) Wales qualified >>> Central European (6 teams) >>> ---------------- >>> Eliminated: Hungary >>> Czech, Netherlands, Sweden, Israel 1993/10/31 - 1993/11/06 >>> Best two go forward to play Italy in May 94. Israel 67 Hungary 8 Sweden 26 Israel 10 Czech 34 Sweden 5 Czech 38 Israel 0 Italy qualified beating the Czech Republic 104-8 (a World Cup record). >>> East European (7 teams) >>> ------------- >>> Eliminated: Georgia, Lithuania, Latvia and Poland. >>> Germany, Romania, Russia 1994/05/02 - 1994/05/07 on pool basis Romania won this (beating Russia 30-0) so becoming the East European qualifier. >>> Winners of the three sub zones compete on pool basis to become >>> Europe 1, 2 and 3 qualifiers This will determine which pool they will compete in. The timetable for these matches is: Sept 17th Romania v Wales (in Romania) --- Wales won 16-9 Oct 1st Italy v Romania --- Italy won 24-6 Oct 12th Wales v Italy (Wed, in Cardiff) --- Wales won 29-19 >>> Asian zone (8 teams) >>> ========== >>> Republic of China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, >>> Sri Lanka, Thailand >>> Play in Malaysia Tournament 1994/10/22 - 1994/10/29 Japan has qualified beating Korea 26-11 in the final of the above tournament. The pool results were: Group A P W D L F A Pts Japan 3 3 0 0 220 17 6 Taiwan 3 2 0 1 53 80 4 Malaysia 3 1 0 2 47 138 2 Sri Lanka 3 0 0 3 30 115 0 Japan 56 Taiwan 5 Japan 67 Sri Lanka 3 Malaysia 23 Sri Lanka 18 Taiwan 23 Malaysia 15 Japan 97 Malaysia 9 Taiwan 25 Sri Lanka 9 Group B P W D L F A Pts S. Korea 2 2 0 0 183 33 4 Hong Kong 2 1 0 1 274 30 2 Thailand 2 1 0 1 82 163 2 Singapore 2 0 0 2 21 323 0 Korea 28 Hong Kong 17 Korea 90 Singapore 3 Thailand 69 Singapore 5 Hong Kong 93 Thailand 0 Korea 65 Thailand 13 Hong Kong 164 Singapore 13 The victory by Hong Kong over Singapore was a world record score. The qualifying rounds have seen this record overturned no less than three times. >>> Pacific zone (2 teams) >>> ============ Tonga qualifies, having eliminated Fiji in a two game series in 1993. The games were split: Tonga 24 Fiji 11 Fiji 15 Tonga 10 but Tonga qualifies on points aggregate. >>> African Zone (7 teams) >>> ============ >>> Eliminated: Tunisia, Kenya, Gulf States. >>> Ivory Coast, Morocco, Namibia, Zimbabwe play on >>> pool basis in Morocco 1994/06/18 - 1994/06/19 Results: Namibia 25 Zimbabwe 20 Morocco 17 Ivory Coast 9 Morocco 9 Zimbabwe 21 Ivory Coast 13 Namibia 12 !!!! Zimbabwe 10 Ivory Coast 17 Morocco 16 Namibia 16 Ivory Coast, previously unrecognized as a force in rugby, have qualified as the African entry beating both odds-on favourite Namibia and Zimbabwe (who played in the last two World Cups). >>> American zone (6 teams) >>> ============= >>> Bermuda vs USA 1994/03/12 Score: 3-60 >>> Chile vs Paraguay 1993/09/26 Score: 24-25 >>> Paraguay vs Uruguay 1993/10/02 Score: 3-67 >>> Uruguay vs Chile 1993/10/09 Score: 14-6 >>> Argentina vs Chile 1993/10/11 Score: 70-7 >>> Argentina vs Paraguay 1993/10/16 Score: 51-3 >>> Uruguay vs Argentina 1993/10/23 Score: 10-19 Argentina has won the Southern qualifying competition. >>> Finals, North (USA) vs South (Argentina): two games to be played, May 28 (USA), June 20 (Buenos Aires) Argentina 28 USA 22 Argentina 16 USA 11 Argentina is therefore the Americas qualifier.