2017 Rugby League World Cup qualification (Middle East-Africa play-off)
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| First test | |||||||
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| Date | 25 October 2015 | ||||||
| Venue | Bosman Stadium, Brakpan, Pretoria | ||||||
| Man of the Match |  Elias Sukkar | ||||||
| Referee |  Phil Bentham | ||||||
| Second test | |||||||
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| Date | 31 October 2015 | ||||||
| Venue | Bosman Stadium, Brakpan, Pretoria | ||||||
The 2017 Rugby League World Cup Middle East-Africa qualification play-off is a two-match rugby league series, with the winner qualifying for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup. The matches will be between South Africa and Lebanon and be played at Brakpan Stadium in Pretoria, South Africa on 25 and 31 October 2015.
Übersicht
On 3 October 2014, the 2017 Rugby League World Cup qualifying competition was announced with one qualification spot being granted to the Middle East-Africa region.[1]
Initially a one-off play off match in the Dubai Sports City complex was announced.[2] However the match was cancelled after the head of the Emirates rugby league, Sol Mokdad, was arrested following a complaint from UAE rugby union officials.
South Africa was subsequently given the hosting rights for the qualification fixtures. South Africa RL president Kobus Botha stated that the “SARL is extremely excited about hosting this highly prestigious World Cup Qualifier... We hope that this is the first of many such tournaments and a small glimpse into what South Africa can offer as a potential host country for the 2021 World Cup.”[3]
Squads
Both teams picked strong preliminary train-on squads with the South Africans picked what they believed was “a strong, healthy and balanced train-on squad” which contained domestic players as well as the eligible South African players based in Australia's reserve grade competitions.[4] The Lebanese selected eligible NRL players along with other reserve grade, domestic and unattached players.[5]
Südafrika
The South Africa squad as of 13 October 2015[6] is as follows:
- Coach:
Brian Greige
Libanon
The Lebanon squad as of 17 October 2015[7][8] is as follows:
- Coach: Darren Maroon
Match 1
25 October 2015
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Südafrika 
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12 – 40 | Libanon
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| Try: Joubert 12' King 56' Raubenheimer 73' Goal: Williams (0/2) Coetzer (0/1) |
Bericht |
Try: Robinson (3) 3' c, 33', 78' c Saab 17' c Abou-Sleiman 21' c Mamary 59' c El Masri 63' c Goal: Boustani (6/7) 4', 18', 22', 60', 64', 79' |
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Lebanon: Ali Allouche was a late replacement for suspended hooker Jamie Clark.[9]
Match 2
31 October 2015
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| Südafrika
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16 – 50 | Libanon
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| Try: Mzembe 36' Wells 54' Viljoen 76' Goal: Williams (2/3) |
Bericht |
Try: Abou Sleiman 2' Robinson (3) 11', 19', 44' Daoud 26' Sukkar 32' El Masri 60' Boustani 63' Kassis 74' Goal: Boustani (6/7) |
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References
- ^ QUALIFICATION DETAILS FOR 2017 RUGBY LEAGUE WORLD CUP ANNOUNCED, rlef.eu.com, 3 August 2014
- ^ Dubai to host RLWC2017 Qualifier, rlif.com, 19 April 2015
- ^ Venue changed for Middle East-Africa RLWC qualifier, aprlc.com, 24 July 2015
- ^ SARL NAME TRAIN-ON SQUAD FOR WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS, rlef.eu.com, 6 October 2015
- ^ LEBANON NAME INITIAL SQUAD FOR WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS, rlef.eu.com, 1 October 2015
- ^ SOUTH AFRICA ANNOUNCE 20-MAN WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS SQUAD
- ^ ROBINSON BROTHERS HEADLINE STRONG LEBANON SQUAD
- ^ ROBINSON WITHDRAWAL DISRUPTS LEBANON PREPARATIONS
- ^ 2017 RLWCQ - MEA GAME 1: SOUTH AFRICA V LEBANON – PREVIEW