2017 Rugby League World Cup qualification (Middle East-Africa play-off)

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2017 RLWC qualification (Middle East-Africa play-off)
South Africa Lebanon
South Africa Lebanon
0 2
90-28 on aggregate, Lebanon wins series 2–0
First test
South Africa Lebanon
12 40
Date25 October 2015
VenueBosman Stadium, Brakpan
Man of the MatchElias Sukkar (Lebanon)
RefereePhil Bentham (England)
Second test
Lebanon South Africa
50 16
Date31 October 2015
VenueBosman Stadium, Brakpan
Man of the MatchElias Sukkar (Lebanon)
RefereePhil Bentham (England)

The 2017 Rugby League World Cup Middle East-Africa qualification play-off was a two-match rugby league series, with the winner qualifying for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup. The matches were between South Africa and Lebanon and were played at Brakpan Stadium in Pretoria, South Africa on 25 and 31 October 2015.

Overview[]

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 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 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]

South Africa[]

The South Africa squad as of 13 October 2015 was as follows:[6]

  • Coach: Australia
Club Team Players
South Africa Australian colours.svg
Australia Burleigh Bears Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg
South Africa Australian colours.svg
Australia Australian colours.svg
South Africa Quinscolours.svg Deon Kraemer, , Jean-Pierre Nel
South Africa Australian colours.svg , ,
South Africa UP-Tuks RLC Eastern Suburbs colours.svg Christo Louw, , , , , Rupert Wells
Australia Wentworthville Magpies New Zealand Kiwis colours.svg
Australia West Coast Pirates Australian colours.svg ,
Australia Wynnum Manly Seagulls Wynnum-Manly Colours.svg

Lebanon[]

The Lebanon squad as of 17 October 2015 was as follows:[7][8]

Club Team Players
Lebanon AUB LebanonRLcolours.png Toufic El Hajj
Australia Asquith Magpies Australian colours.svg Mark Daoud
Australia Auburn Warriors Australian colours.svg , , , Elias Sukkar
Australia Guildford Owls Australian colours.svg Chris Saab
Australia Australian colours.svg
Lebanon Immortals RLFC LebanonRLcolours.png ,
Australia Melbourne Storm Melbourne colours.svg Travis Robinson
Australia Newcastle Knights Newcastle colours.svg James Elias
Australia Newtown Jets Newtown colours.svg Daniel Abou Sleiman, Ahmad Ellaz, , Ray Moujalli
Australia Wentworthville Magpies New Zealand Kiwis colours.svg Nick Kassis, Mitchell Mamary
Lebanon LebanonRLcolours.png
Unattached

First test[]

25 October 2015
South Africa  12 – 40  Lebanon
Try: 12'
56'
73'
Goal: (0/2)
(0/1) 		Report Try: Robinson (3) 3' c, 33', 78' c
Saab 17' c
Abou-Sleiman 21' c
Mamary 59' c
63' c
Goal: (6/7) 4', 18', 22', 60', 64', 79'
Bosman Stadium, Brakpan
Referee: England Phil Bentham
Man of the Match: Elias Sukkar (Lebanon)
FB 1 Australian colours.svg
RW 2 Wynnum-Manly Colours.svg
RC 3 Eastern Suburbs colours.svg
LC 4 Quinscolours.svg
LW 5 Australian colours.svg
SO 6 Australian colours.svg
SH 7 Australian colours.svg
PR 8 Australian colours.svg
HK 9 Australian colours.svg
PR 10 New Zealand Kiwis colours.svg
SR 11 Eastern Suburbs colours.svg
SR 12 Australian colours.svg
LF 13 Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg
Substitutions:
IC 14 Eastern Suburbs colours.svg
IC 15 Eastern Suburbs colours.svg Rupert Wells
IC 16 Australian colours.svg
IC 17 Quinscolours.svg Jean-Pierre Nel
Coach:
Australia
FB 1 Newtown colours.svg Daniel Abou Sleiman
RW 2
RC 3 Newtown colours.svg
LC 4 Australian colours.svg Chris Saab
LW 5 Melbourne colours.svg Travis Robinson
FE 6 Australian colours.svg Mark Daoud
HB 7 Australian colours.svg
PR 8 New Zealand Kiwis colours.svg Mitchell Mamary
HK 9 Canterbury colours.svg
PR 10 Newtown colours.svg Ray Moujalli
SR 11 Australian colours.svg Elias Sukkar
SR 12 New Zealand Kiwis colours.svg Nick Kassis
LK 13 Newtown colours.svg Ahmad Ellaz
Substitutions:
IC 14 Australian colours.svg
IC 15 Newcastle colours.svg James Elias
IC 16 LebanonRLcolours.png
IC 17 LebanonRLcolours.png
Coach:
Australia Darren Maroon

Notes:

  • was a late replacement for suspended hooker .[9]

Second test[]

31 October 2015
South Africa  16 – 50  Lebanon
Try: 36'
Wells 54'
76'
Goal: (2/3) 		Report Try: Abou Sleiman 2'
Robinson (3) 11', 19', 44'
Daoud 26'
Sukkar 32'
60'
63'
Kassis 74'
Goal: (7/10)
Bosman Stadium, Brakpan
Referee: England Phil Bentham
Man of the Match: Elias Sukkar (Lebanon)
FB 1 Australian colours.svg
RW 2 Wynnum-Manly Colours.svg
RC 3 Eastern Suburbs colours.svg
LC 4 Quinscolours.svg
LW 5 Eastern Suburbs colours.svg Rupert Wells
SO 6 Australian colours.svg
SH 7 Australian colours.svg
PR 8 Australian colours.svg
HK 9 Australian colours.svg
PR 10 New Zealand Kiwis colours.svg
SR 11 Eastern Suburbs colours.svg
SR 12 Australian colours.svg
LF 13 Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg
Substitutions:
IC 14 Australian colours.svg
IC 15 Australian colours.svg
IC 16 Eastern Suburbs colours.svg Deon Kraemer
IC 17 Quinscolours.svg Christo Louw
Coach:
Australia
FB 1 Newtown colours.svg Daniel Abou Sleiman
RW 2
RC 3 Newtown colours.svg
LC 4 Australian colours.svg Chris Saab
LW 5 Melbourne colours.svg Travis Robinson
FE 6 Australian colours.svg Mark Daoud
HB 7 Australian colours.svg
PR 8 New Zealand Kiwis colours.svg Mitchell Mamary
HK 9 Canterbury colours.svg
IC 10 Australian colours.svg
SR 11 Australian colours.svg Elias Sukkar
SR 12 New Zealand Kiwis colours.svg Nick Kassis
LK 13 Newtown colours.svg Ahmad Ellaz
Substitutions:
IC 14 Newcastle colours.svg James Elias
IC 15 LebanonRLcolours.png
IC 16 LebanonRLcolours.png
IC 17 LebanonRLcolours.png
Coach:
Australia Darren Maroon

Notes:

  • With the win, Lebanon qualified for the 2017 World Cup after a 2–0 series victory.

References[]

  1. ^ QUALIFICATION DETAILS FOR 2017 RUGBY LEAGUE WORLD CUP ANNOUNCED Archived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine, rlef.eu.com, 3 August 2014
  2. ^ Dubai to host RLWC2017 Qualifier, rlif.com, 19 April 2015
  3. ^ Venue changed for Middle East-Africa RLWC qualifier, aprlc.com, 24 July 2015
  4. ^ SARL NAME TRAIN-ON SQUAD FOR WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine, rlef.eu.com, 6 October 2015
  5. ^ LEBANON NAME INITIAL SQUAD FOR WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine, rlef.eu.com, 1 October 2015
  6. ^ "SOUTH AFRICA ANNOUNCE 20-MAN WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS SQUAD". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-10-17.
  7. ^ "ROBINSON BROTHERS HEADLINE STRONG LEBANON SQUAD". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-10-17.
  8. ^ "ROBINSON WITHDRAWAL DISRUPTS LEBANON PREPARATIONS". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-10-17.
  9. ^ "2017 RLWCQ - MEA GAME 1: SOUTH AFRICA V LEBANON – PREVIEW". Archived from the original on 2015-11-17. Retrieved 2015-10-25.
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