{"id":138487,"date":"2025-11-14T00:03:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-14T00:03:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/138487\/"},"modified":"2025-11-14T00:03:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-14T00:03:10","slug":"perennial-rugby-world-cup-underdogs-miss-2027-belgium-survive-ugly-red-card","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/138487\/","title":{"rendered":"Perennial Rugby World Cup underdogs miss 2027, Belgium survive ugly red card"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Samoa<\/a> and Belgium<\/a> will clash next week for a chance to qualify for the Rugby World Cup, as the two nations overcame Namibia<\/a> and Brazil<\/a> in the second round of the Final Qualification Tournament.<\/p>\n

Last-minute try keeps Diables Noirs on World Cup track
Brazil and Belgium went down to the wire, with the European nation coming out on top after a brutal, physical clash that saw the Diables Noirs claim a 30-27 win.<\/p>\n

The men in black struck from the kick-off following a sensational break from tighthead prop Jean-Baptiste de Clercq. After a few phases, it was his front-row partner Charles-Henri Berguet who dived in for an easy five-pointer.<\/p>\n

Belgium had only to wait twelve minutes to extend their lead further, as skipper Jean-Maurice Decubber<\/a> capped a superb offloading sequence with a try of his own.<\/p>\n

Matias Remue added both conversions.<\/p>\n

The Tupis failed to score for most of the first half, but a late five-minute salvo was enough to get them on the board. Veteran lock Matteo Dell\u2019Acqua found his way into the in-goal area to give his side a bit of hope, with Thiago Oviedo<\/a> adding the extras.<\/p>\n

The South Americans were close to an equaliser, but a fumbled pass just a few metres from the try-line allowed Belgium to kick the ball out and take a seven-point lead into the break.<\/p>\n

Josh Reeve\u2019s side kept their momentum going and, in under eight minutes, staged a comeback, following a successful long-range penalty from Oviedo and a try from front-rower Yan Rosetti.<\/p>\n

Belgium\u2019s woes didn\u2019t stop there, as they went down to 13 players after Toon Deceuninck<\/a> was sent to the sin-bin.<\/p>\n

He was followed by Charles-Henri Berguet after the prop kicked Rosetti in the head, leaving match official Eoghan Cros with no option but to produce a permanent red card.<\/p>\n

Despite the nightmarish scenario, the Diables Noirs regathered their wits and retook the lead thanks to two penalty kicks from Matias Remue<\/a>, with 20 minutes still left on the clock.<\/p>\n

With everything at stake, Brazil and Belgium delivered an intense final ten minutes.<\/p>\n

The Brazilians equalised with a long-range penalty from Lucas Tranquez<\/a>, although it was short-lived, as Remue bagged his first try of the tournament following a flick pass from Sim\u00e9on Soenen.<\/p>\n

With nothing to lose, the Tupis went all in and eventually earned another five-metre lineout that ended with prop Leonel Moreno<\/a> crashing over for a try, its conversion handing Brazil a 2-point lead with seven minutes remaining on the clock.<\/p>\n

The Brazilians were just two minutes from pulling off a dramatic upset when Belgium turned the tables once more: replacement tighthead Maxime Jadot<\/a> securing victory with a decisive try from the back of the maul.<\/p>\n

Laurent Dossat\u2019s team advances to the final round of the tournament with their Rugby World Cup<\/a> aspirations very much alive, but they will need to defeat Samoa in next Tuesday\u2019s match to reach Australia<\/a> 2027.<\/p>\n

Manu Samoa v Namibia
Samoa and Namibia wrapped up the second round of the Final Qualification, with Tusi Pisi\u2019s side claiming a 26\u20138 win.<\/p>\n

The Manu Samoa kicked off the game in grand fashion, quickly working their way into Namibia\u2019s defence and carving their opener before the five-minute mark, scored by Jonathan Taumateine.<\/p>\n

Latrell Smiler Ah-Kiong bagged Samoa\u2019s second, with Jacob Umaga<\/a> converting both to hand them an early 14-point lead.<\/p>\n

\"RugbyIakopo Petelo-Mapu<\/a> of Samoa celebrates with teammate Michael Alaalatoa<\/a> after Alamanda Motuga<\/a> of Samoa (not pictured) scores his team\u2019s fourth try during the Men\u2019s Rugby World Cup 2027 Final Qualification Tournament match between Samoa and Namibia at The Sevens Stadium on November 13, 2025 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Christopher Pike \u2013 World Rugby\/World Rugby via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Although Namibia played with the best intentions, the game never went their way, as they were unable to find their way over Samoa\u2019s try-line, with repeated handling errors keeping them scoreless.<\/p>\n

Wing Va\u2019afauese Apelu Maliko dived into the corner following a scrum on 24 minutes, with the sides going into the break 19-0 in favour of the Pacific islanders.<\/p>\n

After the restart, Namibia appeared more composed, building phases and finally banking their first points through Cliven Loubser\u2019s boot.<\/p>\n

Even so, Samoa\u2019s dominance was never in doubt, as Alamanda Motuga added a fourth try in what was an otherwise uneventful second half.<\/p>\n

Namibia had the final say, a spectacular team-play effort resulting in a consolation try through Jay-Cee Nel.<\/p>\n

Namibia bade farewell to their Rugby World Cup hopes, missing the tournament for the first time since 1995.<\/p>\n

Samoa, meanwhile, will play Belgium in five days\u2019 time as they bid to once again secure their spot in the sport\u2019s flagship tournament.<\/p>\n

You can watch the final day on RugbyPass TV.<\/a><\/p>\n

Round 3 \u2013 November 18
Namibia vs Brazil \u2013 5 PM GST \/ 2 PM GMT
Belgium vs Samoa \u2013 7.30 PM GST \/ 4.30 PM GMT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Samoa and Belgium will clash next week for a chance to qualify for the Rugby World Cup, as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":138488,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-138487","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=138487"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138487\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/138488"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=138487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=138487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}