Romania on track for RWC 2011 play-off

Romania took a giant step towards the cross-continental play-off to determine the 20th and final qualifier for Rugby World Cup 2011 with a 33-3 defeat of Ukraine at the Spartak Stadium in Kiev on Saturday.

The victory means Romania, who finished third in the European Nations Cup top tier behind Russia and Georgia, are on track to meet Tunisia in July for the right to meet either Uruguay or Asian 5 Nations runners up Kazakhstan in the final play-off.

Romania have climbed one place to 17th as a result of the away victory, swapping places with USA who they had sat below by less than a thousandth of a rating point. Ukraine drop two places to 28th, although this is due to gains by Brazil and Kazakhstan.

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Kazakhstan have surged up four places to 25th – their highest ever position since the IRB World Rankings were introduced in October 2003 – on the back of their 32-25 defeat of Korea on the final weekend of the HSBC Asian 5 Nations.

Anton Rudoy scored a hat-trick of tries as Kazakhstan secured the vital bonus point win in Incheon that took them above Hong Kong, who fell 94-5 to Japan in Tokyo, into second place in the A5N and a place in the cross-continental play-off for the final place at RWC 2011.

Korea had led 17-0 against Kazakhstan, but suffered a fourth loss of the Top 5 and will be relegated to Division I next year with Sri Lanka taking their place among the elite nations of Asian rugby.

This latest loss sees them drop five places to 32nd in the IRB World Rankings, meaning they have fallen eight places over the five weekends of the Asian 5 Nations and slip out of the top 30 nations for the first time since the introduction of the rankings.

Japan’s emphatic defeat of Hong Kong, scoring 14 tries in the process to record a 12th consecutive bonus point win in the Top 5, had no impact on the IRB World Rankings with the Brave Blossoms remaining 13th, 21 places and 18-1 points above their visitors.

Slovenia biggest climbers of weThe latest victory by John Kirwan’s side sees them retain the Asian 5 Nations title and qualify for Rugby World Cup 2011 as Asia 1, slotting into Pool A with hosts New Zealand, France, Tonga and Canada.