Talk:2019 Rugby World Cup – Africa qualification

Makes no sense
The last bit of this makes no sense. First - given the 2017 Silver Cup takes place from 5-8 July, that pretty much means it's a knockout comp (not a round robin) - that's minor point. The problem is the next bit - apparently 4 teams from 2017 Gold go to 2018 Gold (sure fine), but then the 4th 2018 Gold team plays the 2017 Silver winner in a "repechage" - for what with regards to World Cup 2019 - and what happens to 2nd and 3rd in the 2018 Gold? Can only the 4th place team make the intercontinental repechage? Coz that's what the page says at the moment - 1st goes to the World Cup, 4th goes to a play-off for the repechage (against the Silver Cup winner) and 2nd and 3rd are eliminated. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 134.159.131.34 (talk) 00:58, 29 March 2017 (UTC)

Out of date?
Seems this is out of date (and frankly, still seems wrong). From World Rugby "Senegal and Tunisia will both step into an expanded top tier – now known as the Rugby Africa Gold Cup – in 2017 to join last year’s champions Namibia, Kenya, Uganda and Zimbabwe. The Silver Cup winner will replace the bottom-ranked side for the 2018 Gold Cup competition which will be the final stage of the African process with the winner qualifying as Africa 1 and the runner-up entering the Repechage tournament." (http://www.rugbyworldcup.com/news/245152 - May 2017) Implies (more sensibly) that the qualifiers are all from the 2018 Gold Cup (1st direct/2nd to repechage) with top 5 from 2017 Gold +Winner 2017 Silver making up the final group field. 134.159.131.34 (talk) 12:56, 13 June 2017 (UTC)
 * So it's been reverted (by the usual suspect) Apparently next year we'll have the Gold Cup - including Morocco - they could well finish last, but then they'll get a play-off against the team finishing second (no idea what third, fourth and fifth placed teams will think of this idea) for a chance to qualify for the Repechage. Doesn't that strike you as just a little bit unlikely? 134.159.131.34 (talk) 03:37, 9 July 2017 (UTC)
 * Your link makes it seem pretty clear that the article is wrong at the moment. The 2018 Gold Cup will include Morocco and the top five teams from the 2017 Gold Cup. The winner will qualify directly, and the #2 team will enter the repechage. There will be no playoff. Unless the article in your link is wrong.My Dinner With Andre The Giant (talk) 02:43, 13 July 2017 (UTC)

Qualifying in 2018
So it seems there are a couple of versions being debated, and both of them have support from the World Rugby website. One version has Morocco promoted to the 2018 Gold Cup (with the #6 team being relegated), and the winner of the 2018 Gold Cup qualifying directly and the runner-up advancing to repechage. The other version has four teams in the 2018 Gold Cup (presumably the top four from 2017) contesting qualification, with the runner-up facing Morocco for the right to compete in the repechage. As I said, the World Rugby website has a page supporting each: http://www.rugbyworldcup.com/news/245152 and http://www.rugbyworldcup.com/qualifying/africa/bracket, respectively.

I am inclined to believe that the former version is the correct one for the following reasons:
 * 1) It makes a lot more sense. In the latter version, what would happen with Morocco and the 2017 bottom two Gold? Would they be in the 2018 Silver? If so, why wouldn't the top team from the 2018 Silver Cup be in the playoff instead? Would they be in the 2018 Gold but their games not count towards qualification? (Could you imagine the confusion if Morocco were to win the 2018 Gold but not qualify directly?)
 * 2) The article supporting the former version is dated May 9, 2017. The article supporting the latter version is not dated, however if you click on "Format Explanation", it leads to a very vague page published on February 12, 2016. I think it's reasonable to believe that the more recent article is more accurate.
 * 3) The article supporting the latter version is itself neither up to date nor correct. It does not identify any of the teams in the 2017 Gold Cup (excepting newly promoted Senegal and Tunisia), nor does it identify any of the teams in the 2017 Silver Cup, other than Morocco. Furthermore, it suggests that six teams will contest the 2017 Silver Cup.
 * 4) Actually, on that note, it doesn't even use the terms Gold and Silver Cup, which presumably had not been implemented when the article was written.My Dinner With Andre The Giant (talk) 04:08, 13 July 2017 (UTC)