Tonga and Korea meet to decide one of the places, described on the fixture list as Répechage 2. That would put them in Pool A with England, South Africa, Samoa and the USA. Tough.

Their match will be a one-off, played in Auckland on 10 February 2007. The last time Korea and Tonga met in a répechage match was in 2003. Then they met in Seoul and were to have played home and away. Tonga won the first match 75-0 and then Korea honoured the fixture by going south and losing to Tonga 119-0 in Nuku'alofa.

It would be better to bet that Tonga will be Répechage 2.

Becoming Répechage 1 is a tougher task by far but a gentler destination in Pool C along with New Zealand, Scotland, Italy and Romania.

The team that becomes Répechage 1 may well have to win four matches.

First off, Europe's last chance plays Africa's last chance, Portugal against Morocco, first in Casablanca and then in Lisbon.

The winner of that plays Uruguay also on a home-and-away basis.

Répechage matches:

20 January 2007: Morocco vs Portugal in Casablanca
27 January 2007: Portugal vs Morocco in Lisbon
10 February 2007: Tonga vs Korea in Auckland

The dates for the matches between Uruguay and either Morocco or Portugal have still to be decided.