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This tie has the most jeopardy of the weekend, with the winner of this tie having the opportunity to take a further qualifying opportunity against the rest of the world for RWC 2027.
FINAL QUALIFICATION TOURNAMENT – November 2025
The final qualification tournament will comprise one pool of four teams, playing in a round-robin format with the winner - on competition points - qualifying for Australia 2027. The four teams will be comprised of the:
Sudamérica Rugby Championship 2025 third place
South America/Pacific Play-off loser
Rugby Europe Men’s Championship 2025 fifth place
Africa/Asia Play-off winner (Rugby Africa Men’s Cup 2025 runner-up v Asia Rugby Men’s Championship runner-up)
Netherlands come into this game with a plan by the looks of it, Willie Du Plessis is called back into the fold at 10. With Vikas Meijer dropping into the full back role. The physical pack has only 1 change with the return of Gabor Besuijen to Tighthead, and Thymo Peters dropping to the bench. Bilal Egberts would have been hoping to hold his spot in the 23 after a try scoring debut, 2 weeks ago. Tim De Jong and Chris Raymond will be hunting for space around the breakdown and capitalise off the set pieces.
Will Edwards replaces David Weersma at 12 for the start after recovering from the injury that saw him go off against Switzerland. With the changes at 10 and with Vikas moving into 15, I foresee a territory battle to ensue. Belgium have loved to give away penalties too, and with Netherlands missing all but a few kicks in recent weeks. Points will be paramount in keeping the board ticking over and putting the Belgians under pressure when their discipline slips.
Netherlands Starting XV (1-15) Odin Ruijgrok, Robbie Coetzee, Gabor Besuijen, Chris van Leeuwen, Koen Bloemen, Spike Salman, Tim de Jong, Chris Raymond, Boris Hadinegoro, Willie du Plessis, Bjorn Dolman, Will Edwards, Oliva Sialau, Te Campbell, Vikas Meijer
Netherlands Replacements (16-23) Lars Linnenbank, Shane Fikken, Thymo Peters, Dennis van Dijken, Hugo Huurman, Amir Rademaker, David Weersma, Mees van Oord
Belgium return to a pretty much full strength side for this clash. Charlesty Berguet returns in the Loose. William van Bost will look to shore up the heavy penalty count at the breakdown that Belgium have suffered in recent games. Hugo de Francq will be looking to keep the board ticking over with his trusty boot, that has helps Belgium keep the board ticking. Dazzy Cornez returns on the bench after a knock suffered in the last group game. Will his explosive pace add to the threat later on, or do they have another plan to turn the screw with Isaac Montoisy.
Belgium Starting XV (1-15) Charlesty Berguet, Alexandre Raynier, Maxime Jadot, Gillian Benoy, Maximilien Hendrickx, Jean-Maurice Decubber, William van Bost, Thomas de Molder, Julien Berger, Hugo de Francq, Simeon Soenen, Jens Torfs, Florian Remue, Thomas Wallraf, Matias Remue
Belgium Replacements (16-23) Bruno Vliegen, Basile van Parys, Jean-Baptiste de Clercq, Toon Deceuninck, Maurice Fromont, Theo Adaba, Dazzy Cornez, Isaac Montoisy
Both teams have had similar form in the tournament but the Netherlands have looked the most comfortable as the tournament has gone on. Belgium had a great start but then don’t seem to have found the right formula to grow on that performance. The Netherlands have really benefitted from Boris Hadinegoro exploding onto the scene and really making the Netherlands tick.
This game will be a close one! But I reckon the Netherlands win by 10 making full use of home advantage.
