Samoa and Fiji have sealed their passage to next year's Rugby World Cup in Australia by coming through the Oceania qualifying phase.

The Samoans booked their place with a 31-13 win over Tonga in Apia on Friday to move to the top of the triangular Oceania competition.

The result also guaranteed Fiji a place in the finals with their final match against Tonga still to come.

Fiji are second on the table but if they beat Tonga as expected they could overtake Samoa, depending on points for and against over the series.

The Oceania group winner goes into the same World Cup pool as France and Scotland while the runner-up will be in the same pool as South Africa and England.

Tonga, who have lost each of their three qualifying matches, will face a play-off against either the Cook Islands or Papua New Guinea for a chance to go into the draw for the lucky losers, where a further two places are available.

The eight quarter-finalists from the last World Cup in 1999 - Australia, France, South Africa, New Zealand, Wales, England, Scotland and Argentina - were all granted automatic places in the 2003 tournament.

The schedule for the World Cup was released in Sydney in May but the final 20-team line-up will not be known until early next year.