In qualification for the 2003 Rugby World Cup, a number of positions were available to Oceania nations.
Fiji and Samoa qualified, joining automatic qualifiers Australia and New Zealand, while Tonga progressed to the repechage, where they faced South Korea.
The teams in each pool played each other in a single round robin, with the top team in each pool qualifying for round 3.
In Round 2, the traditional three biggest Pacific Island nations played a single round-robin tournament.
Fiji finished top and qualified for Pool B as Oceania 1, while Samoa finished second and were placed in Pool C as Oceania 2.