The last chance of last chances has descended on Marseille as four teams hope to grab the last remaining Rugby World Cup spot for 2019.

In the six-game round-robin, Canada and Germany have the inside track as both won on Saturday.

Canada defeated Kenya (photos by Ian Muir), and Germany shocked Hong Kong to set up this final showdown for a trip to Tokyo.

For Germany, as well as Hong Kong and Kenya, qualifying for the Rugby World Cup Finals would be a first. The team has never qualified for the RWC before and, in fact, hasn’t even come close. However, German rugby has been on the rise, and with Spain and Romania running into trouble with World Rugby over ineligible players, the path opened up.

There was still some work to do, however. Saturday, Germany took on a Hong Kong side touted by many to claim that final RWC spot. 

Debutant Kurt Haupt and replacement Matthias Schosser scored second-half tries as Germany shocked top seeds Hong Kong in Mike Ford's first game in charge of the team.

Hong Kong wing Salom Yiu Kam Shing wasn’t quite kept in check, but his long breaks were covered enough for the Germans to keep Hong Kong away from the tryine. The teams were deadlocked at 6-6 at halftime, and 9-9 at 50 minutes. But Raynor Parkinson’s fourth penalty nudged Germany ahead, and then Haupt and Schosser put it away.

“That was an extremely intense 80 minutes,” said Germany captain Michael Poppmeier. “The first 40 was a bit equal and then I think maybe our fitness got us towards the end, the last 20. Our subs came on and put in a massive effort. It was 100 per cent fight, as well as a little bit of belief and probably preparation.”

Desperate Times In Canada

This repechage tournament is a first for Canada, as well. The Canadians have never missed a Rugby World Cup, invited in 1987 , Canada qualified as either Americas 1 or Americas 2 ever since, famously reaching the Cup Quarterfinals in 1991. They've never even played in the repechage before.

But the Maple Leafs have struggled of late and not only lost to the USA in qualifying, but lost to Uruguay, as well. 

Faced with elimination, Canada merged its 15s and Sevens programs to (depending on who you ask) concentrate on training for this repechage, or divert sevens funds to the same goal.

After some serious public discourse, the job at hand took precedence.

DTH van der Merwe scored the first hat-trick of his 53-test career as Canada began their campaign to qualify for Rugby World Cup 2019 with a comfortable 10-try defeat of Kenya.

Kenya kept replying but No. 8 Tyler Ardron crashed over to give his side the cushion it needed.  impossible to stop from close range and another followed quickly with Sauder finishing off a training ground move for his second of the match, making it 39-19 with 25 minutes to play.

Brett Buekeboom took an inside pass from Phil Mack for his second of the day and then debutant Michael Sheppard and Matt Evans scored. Van der Merwe capped his hat trick with a try from a maul, of all things.

“It feels great to get the win, we know we need two more so for us it is just the beginning," said Mack. "Hats off to Kenya, they really made us tackle and they are super dangerous so we are just happy with the way we dealt with them, in the first half particularly and it is good to get a win.”

So next up? Canada takes on Germany in what could be an early decider, while a bruised but still dangerous Hong Kong faces Kenya - both games November 17. Then, on November 23, Kenya plays Germany, and Canada takes on Hong Kong. Given he format, everything will likely come down to the final weekend.