For the 2015 Rugby World Cup qualifying, there were three inter-confederation play-offs to determine the final qualification spot to the 2015 Rugby World Cup. The process ended with the 20th and final team to qualify for the World Cup. Four teams, the best non-qualifier from each region except Oceania, competed for the last place at the Rugby World Cup finals in England. Uruguay won the final play, thus becoming the 20th qualifier for the World Cup and joined hosts England, Australia, Wales and Fiji in Pool A.
Format The play-off was contested on a knockout basis, with one-game semi-finals and a two-legged home and away final. One semi-final featured the third place team from European qualification and the second place team from African qualification. The other saw the third placed team from the Americas qualification and the second place team from the Asia qualification.
The host of each semi-final was the team with the higher IRB Ranking at the moment it became known who the two teams were.
Teams Confederation Placement Team Africa Round Three runner-up (27) Americas Round Three third (19) Asia Round Three runner-up (23) Europe Round Six winner (20)
Matches
Preliminary round The first match was contested between Russia and Zimbabwe, and the second match between Uruguay and Hong Kong. Upon completion of African qualifying on July 6, Russia outranked Zimbabwe 20th to 27th and thus earned the right to host. Likewise, upon completion of Asian qualifying on May 25, Uruguay outranked Hong Kong 20th to 23rd to earn the right to host.
Team details FB 15Igor KlyuchnikovRW 14Mikhail BabaevOC 13Vasily ArtemyevIC 12Alexei MakovetskiyLW 11Denis Simplikevich FH 10Yuri KushnarevSH 9 Alexander Yanyushkin N8 8 Viktor Gresev OF 7 Andrei TemnovBF 6 Andrei Garbuzov RL 5 Andrei Ostrikov LL 4 Alexander Voytov (c)TP 3 Andrei Igretsov HK 2 Valery Tsnobiladze LP 1 Grigory TsnobiladzeReplacements:HK 16Stanislav Selskiy PR 17Innokenty Zykov LK 18Artem Fatakhov FL 19Pavel Butenko CE 20Igor Galinovskiy SH 21Alexey Shcherban FH 22Ramil GaisinCoach: Raphaël Saint-André FB 15Danny RobertsonRW 14Tafadzwa ChitokwindoOC 13Riann O'NeillIC 12Daniel Hondo (c)LW 11Shayne MakombeFH 10Guy Cronje SH 9 Hilton Mudariki N8 8 Lambert GroenewaldOF 7 Jacques LeitaoBF 6 Graeme Lawler RL 5 Sanele Sibanda LL 4 Jan Ferreira TP 3 Kevin Nqindi HK 2 Keith Murray LP 1 Pieter JoubertReplacements:HK 16Matthew Mandioma PR 17Lawrence Cleminson FL 18Takunda Chifokoyo FL 19Fortunate Chipendu N8 20Kingsley Lang SH 21Peter du Toit FH 22Lenience Tambwera Coach: Brendon Dawson Touch judges: Sean Brickell (Wales) Wayne Davies (Wales)
Team details FB 15Gastón MieresRW 14Santiago Gibernau OC 13Joaquín PradaIC 12Alberto RománLW 11Jerónimo EtcheverryFH 10Felipe BerchesiSH 9 Agustín OrmaecheaN8 8 Alejandro Nieto OF 7 Diego MagnoBF 6 Juan Manuel Gaminara RL 5 Mathias Palomeque LL 4 Franco Lamanna TP 3 Oscar Durán HK 2 Nicolás Klappenbach (c) LP 1 Alejo Corral Replacements:HK 16Arturo Avalo PR 17Carlos Arboleya PR 18Rodolfo De Mula FL 19Santiago Vilaseca LK 20Cristofer Soares De Lima FL 21Juan de Freitas SH 22Guillermo Lijtenstein FH 23Alejo Durán Coach: Pablo Lemoine FB 15Alex McQueenRW 14Salom Yiu Kam Shing OC 13Lloyd JonesIC 12Jake PhelpsLW 11Rowan VartyFH 10Chris McAdam SH 9 Jaime Hood N8 8 Pale Tauti OF 7 Matt LammingBF 6 Nick Hewson (c) RL 5 Jack DelaforceLL 4 Paul Dywer TP 3 James Cooper HK 2 Alex Harris LP 1 Leon Wei Hon Sum Replacements:HK 16Tom Bolland PR 17Jack BennettPR 18Phil Leung Chun Hon FL 19Bill Brant FL 20Alex Baddeley CE 21Niall Rowark SH 22Charles Cheung Ho Ning WG 23Tom McQueen Coach: Andrew Hall Touch judges: UAR Appt (Argentina) UAR Appt (Argentina) Television match official:
Qualification round The final stage of the Repechage qualification, and Rugby World Cup qualification, was a two-legged series between Russia and Uruguay. As Uruguay were the higher ranked team upon completion of the preliminary round, they traveled to Russia for the first leg and host the second. Uruguay won the series with an aggregate score of 57–49.
First leg
Team details FB 15Vasily ArtemyevRW 14Mikhail Babaev OC 13Dimitry Gerasimov IC 12Alexei MakovetskiyLW 11Vladimir OstroushkoFH 10Yuri KushnarevSH 9 Alexander Yanyushkin N8 8 Viktor GresevOF 7 Andrei GarbuzovBF 6 Andrei Temnov RL 5 Kirill KuleminLL 4 Alexander Voytov (c) TP 3 Evgeni Pronenko HK 2 Valery Tsnobiladze LP 1 Grigory TsnobiladzeReplacements:HK 16Vladislav Korshunov PR 17Andrei Igretsov FL 18Andrei Ostrikov FL 19Pavel Butenko WG 20Denis Simplikevich SH 21Ruslan Yagudin FB 22Ramil GaisinCoach: Raphaël Saint-André FB 15Gastón MieresRW 14Santiago GibernauOC 13Joaquín PradaIC 12Alberto RománLW 11Jerónimo Etcheverry FH 10Felipe BerchesiSH 9 Agustín OrmaecheaN8 8 Alejandro NietoOF 7 Diego Magno BF 6 Juan Manuel GaminaraRL 5 Rodrigo Capó OrtegaLL 4 Santiago Vilaseca TP 3 Oscar Durán HK 2 Nicolás Klappenbach (c) LP 1 Alejo CorralReplacements:HK 16Arturo Ávalo PR 17Carlos Arboleya LK 18Franco Lamanna LK 19Mathias Palomeque FL 20Juan de Freitas WG 21Leandro LeivasSH 22Alejo DuránCoach: Pablo Lemoine Touch judges: David Wilkinson (Ireland) Olly Hodges (Ireland) Television match official: Simon McDowell (Ireland)
Second leg
Team details FB 15Gastón MieresRW 14Santiago Gibernau OC 13Joaquín PradaIC 12Alberto RománLW 11Jerónimo Etcheverry FH 10Felipe BerchesiSH 9 Agustín OrmaecheaN8 8 Alejandro Nieto OF 7 Diego MagnoBF 6 Juan Manuel Gaminara RL 5 Rodrigo Capó OrtegaLL 4 Santiago Vilaseca TP 3 Oscar Durán HK 2 Nicolás Klappenbach (c) LP 1 Alejo CorralReplacements:HK 16Arturo Ávalo PR 17Carlos Arboleya LK 18Franco Lamanna LK 19Mathias Palomeque FL 20Juan de Freitas WG 21Leandro Leivas SH 22Alejo Durán Coach: Pablo Lemoine FB 15Vasily ArtemyevRW 14Denis Simplikevich OC 13Mikhail BabaevIC 12Dimitry GerasimovLW 11Vladimir OstroushkoFH 10Yuri KushnarevSH 9 Alexander Yanyushkin N8 8 Viktor GresevOF 7 Andrei OstrikovBF 6 Andrei Temnov RL 5 Kirill KuleminLL 4 Alexander Voytov (c) TP 3 Andrei Igretsov HK 2 Valery Tsnobiladze LP 1 Grigory TsnobiladzeReplacements:HK 16Vladislav Korshunov PR 17Evgeni Pronenko FL 18Andrei Garbuzov FL 19Pavel Butenko WG 20Igor KlyuchnikovSH 21Alexey Shcherban FB 22Ramil GaisinCoach: Raphaël Saint-André Man of the Match: Agustín Ormaechea (Uruguay)
Touch judges: Juan Sylvestre (Argentina) Francisco Pastrana (Argentina) Television match official: Santiago Borsani (Argentina)
References
External links Rugby World Cup Repechage qualification