***Rugby World Cup 2015 Qualifying Thread***

Americas

Americas qualifying details

The qualification process for Rugby World Cup 2015 will, once again, begin in the Americas with the honour of playing in the first match on the road to England 2015 belonging to Mexico and Jamaica on 24 March 2012.

The Americas will provide two direct qualifiers for Rugby World Cup 2015 (Americas 1 and 2) and one team into the Repechage.

The regional tournaments of the North America Caribbean Rugby Association (NACRA) and Confederación Sudamericano de Rugby (CONSUR) in 2012 both form part of the process with the NACRA winner and CONSUR B winner meeting in a play-off. The winner of this play-off will then face the bottom side in the CONSUR A Championship for the chance to play in the 2013 edition.

Also in 2013, Canada and USA will play each other home and away with the aggregate winner qualifying directly for RWC 2015 as Americas 1. The loser will then face the 2013 CONSUR A champion in another home and away play-off to determine the Americas 2 qualifier.

The loser of this play-off will still have a chance to qualify for RWC 2015 through the Repechage.

Qualified:
Argentina

NACRA CARIBBEAN 2012
March-June 2012
Mexico, Jamaica, Cayman Islands, Barbados, St Vincent, Trinidad & Tobago, Bahamas, Bermuda, Guyana
Winner: Bermuda

CONSUR B
8-15 September 2012
Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Paraguay
Winner: Paraguay

PLAY-OFF NACRA/CONSUR B
One-off match in the country with the highest IRB World Ranking
Winner: Paraguay

PLAY-OFF NACRA / CONSUR B / CONSUR A
27 October 2012
Paraguay V Brazil
Winner: Brazil

CONSUR A 2013
Winner:Argentina

Uruguay finishing 2nd have been placed into the Repechage to Qualify for the World Cup.

USA v CANADA
Home & Away
Winner:Canada
Loser: USA

QUALIFIED
Canada

PLAY-OFF AMERICAS
Uruguay v USA (Home & Away)
Winner:
Loser:

QUALIFIED
Winner qualifies directly to RWC 2015 as Americas 2

TO REPECHAGE
Loser plays in the Repechage



Asia

Asia qualifying details

Asia will provide one direct qualifier for Rugby World Cup 2015 (Asia 1) and one team into the Repechage.

The HSBC Asian 5 Nations will act as the regional qualification tournament with four tiers of the annual competition - Top 5, Division 1, Division 2 and Division 3 - involved in the process at some stage.

The second region to begin its qualification process after the Americas, the Asian 5 Nations will see the Division 1 winner in 2012 promoted to the Top 5 the following year, while the Division 2 and 3 winners will meet in a play-off to determine who is promoted to Division 1 in 2013.

The winner of the Top 5 competition in 2014 will qualify for RWC 2015 as Asia 1, while the runner-up will enter the Repechage.

ASIAN 5 NATIONS 2012 DIVISION 1
15-21 April (Philippines)
Sri Lanka, Singapore, Philippines, Chinese Taipei
Winner: Philippines

ASIAN 5 NATIONS 2012 DIVISION 2
31 May-2 June (Malaysia)
Malaysia, Thailand, Iran, China
Winner:Thailand

ASIAN 5 NATIONS 2012 DIVISION 3
30 May-1 June (Malaysia)
India, Guam, Indonesia, Pakistan
Winner:India

PLAY-OFF ARFU
14 July (Bangkok-Thailand)
One-off match. Winner is promoted to Asian 5 Nations Division 1 2013
Thailand V India

Winner: Thailand

ASIAN 5 NATIONS 2013
UAE relegated to Asian 5 Nations Division 1 2014
Winner: Japan

ASIAN 5 NATIONS DIV 1 2013
Sri Lanka promoted to Asian 5 Nations 2014
Winner: Sri Lanka

ASIAN 5 NATIONS 2014
Japan, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Hong Kong, Phillipines
Winner:
Runner-up:

QUALIFIED
Winner qualifies to RWC 2015 as Asia 1

TO REPECHAGE
Runner-up plays in the Repechage



Europe

Europe qualifying details

Europe will provide two direct qualifiers for Rugby World Cup 2015 (Europe 1 and 2) and one team into the Repechage.

The European Nations Cup 2014 is the regional qualification tournament with six divisions involved in the process at different stages.

Divisions 2A, 2B, 2C and 2D will only act as RWC 2015 qualifiers in the 2012/13 season with play-off matches involving the winners included to allow teams from these divisions to progress through the process.

The top two divisions - 1A and 1B - will be RWC 2015 qualifiers in both the 2012/13 and 2013/14.

The winner and runner-up in Division 1A will qualifier directly for RWC 2015 as Europe 1 and Europe 2 respectively. The third placed team will face the team still standing after four play-off rounds involving winners of the lower divisions for the right to enter the Repechage.

Qualified:
France
England
Wales
Scotland
Ireland
Italy
Georgia
Romania

QUALIFIER ROUND 1 - 4 May 2013
Division 2C: Slovenia, Austria, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Hungary  
Winner V Division 2D: Norway, Greece, Luxembourg, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Finland  
Winner: Luxembourg

QUALIFIER ROUND 2 - 18 May 2013
Luxembourg v Division 2B: Latvia, Andorra, Serbia, Israel, Denmark
Winner:Israel

QUALIFIER ROUND 3 - 1 June 2013
Qualifier Round 2 Winner: Israel v Division 2A: Netherlands, Lithuania, Malta, Croatia, Switzerland
Winner:Netherlands

QUALIFIER ROUND 4 - 10 May 2014
Qualifier Round 3 Winner V Division 1B: Ukraine, Poland, Moldova, Germany, Czech Republic, Sweden
Winner:

QUALIFIER ROUND 5 EUROPEAN NATIONS CUP
Division 1A: Georgia, Romania, Spain, Russia, Portugal, Belgium
ENC Division 1A Winner: Georgia
Division 1A Second Place: Romania
Division 1A Third Place: Russia

QUALIFIED:
Georgia
Romania

Top 2 qualify for RWC 2015 as Europe 1 & Europe 2

QUALIFIER ROUND 6
Qualifier Round 4 Winner V Russia

TO REPECHAGE
Winner plays in the Repechage



Oceania

Oceania qualifying details

Oceania will provide one direct qualifier to Rugby World Cup 2015 (Oceania 1) and will be the last region to begin its qualification process for England 2015.

The Oceania Cup 2013 is the regional qualification tournament for RWC 2015 with the winner to play Fiji in a one-off match. The winner of this play-off will qualifier directly for RWC 2015 as Oceania 1.

Qualified:
New Zealand
Australia
Tonga
Samoa

OCEANIA CUP 2013
June 2013
Winner:Cook Islands

OCEANIA FINAL
Cook Islands V Fiji

QUALIFIER:
Winner qualifies for RWC 2015 as Oceania 1



Africa

Africa qualifying details

Africa will provide one direct qualifier for Rugby World Cup 2015 (Africa 1) and one team into the Repechage.

The Confédération Africaine de Rugby (CAR) Championship is the regional qualification tournament for Rugby World Cup 2015, with Divisions 1A, 1B and 1C involved in the process.

The Division 1A winner in 2014 will take their place at RWC 2015 as Africa 1, while the runner-up will enter the Repechage for a second change to reach Rugby's showcase event.

Qualified:
South Africa

CAR DIV 1B 2012
4-8 July (Madagascar)
Madagascar, Namibia, Morocco, Senegal
Winner: Madagascar


CAR DIV 1C 2012
22-29 July (Botswana)
Botswana, Cote D'Ivoire, Zambia, Mauritius, Nigeria
Winner: Botswana

CAR DIV 1A 2013
Uganda relegated to Division 1B 2014

CAR DIV 1B 2013
Namibia promoted to Division 1A 2014
Winner: Namibia


CAR DIV 1A 2014
Kenya, Madagascar, Namibia, Zimbabwe
Winner:
Runner-up:

QUALIFIED:
Winner qualifies for RWC 2015 as Africa 1

TO REPECHAGE:
Runner-up plays in the Repechage



Repechage

EUROPE V AFRICA
One-off match in the country with the highest IRB World Ranking
Winner Europe Qualifier Round 6 V African Cup 2014

AMERICAS V ASIA
One-off match in the country with the highest IRB World Ranking
Loser Play-off Americas V Runner-up Asian 5 Nations 2014

PLAY-OFF FINAL (Home & Away)
(Winner Europe v Africa) V (Winner Americas v Asia)
Winner:

QUALIFIED
Winner qualifies directly to RWC 2015 as Repechage Winner

Again like the main thread. Another one which needs more work in designing and finishing off first. DO NOT POST BELOW JUST YET.

Georgia 22-9 Romania

Georgia takes a slot in RWC Pool C.
Romania takes a slot in RWC Pool D.

Uruguay 27-27 USA

Very poor result for USA considering the talent on the field. Clever was poor as Captain, lack of a 2nd 5/8s hurt them.

Uruguay were excellent.

Manu Samoa was quiet, but had a big impact when it mattered.

Uruguayan Scrum was very good, but the USA halfbacks are woeful and until they have a half decent youth setup and league, that situation won't change unfortunately. Wyles was out of character, and Scully was meh for a Tiger.

Scott LaValla the pick of the USA players.

They look like a side outside of a poor halfback, playmaking situation, who have no go forward and strike runners.

Carlin Isles might not be perfect in defence, but he's potentially that lethal with running lines and in space, that he really is a must. Shame he has been deemed unneeded and left in Glasgow for now.