2015 Rugby World Cup – Europe qualification

2015 Rugby World Cup – Europe qualification
Tournament details
Dates6 October 2012 – 24 May 2014
No. of nations31
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The European Zone of qualification for the 2015 Rugby World Cup saw 31 teams competing for two places at the finals in England and one place in the Repechage playoff. Georgia and Romania qualified directly to the Rugby World Cup as Europe 1 and Europe 2, and will play in Pools C and D respectively. Russia finished third to qualify for the repechage playoff, but losing to Uruguay in the final Qualification round.[1]

Format

31 national teams from FIRA–AER (which changed its name to Rugby Europe during the qualifying cycle) entered qualification, and two or three teams could qualify for the 2015 World Cup. The qualification format was the same as that used for 2011 competition. The teams competed in two groups of six teams, three groups of five and one group of four. There were two levels of playoff. The direct qualification to the 2015 Rugby World Cup (Round 5) took place in the 2012–2014 European Nations Cup - Division 1A, with Georgia and Romania qualifying directly to the 2015 Rugby World Cup as Europe 1 and Europe 2.

Each winning team in the 2012-2013 European Nations Cup Division 2 played off in succession, starting with the lowest two divisions. After the 2013–14 season, the winning team from Division 2 (Netherlands) played off against the winner of Division 1B (Germany). Germany won this match and played off against Russia, who finished third in Division 1A. Russia won this match and qualified for the repechage. No team from the 2012–14 3rd division tournament was eligible to qualify for the Rugby World Cup.

Entrants

The 2015 Rugby World Cup qualifying teams that competed for the 2015 Rugby World Cup – European qualification. (World rankings, shown in brackets, are to first European qualification match on 6 October 2012)

Qualified nations

Round 1

Round 1A: European Nations Cup Division 2D 2012–13

The winner of Round 1A, Luxembourg, advanced to the Round 1 Final to play the winner of Division 2C, Slovenia. The other four teams were eliminated from Rugby World Cup qualifying.

Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD BP Pts Qualification
1  Luxembourg 4 3 0 1 74 62 +12 0 12 Advances to Round 1 Final
2  Norway 4 2 0 2 65 48 +17 3 11
3  Bosnia and Herzegovina 4 2 0 2 78 71 +7 2 10
4  Greece 4 2 0 2 61 64 −3 1 9
5  Finland 4 1 0 3 45 78 −33 2 6
Source: [citation needed]
Rules for classification: Points were awarded to the teams as follows: Win - 4 points; Draw - 2 points; 4 or more tries - 1 point ;Loss within 7 points - 1 point; Loss greater than 7 points - 0 points

Round 1B: European Nations Cup Division 2C 2012–13

The winner of Round 1B, Slovenia, advanced to Round 1 Final and will play the winner of Division 2D, Luxembourg. The other three teams were eliminated from Rugby World Cup qualifying.

Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD BP Pts Qualification
1  Slovenia 3 2 0 1 44 47 −3 2 10 Advances to Round 1 Final
2  Hungary 3 2 0 1 46 41 +5 1 9
3  Bulgaria 3 2 0 1 55 49 +6 1 9
4  Austria 3 0 0 3 37 45 −8 3 3
Source: [citation needed]
Rules for classification: Points were awarded to the teams as follows: Win - 4 points; Draw - 2 points; 4 or more tries - 1 point ;Loss within 7 points - 1 point; Loss greater than 7 points - 0 points

Round 1 Final

Luxembourg, the winner of Round 1A, defeated Slovenia, the winner of Round 1B, to advance to Round 2 Final to play Israel.

5 May 2013
16:00 CEST (UTC+02)
Luxembourg 22–10 Slovenia
Report[20]
Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg
Attendance: 800
Referee: Claudio Blessano (Italy)

Round 2

Round 2A: European Nations Cup Division 2B 2012–13

The winner of Round 2A, Israel, advanced to Round 2 Final to play the winner of Round 1. The other four teams were eliminated from Rugby World Cup qualifying.

Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD BP Pts Qualification
1  Israel 4 4 0 0 137 45 +92 3 19 Advances to Round 2 Final
2  Latvia 4 2 0 2 85 82 +3 3 11
3  Denmark 4 1 1 2 62 79 −17 1 7
4  Andorra 4 1 1 2 48 77 −29 0 6
5  Serbia 4 1 0 3 84 133 −49 2 6
Source: [citation needed]
Rules for classification: Points were awarded to the teams as follows: Win - 4 points; Draw - 2 points; 4 or more tries - 1 point; Loss within 7 points - 1 point; Loss greater than 7 points - 0 points

Round 2 Final

Israel, the winner of Round 2A, played the winner of Round 1, Luxembourg, to advance to the Round 3 Final to play Netherlands.

5 October 2013
15:00 CEST (UTC+02)
Luxembourg 12–26 Israel
Stats[32]
Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg
Attendance: 1,250
Referee: Iñigo Atorrasagasti (Spain)

Round 3

Round 3A: European Nations Cup Division 2A 2012–13

The winner of Round 3A, Netherlands, advanced to Round 3 Final to play the winner of Round 2. The other four teams were eliminated from Rugby World Cup qualifying.

Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
1  Netherlands 4 4 0 0 125 57 +68 18 Advances to Round 3 Final
2   Switzerland 4 3 0 1 92 75 +17 14
3  Croatia 4 1 0 3 78 92 −14 6
4  Malta 4 1 0 3 73 104 −31 5
5  Lithuania 4 1 0 3 69 109 −40 4
Source: [citation needed]
Rules for classification: Points were awarded to the teams as follows: Win - 4 points; Draw - 2 points; 4 or more tries - 1 point; Loss within 7 points - 1 point; Loss greater than 7 points - 0 points

Round 3 Final

Netherlands, the winner of Round 3A, played the winner of Round 2, Israel, for the right to advance to Round 4 Final to play the winner of 2012-13 Division 2A, Germany.

26 October 2013
15:00 IST (UTC+02)
Israel 8–52 Netherlands
Stats[44]
Wingate Institute, Netanya
Attendance: 1,290
Referee: Jerome Lamirand (France)

Round 4

Round 4A: Division 1B 2012–14

The winner of Division 1B, Germany, advanced to Round 4 Final to play the winner of Round 3. The other five teams were eliminated from Rugby World Cup qualifying.

Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD BP Pts Qualification  GER  MDA  UKR  POL  SWE  CZE
1  Germany 10 8 0 2 398 180 +218 7 39 Advances to Round 4 final — 32–14 46–28 43–13 73–17 76–12
2  Moldova 10 7 0 3 267 228 +39 6 34 30–15 — 28–8 24–20 50–20 37–12
3  Ukraine 10 5 0 5 227 227 0 4 24 16–28 18–38 — 29–28 35–11 42–15
4  Poland 10 5 0 5 208 183 +25 2 22 22–13 12–21 13–12 — 30–9 30–10
5  Sweden 10 3 0 7 193 307 −114 2 14 20–45 54–6 10–22 19–11 — 11–17
6  Czech Republic 10 2 0 8 142 310 −168 3 11 8–27 37–19 10–17 3–29 18–22 —
Source: [citation needed]
Rules for classification: Points were awarded to the teams as follows: Win - 4 points; Draw - 2 points; 4 or more tries - 1 point; Loss within 7 points - 1 point; Loss greater than 7 points - 0 points

Round 4 Final

The winner of Round 4A, Germany, defeated Netherlands, the winner of Round 3, for the right to advance to Round 6 Final.

10 May 2014
15:00 CEST (UTC+02)
Netherlands 7–17 Germany
Stats[75]
National Rugby Centre, Amsterdam
Referee: Claudio Blessano (Italy)

Round 5: European Nations Cup Division 1A 2012–14

The winner of Round 5, Georgia, qualified for the 2015 Rugby World Cup as Europe 1 and will join New Zealand, Argentina, Tonga and Namibia in Pool C. The runner-up, Romania, qualified as Europe 2, joining France, Ireland, Italy and Canada in Pool D. Third place, Russia, advanced to Round 6 to play the winner of Round 4 for the opportunity to qualify for the repechage. Fourth through sixth were eliminated from Rugby World Cup qualifying.

Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD BP Pts Qualification
1  Georgia 10 9 1 0 286 106 +180 3 41 Qualified as Europe 1
2  Romania 10 8 1 1 242 106 +136 4 38 Qualified as Europe 2
3  Russia 10 6 0 4 219 249 −30 4 28 Advances to Round 6
4  Spain 10 2 2 6 159 243 −84 3 15
5  Portugal 10 2 1 7 145 222 −77 2 12
6  Belgium 10 0 1 9 134 259 −125 4 6
Source: [citation needed]
Rules for classification: Points were awarded to the teams as follows: Win - 4 points; Draw - 2 points; 4 or more tries - 1 point; Loss within 7 points - 1 point; Loss greater than 7 points - 0 points

Round 6: Repechage playoff

The winning team from Round 4, Germany, advanced to play the third place team from Round 5, Russia. Russia won and advanced to the repechage.

24 May 2014
15:00 CEST (UTC+02)
Germany 20–31 Russia
Try: Armstrong 46' c
Vollenkemper 52' c
Con: Hilsenbeck (2/2) 47', 53'
Pen: Hilsenbeck (2/5) 27', 56'		Stats[107]Try: Ostroushko (2) 10' m, 44' c
Igretsov 19' m
Kushnarev 76' c
Matveyev 80' c
Con: Kushnarev (3/5) 45', 77', 80'
Wolfgang-Meyer-Sportanlage, Hamburg
Referee: Iñaki Atorrasagasti (Spain)

See also

References

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