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.
Contents
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)