With only one of the 20 Rugby World Cup 2011 finalists yet to be decided, the tournament line-up is four matches away from completion.
Only four teams are left in the race for the final slot in Pool B of the tournament in New Zealand and after this weekend's repechage clashes between Romania and Tunisia and Uruguay and Kazakhstan only two nations will be left in contention.
Generally the repechage matches in the final stages of the RWC qualifying process provide intriguing contests, and the two matches make no exception.
The match between Uruguay and Kazakhstan is their first ever encounter, while Romania and Tunisia have not played each other for nearly 20 years.
Kazakhstan's spectacular advance in the IRB ranking has seen them climbing to an all-time high of 26, having now deposed Korea of the Asian Union eternal runner-up tag, with the ambitious Hong Kong also left behind.
Though Uruguay, ranked 22 and former RWC contenders in 1999 and 2003 are favourites, it is not beyond the realms of probability to see Timur Mashurov and his men producing an upset in Montevideo.
Similarly, Romania, currently ranked 19, are hot favourites to prevail over Tunisia, in the 34th position in the rankings. The two nations have played each other four times, the last of which was in 1993 in Bucharest when Romania prevailed 51-0.
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