The 2011 Rugby World Cup qualifying process ended with a play-off to decide the 20th and final qualifier. Four teams, the best non-qualifier from each region except Oceania, competed for the last place at the 2011 Rugby World Cup finals in New Zealand. Romania beat Uruguay in the play-off final, and went on to compete in Pool B in New Zealand, along with Argentina, England, Scotland and Georgia.
The play-off was contested on a knockout basis, with a semi-final and a two-legged home and away final. One semi-final featured Romania, the winner of the , defeating Tunisia, the loser of the African final. The other saw Uruguay, the loser of Round Four of the Americas qualification, beat Kazakhstan, the second-place finisher at the 2010 Asian Five Nations.
The host of each semi-final was the team with the higher IRB Ranking at the moment when it became known who the two teams were.
Romania won the final over Uruguay with a victory and a draw to qualify for the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
<nowiki>*</nowiki> IRB World Rankings on 22 May 2010, the date that both the Asia and Americas qualifiers were known.<br> <nowiki>**</nowiki> IRB World Rankings on 5 June 2010, the date that both the African and European qualifiers were known.