After producing a handful of the most memorable moments of the 2015 World Cup, qualifiers like Japan and Georgia have left the UK empty handed.

But wouldn’t it be great if the eight qualifiers had something more to play for?

Sure competing on the world stage is a fantastic achievement, but after fighting for four years to earn a spot at the World Cup, don’t the qualifiers deserve a little more?

What if a ‘Qualifiers Cup’ was held at the 2019 World Cup in Japan?

At the end of the pool stages, the top four qualifiers that don’t make the quarter finals could face off  in a 1v4, 2v3 format.

Using the 2015 tournament as an example, Japan (1st) would face Romania (4th) in one semi final, with Georgia (2nd) playing Fiji (5th) in the other.

Considering the likes of Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, USA and Canada will all need to qualify for 2019, the Cup would be hotly contested in four years time.

The semi finals could be played on the Thursday and Friday before the quarter finals with the decider played midweek ahead of the semis.

Obviously there’d be a cost involved in accommodating those nations for an extra week and a half, but surely the gate takings from an extra three finals matches would take care of that.

Plus, would anyone say no to more rugby right now?

Not only would the second tier tournament give developing rugby nations an achievable short term goal, but it would also add a great deal of interest to the second half of the pool stage, as the qualifiers fight to earn their spot in the playoffs – adding further interest to all 40 pool matches.

After finishing third in Pool B, Japan would have qualified automatically for the 2019 World Cup even if they hadn’t been hosting the tournament, but maybe they could be given a wildcard into the tier two competition, if they fail to make the quarter finals.

Suddenly, the opportunity to see Japan play in a finals match becomes the hottest ticket in town and interest in the concept grows.

World Rugby officials are already worried about how they will engage the non-rugby Japanese community just a year out from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Maybe something like this could help.