Twickenham in London will be the host stadium for the 2015 Rugby World Cup final. Photo: IRB
The pool allocation draw for the 2015 World Cup in England at the end of the year makes securing a high IRB world ranking position vital this year.
The draw will take place in London on December 3 with the teams seeded based on their world ranking on the day of the draw, and positioned into three bands of four teams. The teams will then be randomly drawn by band into the four pools that will comprise rugby’s showcase event in 2015.
What that means is that the top four sides in the world should avoid playing each other until the semifinal stages, unless there is an upset in the pool rounds – such as there was last year when Australia lost to Ireland and took on the South Africa in the quarterfinals as a result.
The next four highest ranked directly qualified teams will be in the second band of the draw, with the final four of the qualified teams in the third band. The 12 teams that finished in the top three of each pool at the 2011 World Cup have already qualified for the 2015 edition.
RWC 2015 in England will comprise 20 teams allocated into four pools: 12 teams that automatically qualified from RWC 2011; and eight teams that will come through the RWC 2015 global qualifier process which kicked-off in March this year.
“The format of seeding teams for the World Cup Pool Allocation draw using the IRB world rankings is a credible, succinct and proven method that reflects form, stimulates interest and is backed by our unions,” RWCL Chairman Bernard Lapasset said
“With every Test match played between now and the draw counting towards the world rankings the pool draw adds an extra dimension to a mouth-watering year that features the new tours and Test schedule as well as Argentina’s inclusion in the new Rugby Championship.”
The draw will give some extra motivation for the June Tests, as the northern hemisphere tour and go in search of a prized southern hemisphere scalp to end the season on a high.
* Rugbyrugby
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