Rugby World Cup 2015 Pool Allocation Draw to Take Place in December

Rugby World Cup Limited has confirmed that the Rugby World Cup 2015 Pool Allocation Draw will take place in London on 3 December 2012.

As for the 2011 tournament, the 12 automatically qualified teams will be seeded based on the IRB World Rankings on 3 December 2012 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 England in 2015.

"The format of seeding teams for the Rugby 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," said RWCL Chairman Bernard Lapasset. "With every test match played between now and the draw counting towards the IRB World Rankings the Pool Allocation 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."

Eight Teams to Win Places Through Qualification

RWC 2015 in England will comprise 20 teams allocated into four pools: twelve teams that automatically qualified from RWC 2011 in New Zealand; and eight teams that will come through the RWC 2015 global qualifier process which kicked-off in March this year.

The 12 automatic qualifiers are the Rugby World Cup 2011 winners New Zealand, runners-up France, losing semi-finalists Australia and Wales, losing quarter-finalists Argentina, England, Ireland and South Africa, and Tonga, Scotland, Italy and Samoa, who finished in third place in their respective pools.

Like the last three RWC tournaments, there will be four pools of five teams. Each team will be banded according to strength to try and ensure evenly matched pools. The teams in each band will be randomly drawn to determine the pools they go into.

The 12 directly qualified teams will be allocated into the top three bands for the random draw using the IRB World Rankings of December 3 as follows:

Band 1 - The four highest ranked directly qualified teams
Band 2 - The next four highest ranked directly qualified teams
Band 3 - The final four directly qualified teams
Band 4 - Oceania 1, Europe 1, Asia 1, Americas 1
Band 5 - Africa 1, Europe 2, Americas 2, Repechage winner

The directly qualified teams are the teams that finished in the top three of each RWC 2011 pool.

"The Pool Allocation Draw is another major milestone as momentum builds towards England's hosting of Rugby's showcase event. The draw is particularly significant for the teams and for the fans as they can really begin their journey towards Rugby World Cup 2015," said Paul Vaughan, CEO of the England 2015 organising body. "All eyes will be on the draw so it gives us a fantastic global platform to talk about the tournament and build excitement. Operationally this also allows us to progress our collaborative work around the match schedule and venue programme which are key elements for 2013."

The timing of the draw three years out from Rugby World Cup 2015 enables RWCL and ER 2015 to develop the match schedule in association with Rights Holding broadcasters, confirm venues and base camps and provide teams with an appropriate lead-in time to maximise planning and preparation.

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