Australia seeded top of Pool C for 2011 Rugby World Cup
December 02, 2008 - 10:02am
Story by: ARU
The Qantas Wallabies have been drawn in Pool C – alongside Ireland, Italy and yet-to-be-determined qualifiers from Europe and the Americas – for the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand.
The draw in London today spread the 12 pre-qualified nations across the four pools of five teams each, while the last eight positions in the tournament (two spots in each pool) will be determined by regional qualifying events.
Official International Rugby Board rankings were used for the draw process, with the pre-qualified teams from the 2007 RWC in France given Band 1, Band 2 or Band 3 classification.
Band 4 and Band 5 teams will be determined once qualifying in various regions is complete.
The draw was random across each of the bands and produced the following pools (IRB rankings are in brackets behind the top three seeded teams in each group):
POOL A | POOL B | POOL C | POOL D |
New Zealand (1) | Argentina (4) | Australia (3) | South Africa (2) |
France (7) | England (6) | Ireland (8) | Wales (5) |
Tonga (13) | Scotland (9) | Italy (11) | Fiji (10) |
Americas 1 | Europe 1 | Europe 2 | Oceania 1 |
Asia 1 | Playoff winner | Americas 2 | Africa 1 |
The highlights of the draw include:
+ Australia to face three European teams in Pool C, led by Ireland and Italy. On current world rankings, Europe 2 would be Romania and Americas 2 would be USA.
+ Host nation New Zealand will play France in Pool A – the same side that beat the All Blacks in the quarter finals of the 2007 Rugby World Cup.
+ England will meet long time rivals Scotland in the preliminary stages for the first time in Pool B – the two countries contested a semi final back in 1991.
+ Defending champion South Africa has been drawn in Pool D against Six Nations champion Wales and Fiji – the nation that gave the Springboks a scare in the 2007 quarter finals.
The knockout section of the 2011 RWC will unfold as follows:
Quarter Final 1: Winner Pool B v Runner-up Pool A
Quarter Final 2: Winner Pool C v Runner-up Pool D
Quarter Final 3: Winner Pool A v Runner-up Pool B
Quarter Final 4: Winner Pool D v Runner-up Pool C
Semi-Final 1: Winner QF1 v Winner QF2
Semi-Final 2: Winner QF3 v Winner QF4
Third place playoff: Loser SF1 v Loser SF2
Final: Winner SF1 v Winner SF2
An endless number of possibilities exist, including the following potential scenarios based on the IRB rankings:
+ Australia (if they top Pool C) will play the runner-up of Pool D where, on the IRB rankings, Wales is the second seed
+ If the preliminary matches and the quarter finals pan out per the IRB rankings and the seeding for each pool, the Wallabies would not face the All Blacks or Springboks until the final
+ If the Wallabies top Pool C and subsequently win their quarter final they would face in the semis the winner of the quarter final between the top side in Pool B (Argentina per the rankings) and the runner up in Pool A (France per the rankings)
+ According to the draw, if the All Blacks and Springboks win their respective pools and quarter finals, they will meet in the semi finals
