The Rugby World Cup 2011 Pool Allocation Draw, which takes place
in London on 1 December 2008, will be shown live on
rugbyworldcup.com from 15:00 UK time.
For the first time the Draw will use the IRB World Rankings
to seed the 12 pre-qualified teams.
Members of the Maori community will welcome the team
representatives plus Bernard Lapasset, Chairman, Rugby World Cup
Limited, and Jock Hobbs, Chairman, Rugby New Zealand 2011, ahead of
the Draw, which is taking place inside a huge inflatable Ball last
seen next to the Eiffel Tower in Paris during RWC 2007.
As in 2007, there will be four pools of five teams in RWC
2011. The top three positions, or bands, in each pool will be
filled by the 12 pre-qualified teams from the last RWC.
The 12 pre-qualified teams are: Argentina, Australia,
England, Fiji, France, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Scotland, South
Africa, Tonga and Wales.
Top three bands
From these 12 teams, the top four in the IRB World Rankings
on 1 December 2008 will be allocated to band one - or the top line
in each pool - and drawn randomly into the pools. The next four
teams will be allocated into band two with the remaining four teams
allocated into band three.
Banding of 12 automatic qualified teams:
Band 1: Top four ranked qualified teams (1 to 4 in IRB World
Rankings)
Band 2: Next four ranked qualified teams (5 to 8 in IRB World
Rankings)
Band 3: Bottom four ranked qualified teams (according to
World Rankings)
This means that teams ranked in the top four of the IRB World
Rankings on 1 December 2008 will not be drawn in the same RWC 2011
pool. Equally, a team ranked five to eight in the rankings will
definitely be in the same pool as a team ranked one to four.
Click here to see the latest IRB World Rankings
Click here to see an explanation of how the IRB
World Rankings are calculated
Bands four and five
There are also eight qualifying places available for RWC
2011. For the Pool Allocation Draw they will be allocated into
bands four and five of each pool.
Banding of eight teams yet to qualify:
Band 4: Oceania 1, Europe 1, Europe 2, Americas 1
Band 5: Africa 1, Asia 1, Americas 2, Play Off place
Click here to see the latest RWC 2011 qualifying
news
RWC 2011 knockout structure
Following the RWC 2011 pool matches, the knockout rounds will
follow the same structure as RWC 2003 and RWC 2007. The full
structure is as follows:
Quarter Final 1: Winner Pool C v Runner-up Pool D
Quarter Final 2: Winner Pool B v Runner-up Pool A
Quarter Final 3: Winner Pool D v Runner-up Pool C
Quarter Final 4: Winner Pool A v Runner-up Pool B
Semi-Final 1: Winner QF1 v Winner QF2
Semi-Final 2: Winner QF3 v Winner QF4
Bronze Final: Loser SF1 v Loser SF2
Final: Winner SF1 v Winner SF2
