Rugby World Cup 2015 draw

Go straight to 14th minute and avoid the speeches

Background info and final result

The Rugby World Cup 2015 Pools

1(1)    NEW ZEALAND    90.08
2(2)    SOUTH AFRICA    86.94
3(3)    AUSTRALIA    86.87
4(4)    FRANCE                  85.07
5(5)    ENGLAND       83.90
6(6)    IRELAND      80.22
7(8)     SAMOA        78.71
8(9)     ARGENTINA    78.71
9(7)     WALES                  78.39
10(10)    ITALY                  76.24
11(11)    TONGA         76.10
12(12)    SCOTLAND    75.83
13(13)    FIJI             71.52
14(14)    CANADA       71.41
15(15)    JAPAN          70.09
16(16)    USA             68.32
17(17)    GEORGIA       65.83
18(18)    SPAIN          63.09
19(19)    ROMANIA    62.12
20(20)    RUSSIA         61.49

The bands for the pools were as follows:
Band 1: New Zealand, South Africa, Australia, France
Band 2: England, Ireland, Samoa, Argentina
Band 3: Wales, Italy, Tonga, Scotland
Band 4: Oceania 1, Europe 1, Asia 1, Americas 1
Band 5: Africa 1, Europe 2, Americas 2, Repechage winner

Final Pools

• Pool A: Australia, England, Wales, Oceania 1, play-off winner
• Pool B: South Africa, Samoa, Scotland, Asia 1, Americas 2
• Pool C: New Zealand, Argentina, Tonga, Europe 1, Africa 1
• Pool D: France, Ireland, Italy, Americas 1, Europe

 

Pool A - Looks like the pool of death as Rugby World Cup 2003 finalists Australia and England face off, while current Six Nations Grand Slam champions Wales join them, and possibly Fiji.

Pool B - South Africa and Samoa will meet for the fourth consecutive World Cup, no doubt leading to another bruising encounter. Scotland, who are currently ranked 12th in the world, join them.

Pool C - Defending champions New Zealand up against Argentina, and facing Tonga in the pool stages for the fourth time running.

Pool D - Very much a Six Nations feel to it, but France and Ireland will be fairly confident of going through to the next round with Italy their main threat.

Eight teams are yet to qualify.

Quarter finals:
To work out the Quarter Finals, the Winner of Pool A plays the runner up in Pool B, and Winner of C plays runner up in Pool D.

Semi finals:
The last four will see the winner of Quarter final 1 vs the the winners of Quarter final 2, and the winners of Quarter final 3 vs the winners of Quarter final 4.

Possible final:
If New Zealand (ranked #1) and South Africa (ranked #2) win their pools and knockout stage games, they will line up to meet in the final.

IRB Awards:
New Zealand were handed the IRB Team of the Year award for 2012. The Coach of the Year went to All Blacks coach Steve Hansen, and the IRB Player of the Year went to flyhalf Dan Carter.