Rugby World Cup draw method means top teams may be knocked out too early (via IrishTimesSport)
With 20 teams set to compete in France this autumn in four pools of five, the intervening years have not been kind. The draw hasn’t aged well and right now, after changes in the rugby world order, the pools have become horribly skewed.
You could imagine that Gregor Townsend and Scotland would feel especially miffed. Their challenge will be to beat either Ireland or South Africa as well as the other teams in the pool to make it into the knockout phase. And it doesn’t get any better when teams from Pool A and B get to quarterfinals as they face each other – the winner of Pool A plays the runner up in Pool B and the Winner of Pool B faces the runners up in Pool A.
There is, however, an upside – for Wales and England. England, who have fallen to sixth in the world rankings, and Wales who have slipped to ninth, will not be feeling the stress quite so much. If England can top Pool D, where they face Japan, Argentina, Samoa and first-time qualifier Chile, they meet the runner-up in Pool C, which could be Wales.
Due to Covid, those teams were then seeded based on the men’s rankings of January 1st, 2020 and divided into bands of four. The highest ranked team in the world when the draw took place was South Africa. Ireland were fifth. New Zealand were ranked second, England third and Wales fourth, which ensured that they were kept apart.
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