Qantas Wallabies third place world ranking to determine their allocation in the Rugby World Cup 2015 Pool Draw
12/2/2012
By ARU Media Unit
Watch the Rugby World Cup 2015 Pool Allocation Draw on rugby.com.au here.
Australia has successfully finished in the number three spot on the IRB World Rankings. On December 3 (UK time) the current World Rankings will determine how the 12 qualifying teams are banded for the Rugby World Cup 2015 pools when the allocation draw takes place.
Despite New Zealand’s shock loss to England, the All Blacks had accumulated enough points to retain their number one spot. The narrow wins to South Africa, Australia and France last weekend cemented their second, third and fourth place respectively in the world rankings.
The top four teams comprise band one and will be randomly drawn across the RWC 2015 pools when the allocation draw takes place on December 3 (UK time). This is a vital result for the Qantas Wallabies as it means they won’t play Rugby powerhouses, New Zealand, South Africa or France until the knockout stages of the RWC 2015.
The Qantas Wallabies match against Italy last weekend was advantageous not only because of the nail-biting win, but it was the last chance the Men in Gold had to guarantee their band one seeding for the RWC 2015 Pool Allocation draw.
Teams ranked five to eight form band two while the remaining teams fall into band three.
Whilst the result against the Welsh in the final 2012 Spring Tour match wouldn’t have affected Australia’s third rank placing, the win has meant Samoa has become the first of the Pacific Island nations to occupy a top eight ranking.
Wales drop to ninth place and are now ranked below Argentina and Samoa in band three.
Fans are able to watch live streaming of the allocation draw to see which pool the Qantas Wallabies and other qualifying teams are allocated for the next RWC 2015 in London.
See the current full IRB World Rankings
here.