Pool draw brings New Zealand Tournament a step closer
The Pool Allocation Draw for Rugby World Cup 2011, held early this morning (NZ time) in London, will accelerate the planning for, and interest in, the New Zealand tournament, says Rugby New Zealand 2011 Ltd CEO Martin Snedden.
Held inside Tourism New Zealand’s giant rugby ball next to Tower Bridge in London, the draw has given international rugby fans their first view of the match-ups which will be on offer during the pool phase of Rugby World Cup 2011.
“This is an outstanding draw for our role as organisers with so many exciting match-ups across each of the pools,” said Mr Snedden, who was in London for the draw. “Rugby fans around the world will now be analysing their team’s pool and, we hope, will want to be there to see the contests unfold.”
The draw was based on the rankings of the 12 pre-qualified teams as at November 30. Among the tantalising pool clashes to be highlighted by the draw are New Zealand versus France in a repeat of the 1987 Rugby World Cup Final in Pool A; Argentina against England and England versus Scotland in Pool B; Australia playing Ireland in Pool C; and current Rugby World Cup holders South Africa against current Six Nations champions Wales in Pool D, a pool that also features Fiji and may also feature Samoa through qualification.
Pool Structure
The Pools, as announced by Rugby World Cup Limited, are:
Pool A
New Zealand
France
Tonga
Americas 1
Asia 1
Pool B
Argentina
England
Scotland
Europe 1
Play-off Winner
Pool C
Australia
Ireland
Italy
Europe 2
Americas 2
Pool D
South Africa
Wales
Fiji
Oceania 1
Africa 1
Pool Match Allocations
Mr Snedden said with the draw allocating each of the four pools, work could now begin in earnest on mapping the pool matches to the applications received from interested regions around New Zealand.
“It’s an exciting day for rugby fans, as it makes Rugby World Cup 2011 that much more tangible. They now know who their team is up against, and what they need to do to advance to the knock out stages,” he said.
“It’s also an important day for our ongoing preparations for the Tournament. We’ve had 18 regions from across New Zealand express interest in hosting matches or teams. Today’s announcement allows us to us to move the match and team allocation process forward.
“Over the next few months we’ll be working closely with Rugby World Cup Limited, to take the 40 pool matches that the draw has thrown up today and allocate them to venues around New Zealand.”
Decisions on match venues as well as the match schedule are expected to be announced in March or April 2009 following a recommendation by the Board of RNZ 2011 to Rugby World Cup Limited. Team bases will be announced in late 2009.
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 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
Bronze Final: Loser SF1 v Loser SF2
Final: Winner SF1 v Winner SF2
No comments:
Post a Comment