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Ireland to learn World Cup fate in May
The composition of the group stages for the 2019 Rugby World Cup will be decided on 10th May 2017.
The 12 directly qualified teams will be seeded based on the official world rankings as they stand on that date with eight additional qualifying nations joining them.
The tournament will consist of four pools with five teams in each and based on Ireland's current standing of fourth in the world, they would be a top seed if the draw took place today.
The direct qualifiers are the double defending champions New Zealand, runners-up
Australia, losing semi-finalists South Africa and Argentina, losing
quarter-finalists Wales, Scotland, Ireland and France plus England,
Japan, Georgia and Italy, who finished third in their respective pools.
The sides ranked fifth-eighth in the world on May 10th will make up the pot of second seeds with those ranked ninth-12th marked as third seeds.
The eight places available through the qualifying process will be known as bands four and five and will be assessed according to ranking and strength. These will also
be drawn randomly across the pools.
Each group will contain a first, second and third seed along with a team from each of bands four and five.
In theory, were Ireland to maintain this top four ranking until the qualifying draw in Kyoto then they should have an easier draw than if they were second seeds.
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