The question on the lips of just about everyone on Twitter today is: why the hell is the World Cup draw done 1018 days in advance of the first match?
The answer, according to the Daily Telegraph's Brendan Gallagher via their liveblog, is filthy lucre.
I'm afraid its all down to money and commerce. RWC need and the associated travel companies need to know where the "big" teams and more importantly where their travelling supporters will be to reserve all the hotel rooms in the area. It's not an awful lot more complicated than that to be honest."
Could they not do this in December 2013 and still book all the hotels around Milton Keynes?