The draw for the Rugby World Cup 2019 will take place this Wednesday in the State Guest House, Kyoto, Japan. The pool draw will be broadcast live via the World Rugby's media platforms, on their Twitter and Facebook.
What time is the Rugby World Cup draw?
The draw begins on Wednesday at 9:00 AM Irish time, Japanese time 17:00.
When does the Rugby World Cup 2019 start?
The Rugby World Cup 2019 begins on the 20th September and finishes on the 7th November.
How does the draw work?
A total of 20 teams are participating in total, 12 have already been decided. Argentina, Australia, England, France, Georgia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Scotland, South Africa and Wales have already qualified following on from finishing in the top three of each of their pools in the Rugby World Cup 2015. The remaining eight teams are decided through the qualification process.
The teams are divided into four groups of five teams. Depending on their world ranking, the 12 teams who have automatically qualified are spilt into 3 bands. The remaining eight teams who played through the qualifiers are then spilt into two bands.
What does this mean for Ireland?
As it stands, Ireland are currently ranked fourth in the World, with Australia, England and New Zealand placed above them. This means that they are automatically placed into Band 1 - which is made up of the four highest ranking teams. They secured their place in the top band after a 13-9 win over England in the Six Nations 2017.
