KEY POINTS:
Much will be made of the seventh World Cup draw when it is revealed next week in London.
The International Rugby Board has already trumpeted the announcement as "innovative" because the world rankings, as they stand after this weekend's final November internationals, will be used to seed the 12 automatic qualifiers from the last tournament into order for the next global tournament in New Zealand.
That is a change from the previous system where results from the preceding World Cup were used to seed sides for the draw.
The automatic qualifiers are World Cup champions South Africa, losing finalist England, beaten semifinalists France and Argentina, losing quarter-finalists Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Scotland and Italy, Tonga, Wales and Ireland who finished third in their sections.
Sides will be split into four pools of five, the 12 automatic qualifiers from last year and eight others who will emerge from the qualifying rounds which start in the Cayman Islands next April.
The top 12 sides will be ranked according to the IRB criteria in the top three bands for the random draw.
Rugby World Cup Ltd chairman Dr Syd Millar said the draw was being made now to give the organising committee in New Zealand sufficient time to develop the match schedule with the broadcasters as well as helping with the intricate planning and details of the competition.
Making the draw almost three years before kickoff though seems unfair on those sides who may be on the rise and too comforting for those on the slide. It does nothing for the pressure and excitement about qualifying.
Even Millar conceded the unsatisfactory timing, while he then defended the decision as necessary for tournament logistics.
"We would have liked to have the draw in 2009 but this would not allow enough time to negotiate and confirm venues for the 48 matches and the associated team base camps," he said.
Which all seems like a pile of piffle to these eyes. Venues and base camps could all be set up without knowing which teams in particular will be playing at what grounds. It would be far better to maintain some of the suspense, give the event more impetus and more intrigue if the seedings were done at the earliest in 2010.
Even later would be better, so the rankings would have some real meaning. It might give sides like Wales and Scotland, who are making some progress, a shot at getting out of their current level or conversely, if England's form, for example, continues to wither they could drop into the third line.
Tournament chief executive Martin Snedden defended the process and said next week's draw would help organisers with their plans for matches and team bases during the tournament. He said all the match venues should be decided by early next year.
Millar said the RWC board felt the world rankings were a more accurate way of defining sides' form and would "provide the best possible chance of evenly matched pools emerging from the draw".
His logic would have far more substance if the draw was made much closer to the tournament start, when teams' form and subsequent rankings were far more representative of their comparative standard.
