World Rugby has announced how the four bands of the 2025 World Cup will be composed.
Here they are, with rankings added:
Band 1: England (1), Canada (2), New Zealand (3), France (4)
Band 2: Australia (5), Ireland (6), Scotland (7), Italy (8)
Band 3: USA (9), Wales (10), Japan (11), South Africa (12)
Band 4: Spain (13), Samoa (15), Fiji (17), Brazil (42)
This was one on World Rugby’s easier tasks, for which they’ll be very grateful. Thanks be to rankings.
The bands are seeding positions by another name. The idea is to delay matches between the leading trophy contenders for as long as possible. That approach has its merits, but an early clash of titans can get the nerves jangling.
Just as with WXV, the biggest attainment gaps come in the lowest band, and it’s for exactly the same purpose – to give more nations the sense of new opportunities coming within their grasp.
In the last two years we have seen Colombia and Madagascar gain prominence in WXV; now it is Brazil’s turn. That is partly due to World Rugby’s belated decision to extend the competing nations to 16, a number last employed back in 2002.
Brazil is one of those nations firmly in the viewfinder of WR. Like others in their position, they have already found success in Sevens. The aim now is to let it flourish at 15s level. That is far more demanding in time and personnel.
There have been good reasons for not widening RWC’s scope: the more teams, the longer the tournament must last. With only a tiny proportion of female players enjoying whole or part-time support, the length of absence from work or study proved unwise.
A game within the game is to spot teams beating others who were placed in a higher band.
These days that’s perfectly possible.
The Draw
The next crucial stage follows on Thursday 17 October. Then we will discover who will play whom across the four bands.
Engliah eyes glance anxiously at Band 2, where they might alight on Australia, a team on the rise, and the only one of the 18 WXV contenders to gain maximum points.
Kiwi and French fans will be a shade more concerned. They know their favourites haven’t been performing to the standards expected. Ireland have already beaten the Black Ferns, and Les Bleues are so unpredictable that we can’t tell who might pull the rug from under their feet. By the same token, they could easily confound expectations and walk off with a first ever trophy.
How many rugby fans around the world would be delighted to see neither New Zealand nor England dispute yet another final? Ah, I can’t see clearly. The arms raised have blotted out the light.
