Rugby World Cup 2015: ‘Pool of Death’ draw was an error, says ARU boss Bill Pulver

ARU boss Bill Pulver says the World Cup draw that led to Australia, England and Wales sharing a pool of death was an “error” by World Rugby.

Pictured in Martin Place, Sydney today is ARU CEO Bill Pulver speaking at the Wallabies public farewell before they head off to the Rugby World Cup. Picture: Tim Hunter.

AUSTRALIAN Rugby Union boss Bill Pulver said the World Cup draw that led to Australia, England and Wales sharing a pool of death was an “error” by World Rugby but he is confident the potentially code-crippling system will be fixed for the 2019 tournament.

Pulver arrived in London ahead of Australia’s massive showdown against England and spoke with the hosts still facing the possibility of being knocked out of their own tournament by an Australian victory.

With only two qualifying spots for the finals on offer from pool A, an England win would pitch the Wallabies and Wales in a sudden-death shootout for one spot in the playoffs next weekend.

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One major rugby-loving nation will suffer not only the huge indignity of not making the finals but the significantly negative effects of failure for the code on their country’s sporting landscape.

The bizarre situation that sees three teams in the world’s top six — and four in the top ten counting Fiji (9th) — vying for two spots has arisen because of World Rugby’s decision to conduct their pool allocation three years before the tournament, way back in 2012.

At the time, Wales had slipped to ninth in the world and with a system that saw pools compromised of one team from the top four, one from the second four, one from the third four and a qualifier, fate saw Australia, England and Wales all pulled out of the barrel together.

It was immediately dubbed the “pool of death” and the difficulty of progressing was apparent, but the reality of one strong nation being sent home after the pool stages is now upon us and it has highlighted the damaging nature of World Rugby’s system.

“World Rugby did the draw considerably in advance of the tournament, which in retrospect was an error and I think they’ve acknowledged that,” Pulver told the Daily Telegraph.

“For the next World Cup they’ll do the draw much closer to the event, with the most up-to-date world standings, and hopefully that won’t happen again.”

World Rugby boss Brett Gosper said recently the game’s governing body would review the pool allocation system and timing, and indicated a later date to determine pools would be in place for 2019.

But while there has been praise for the effect of World Rugby’s funding of tier 2 nations from its massive and jealously guarded World Cup revenue, there is also no disputing that the 2012 draw will see rugby’s popularity and growth take a big hit in one of the core global markets: England, Wales or Australia.

Pulver conceded World Cup success was a big driver of growth and opportunity for rugby, particularly in Australia. It is when neutral fans switch on to the Wallabies.

“This tournament matters. I know we all want to be the no. 1 team in the world, and win our Bledisloe Cups and our Rugby Championships, but the one the really matters is the World Cup and you are world champion for a four year cycle,” Pulver said.

“This is key, and we want to make sure that every aspect of this tournament is handled in as professional a fashion as possible and I know World Rugby have got that one in their sights. I am pretty sure that issue won’t happen again.”

From a tournament point of view, even Gosper acknowledged the nasty downside of hosts England failing to make the quarter-finals like they did in the Cricket World Cup in March. Gosper tweeted: “England fail to exit pool in World Cup ... not the words we want to hear during #RWC2015 #CWC2015.”

The draw was done so early because World Cup organisers said they need sufficient time to prepare and plan for the 2015 World Cup, but World Rugby officials have conceded they will look at speeding up that process and eliminating the risk of major swings in world rankings and unfair pools emerging come tournament time.

The strength of pool A also made it effectively impossible for Fiji, who are now ranked ninth in the world, to have any chance of qualifying for the finals.

Former Wallabies legend George Gregan said the draw should be one year out.

“A lot changes. Wales were ninth and now they’ve made it all the way to No. 2. Whether they’re prepared to wait until a year out, that would be good,” Gregan said.

“Things change quite drastically in a year, let alone three years out from a World Cup. That could probably push it back a fair bit. I am sure it is not an exact science and it takes a lot of planning, but pushing back is a must. Three years is far too early to be deciding pools.”

Gosper said in August: “You want it to be a true reflection of the position at the time of the tournament. You’ve got to balance the proximity of the tournament with all of the planning that goes into it. We’ll look at that next time to see if it’s possible to make that draw closer to the tournament.”

Originally published as Rugby World Cup 2015: ‘Pool of Death’ draw was an error, says ARU boss Bill Pulver