Rugby World Cup 2015 Pool Allocation Draw

Dublin – Ireland, Oct 24, 2012: The International Rugby Board is delighted to invite members of the media to apply for accreditation to the Rugby World Cup 2015 Pool Allocation Draw in London on Monday, December 3, 2012.

The draw will commence at 15.00 at an iconic London art gallery on the south bank and will be followed by media opportunities with team representatives within a dedicated media centre.

Mirroring the 2011 tournament, the draw will see the 20 teams for Rugby World Cup 2015 allocated into four pools of five teams. And, as before, the IRB World Rankings – as they stand at 12:00 (UK time) on December 3 – will be used to band the 12 directly qualified teams from RWC 2011 in New Zealand.

The top four teams in the IRB World Rankings will be allocated to band one – or the top line in each pool – and drawn randomly into the pools. The teams ranked five to eight will be allocated into band two with the remaining four teams allocated into band three.

The eight remaining qualifying places will be allocated into bands four and five according to playing strength and also drawn randomly.

Event accreditation will cover access to the media centre, where representatives of the teams will be available for post-event reaction. Unfortunately due to space restrictions at the draw venue, only a small number of media accreditations will be available for access to the event itself. However, the draw will be fed live into the media centre where all reaction and interviews will take place.

Written and Broadcast Reporters

As there is limited space within the venue for the draw itself, the IRB will apply a priority selection process for applications. This will be based on best practice that is applied to Rugby World Cup tournaments with priority given based on the type of media organisation (e.g. international news agency, major newspaper, rugby specific website, regional newspaper, etc) and country. Only one applicant per media organisation will be approved for access to the draw. A live TV feed will be provided to the media centre. Reaction will be available to all accredited media in the media centre shortly after the draw. This will be a managed process by IRB staff.

Television and Radio

No TV or radio broadcast equipment will be permitted to enter the venue itself. The IRB will provide broadcast-quality pictures and audio of the draw that will be available on request. TV and radio will have full access to the media centre for reaction and interviews. This will be a managed process by IRB Communications staff.

Photography

A pool of photographs will made available to all media following the draw. All accredited photographers will be welcome to attend the post-draw activities in the media centre. There will be no pre-draw photo opportunities.

Applications

To apply for accreditation please complete this form and return it to pad@rugbyworldcup.com by 17:00 (UK time) Monday, November 12, 2012.

About Rugby World Cup

Rugby World Cup is Rugby’s showpiece event hosted every four years and one of the world’s largest and most popular global sporting events. The inaugural Rugby World Cup was hosted in 1987 and England 2015 will be the eighth edition, bringing together 20 teams and fans from more than 100 countries for a spectacle that will be broadcast to a global television audience of four billion. Rugby World Cup provides the financial platform for unprecedented investment and growth in the Game with the IRB investing £150 million in Rugby worldwide between 2009-2012. —- IRB