The world champions South Africa and the Six Nations winners Wales have been drawn together in the same group for the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand. The Springboks and the Welsh were paired along with Fiji in Pool D at last night's draw for the competition, that saw the top three teams picked for the five pools that will make up the first round. World Cup runners-up England will have been pleased with how the draw favoured them, along with Scotland, as they were both put in Pool B.
The top-seeded team in their group will be Argentina, who were third at last year's World Cup. But both the home nations will have been relieved to have avoided the southern hemisphere giants in the draw and both will have realistic hopes of making the latter stages of the competition. Ireland will have to get past Australia and Italy in Pool C if they are to reach the quarter- finals The hosts New Zealand have been drawn in Pool A with France, who knocked them out of last year's competition, and Tonga.
The other two teams in each pool will be made up of qualifiers from Oceania, Asia, Europe and the Americas. gcaygill@thenational.ae
