World rankings in the build up to RWC 2007
9-Aug-2007
With less than a month to go until Rugby World Cup 2007 kicks off, which teams are seriously in with a chance of winning the cup? The official IRB World Rankings as of 6th August 2007, along with the teams' RWC2007 pool are as follows:
| Rank | Country | Pool |
|---|
| 1st | New Zealand | C |
| 2nd | Australia | B |
| 3rd | France | D |
| 4th | South Africa | A |
| 5th | Ireland | D |
| 6th | Argentina | D |
| 7th | England | A |
| 8th | Wales | B |
| 9th | Italy | C |
| 10th | Samoa | A |
It's not surprising then that pool D has been named the pool of death. It's also interesting to note that the top 10 teams are split 50/50 between Southern Hemisphere and Northern Hemisphere.
The IRB World Standings only roughly correlate with those of the bookies. As of August 09, money dictates the following favourites:
| Rank | Country |
|---|
| 1st | New Zealand |
| 2nd | South Africa |
| 3rd | France |
| 4th | Australia |
| 5th | Ireland |
| 6th | England |
| 7th | Argentina |
| 8th | Wales |
| 9th | Scotland |
| 10th | Italy |
Time will soon tell which team will prevail.
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