The eyes of the rugby world will be on London next week as the draw is made for the sport's next global showpiece.

Rugby World Cup 2011 may still be three years away but players, coaches, journalists and fans alike will be keen observers on December 1 as the groupings for the pool stages are announced.

The majority of the 20 teams that will contest RWC'11 are already known, with 12 having pre-qualified by finishing in the top three in each pool at last year's tournament in France. As a result the sport's big names - New Zealand, South Africa, Australia, Argentina, England, Wales, France, Ireland, Scotland and Italy - are all assured of their place at the RWC'11 table - and so too are the Fiji and Tonga, who have been rightfully rewarded for their eye-catching displays 12 months ago.

For the first time the International Rugby Board will use their World Rankings to seed the 12 pre-qualified teams for the draw ensuring the highest ranked sides avoid each other until the latter stages of the tournament.

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