England to face Boks in RWC 2007

The draw for the 2007 Rugby World Cup has ordained that world champions, England, will face South Africa in the first round of France 2007 - a repeat of their 2003 RWC Pool C encounter.

Pass it on: The battle starts here

The draw for France 2007 - which took place on Wednesday in Dublin - also pitches Australia with Wales, New Zealand with Scotland, and France with Ireland.

The 2007 RWC will adopt the same format as last year's tournament, with four pools consisting of five teams each. Eight of those teams are already guaranteed berths in the sixth edition of the tournament.

England, Australia, New Zealand and France (as RWC 2003 semi-finalist) each head one of the four Pools.

Ireland, Scotland, South Africa and Wales (as 2003 quarter-finalist) have each been allocated to one of those Pools, as have the other 12 teams, who have yet to qualify.

THE 2007 DRAW:

POOL A:
England
South Africa
Oceania 1
Americas 3
Repecharge 2

POOL B:
Australia
Wales
Oceania 2
Americas 2
Asia 1

POOL C:
New Zealand
Scotland
Europe 1
Europe 2
Repecharge 1
 
POOL D:
France
Ireland
Americas 1
Europe 3
Africa 1

The two repecharge spots will eventually be decided by play-offs - the winner of Africa 2 versus Europe 4 will face Americas 4 for 'Repecharge 1', with Oceania 3 and Asia 2 facing a showdown for 'Repecharge 2'.

This is the first time in the Rugby World Cup's 17-year history that the whole draw has not been based exclusively on seedings or rankings.

The 2007 RWC will take place in France - with Wales, Scotland and Ireland each hosting one first-round matches each. There will also be a quarter-final held at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

The 48-match tournament will run between September 7 to October 20.