Stuart Barnes says the “ridiculously early” World Cup draw has “distorted” next year’s tournament in France and created a “horrendous situation”, amid Wales being one of the top seeds.
The pools were drawn way back in December 2020. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, World Rugby decided the seedings would be based on how the world rankings looked at the start of that year, when Wales were still reigning Six Nations Grand Slam champions and ranked fourth. It meant they were among the top seeds for the draw.
Ireland and France, meanwhile, who dominated this year's Six Nations and provided all four teams in the recent European Champions Cup semi-finals, were both only second seeds.
