Scottish eyes on Paris as draw for 2023 World Cup takes place
Scotland will learn their pool stage opponents for the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France when the draw for the tournament is made in Paris today.
All of the Six Nations teams have already qualified for the draw thanks to their seeding and Gregor Townsend’s men are in band three having been ranked ninth in the world at the start of the year. The Scots are joined in band three by Argentina, Fiji and Italy. The coronavirus pandemic's impact on international rugby and its calendar this year means that teams are banded on where they stood in World Rugby's official rankings 11 months ago.
Positions after the autumn Tests would normally be used to form the draw bands, but teams like South Africa and Japan have not played this year.
Announcing the change in October, the Rugby World Cup board said it "represents the fairest scenario, given it was the last time that all teams were able to play."
Wales could prove major beneficiaries from the rankings that will shape the pool draw. The Welsh have dropped from fourth in January to ninth on the back of a year that saw them win just three out of 10 games under new head coach Wayne Pivac.
But they will be in band one and not band three, therefore avoiding reigning world champions South Africa, last year's beaten World Cup finalists England and three -time tournament winners New Zealand.
While Wales find themselves among the top four seeds of 12 automatic qualifiers for 2023, host nation France will be in band two - rather than enjoying the band one status they would have had based on current rankings - while Scotland and Argentina move from band two to band three.
France are alongside Ireland, Australia and Japan - World Cup quarter-finalists last year - in band two.
Bands four and five will be made up of eight countries that will emerge via yet-to - be -played qualifying matches, including representatives from Europe, Oceania and the Americas.
The World Cup draw will see one team from each band chosen to form four groups of five, and it takes place at the Palais Brongniart at 11.30am GMT.