Past is familiar country for Ireland

RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 DRAW: It was entirely appropriate that the draw for the 2007 Rugby World Cup was staged in the Fadó restaurant, with its reference to the past which, to a large extent, repeated itself in Dublin yesterday.

Ireland were drawn in Pool D alongside the hosts, France, Argentina (almost certainly), Europe 3 and Africa 1, a gathering that quickly earned the "Group of Death" tag, although those in Pool A, which houses world champions England, South Africa, Oceania 1, America 3 and Repechage 2 might care to dispute the assertion.

It arguably couldn't have been a tougher draw for Ireland coach Eddie O'Sullivan, as he must take his squad to Paris to play France while the remainder of Ireland's pool games will be played here. Had they avoided the French in the draw then Ireland would have played all their pool games at home.

The Irish coach, though, managed to retain his sense of humour.

"I thanked Syd (Millar, chairman of the IRB) personally after the draw for his contribution to Irish rugby.

"We're back in again at the deep end, it's déjù vu I suppose. We shouldn't get too carried away at the moment, we're still three years away so we'll see how the dust settles in three years' time."

O'Sullivan's reference was to the fact that Millar, who along with Bernard Lapasset conducted the draw, had decided Ireland's fate with one sweep of the hand.

The likelihood is that O'Sullivan will bring his charges to the Stade de France for the opening game of the World Cup. The organisers, Rugby World Cup Ltd and the hosts, the French rugby union (FFR), are keen that the first competitive spectacle of the 2007 games is a clash between two of the seeded nations.

As hosts, France will be one of those teams, while, given that Argentina opened last year's World Cup against Australia, Ireland may be chosen for that honour this time.

One school of thought is that if there is a good time to play France, it's probably better to do so in the first game when their competitive edge may not be as honed: it's also, though, a double-edged sword.

French coach Bernard Laporte also demonstrated a light touch when he considered whether Pool D deserved the Group of Death appellation. "Not for France. For Ireland or Argentina perhaps," he smiled. "The England pool is not easy. In fact, none are.

"There are three good teams (in our pool). The last three times we have gone to Argentina we have lost, but fortunately this match will be played in France. They are tough to play against."

Argentina, almost certain to be the Americas 1 qualifiers, will be renewing a rivalry with the Irish that spans the last two World Cups. In 1999, there was the heartache of Lens, a real low point in Irish rugby history when beaten in a play-off to make the quarter-finals.

Last autumn, Ireland exacted a measure of revenge by holding on for a narrow victory in the pool stages, thus denying their hosts a route to the play-offs.

Incidentally, Ireland will play host to the Pumas at Lansdowne Road later this year and that cosy familiarity may be expanded further between now and 2007.

Unless there is a huge reversal in fortunes, Argentina look far too accomplished for their rivals, the US and Canada, in the Americas section and should confirm their number one seeding in terms of results.

The Europe 3 qualifier could be either Romania, currently struggling in the second tier in Europe, Georgia, Russia or the Six Nations B champions Portugal. Italy will head the qualifiers from Europe.

The final place in Pool D belongs to Africa 1 and, given the parlous state of Zimbabwe rugby, that spot should be claimed by Namibia, whom Ireland also faced last October in Australia.

Ireland will not be alone in renewing old rivalries as England find themselves once again pitted against South Africa (in Pool A) and possibly Samoa, both of whom were in their pool in Australia.

The English and the Springboks will definitely meet, while Oceania 1 will probably be either Samoa or Fiji. America 3 on current form would be the US, while Repechage 2 could be filled by another Pacific Island nation in Tonga.

England assistant coach Andy Robinson noted: "It's a bit of déjà vu. All indications are that Samoa could be the Oceania 1 team and that would see the three of us together again."

New Springbok skipper John Smit described the draw as "exciting". "There are exciting times in South African rugby at the moment, with a new coach and lots of work ahead, but there are a lot of positives in our game and we'd like to improve our current situation."

Last year's beaten finalists, Australia, head Pool B in which they will be joined by Wales, Oceania 2 (Samoa or Fiji), Americas 2 (Canada) and Asia (Japan).

New Zealand are the top seeds in Pool C where they will be joined by the Matt Williams-coached Scotland. The other qualifiers are likely to be Italy (Europe 1), Romania (Europe 2) and Uruguay (Repechage 1), who filled that position at the last tournament.

Pool C will have special relevance from an Irish context as the 2007 World Cup will follow the same format as its predecessor, scheduling that will see the runners-up in Ireland's pool playing most probably New Zealand as Pool C winners in the quarter-finals.

The quarter-final line-up will be decided as follows: Winners A1 v Winners B2; A2 v B1; C1 v D2; C2 v D1.

The 2007 tournament will have 48 matches, beginning on September 7th. Two quarter-finals, both semi-finals and the final on October 20th will be at the Stade de France, with the two other quarter-finals at Cardiff and Marseille.