Read how the world's big names reacted to today's Rugby World Cup Pool Allocation Draw in London.
The battle lines were drawn for the sport's next global showpiece at a star-studded ceremony attended by the sport's biggest names with the actual draw carried out within Tourism New Zealand's giant rugby ball on the banks of the River Thames.
And the draw threw up some eye-catching clashes with New Zealand set to face France in Pool A and England and Scotland slated to meet in Pool B.
- Pool A - New Zealand, France, Tonga, Americas 1, Asia 1
"I am happy. We didn't mind who we got today. you just have to win every game. They are pretty even pools and they will all be competitive. It will be a marvellous tournament but there is a long way to go and we have a long way to wait. There is a lot of foundations to put in place and the hierarchy in world rugby will change in that time." Graham Henry, New Zealand coach
"After what happened in the last World Cup with France, to get them in the pool I guess in New Zealand now there will be a bit more talk about that game. As New Zealanders we are going to feel the hype and the buildup from now on and I think it will be a good thing for the whole country but in three years teams will change a lot especially in the top eight." Richie McCaw, New Zealand captain
"It's always difficult to play against New Zealand. I consider this an honour and an opportunity. We can reckon that we'll finish behind New Zealand. After that it's up to us to get out of the group. There will also be Tonga, a team always hard to judge. My concern is more Tonga, America 1 and Asia 1 (the other two rivals) rather than New Zealand." Marc Lievremont, France coach
"I guess every pool is hard, but it is interesting to be in the pool with New Zealand and France and probably America (Americas 1) and Japan (Asia 1). I can see some opportunities there to make one step ahead from what we have done last year. I guess there will be a lot of Tongans there. The All Blacks are always hard to beat at home plus it's a World Cup, but it is always good to have a go at the big boys." Quddus Fielea, Tonga coach
- Pool B - Argentina, England, Scotland, Europe 1, Play-off Winner
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"Playing Scotland in the World Cup will be a hell of a game, with huge passion. We haven't played them in a World Cup since 1991. That was a tight game. Scotland were quarter-finalists last year, we finished second and Argentina finished third. There are a lot of tough groups. Argentina have been successful. They went to the World Cup in 2007 and came through the toughest pool of all and they could have got to the final.
"If you want to get to the last week of the World Cup you need to be good enough to beat the best in the world. Whoever we got in the pool doesn't change anything in that regard. There are some pretty tough groups there. Scotland and Fiji were in the third band and they both reached the quarter-finals at the last World Cup. There will be some awesome games before the quarter-finals - England v Scotland, England v Argentina, New Zealand v France, Ireland v Australia, Wales v South Africa." Martin Johnson, England Team Manager
"It's a good draw and one that gives Scotland every chance of maintaining our proud record of being one of only five countries to qualify for the quarter-final of every World Cup. The draw is the first piece of the jigsaw. The second piece is the scheduling of games and I believe it is absolutely imperative that games are scheduled to allow players' proper recovery and preparation time given the intensity of international matches. As far as our Pool B opponents are concerned I'm happy with the draw. We haven't played England in the World Cup since the 1991 semi-final, and we lost out at last year's World Cup to Argentina in the quarter-final. It looks as if we've missed the Pacific Islands' countries as they are pretty much playing on their home patch so that's a bonus." Frank Hadden, Scotland coach
"I'm excited by the draw. In England and Argentina we have two extremely tough sides in our pool who have a very proud record in the tournament. It will take a big effort from us but that's what we will be setting our minds on." Mike Blair, Scotland captain
- Pool C - Australia, Ireland, Italy, Europe 2, Americas 2
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"We know now what's ahead of us in three years so I guess it will allow a bit of intrigue and interest for the viewing public and the playing group but to be fair beyond that it won't be something we are focusing on yet. The reality is you have to live day to day and we will continue to build in the knowledge that if we do that it will serve us well in the long run." Robbie Deans, Australia coach
"There has been some decent history between Ireland and Australia in the World Cup and no doubt in three years time we will make some new history." Stirling Mortlock, Australia captain
"It is a fantastic way to kick off the competition but it's so far out it is impossible to say who will be around and what players will showing form. Ireland and Australia have played in World Cups before and it will add spice to the Ireland and Italy games over the next three years. When you are ranked liked we were, second in the pool, you are the target team for a lot of the others and everyone will be looking to have a go at us." Declan Kidney, Ireland coach
"I have learnt to not look too far ahead. The game can be fickle at times and I am enjoying the now and not looking that far ahead. When the body gets a bit older you learn to appreciate each game as it comes and if in three years time I have the wherewithal to play at this level and form included it would be fantastic to play in a fourth World Cup." Brian O'Driscoll, Ireland captain
"I think Australia, down there in three years time under Robbie Deans will be a very, very good side. I think they are obviously favourites in our pool. Ireland at the moment are a lot better than Italy, three years down the line we are not sure how many of their players are still going to be around and what sort of players Italy will have in three years time. It is interesting that Ireland also didn't make the quarter finals last time and neither did Italy so in a sense we are not too unhappy about the draw we have got." Nick Mallett, Italy coach
- Pool D - South Africa, Wales, Fiji, Oceania 1, Africa 1
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"Last time we were drawn against the top team from Britain - which was then England - and this time we have been drawn against Wales who are the Six Nations champions. We also played two teams from the Pacific Islands and this time we have Fiji and an Oceania qualifier, which is very likely to be Samoa. The draw has a similar feel to last time and the good thing is that we will be well tested during the competition. You don't want to breeze through your pool and we certainly won't have that luxury." John Smit, South Africa captain
"It's a tough draw and it will be a very physical pool but I'm happy with the draw. We'll be monitoring these nations progress over the coming months but we know what they are capable of when they are on song. Wales will only go from strength to strength and we know the Pacific Islands produce outstanding players - e only have to look back to last year's World Cup to know what a threat they can pose." South Africa coach Peter de Villiers
"It is a great draw and we are excited about it. Look at the World Cup last year - the winners of the competition came from the toughest pool. If we come out of it (the group), then we are in pretty good shape for the quarter-finals as we will have played some tough rugby, as long as we don't pick up too many injuries. I think this is the toughest pool. Fiji and Samoa will have a huge amount of support (in New Zealand) and the crowd will be really behind them. Hopefully, we will get a bit of support for South Africa, but we need it for the other two as well. We have played the three toughest teams in the world this autumn, and there is a significant amount of improvement to come from our game." Warren Gatland, Wales coach
"It is going to be a pretty tough group. There are some pretty physical encounters but the big positive in it is that if Wales manage to get out of the group we will pretty battle-hardened. You will not be caught out cold then if you get to the quarter finals." Ryan Jones, Wales captain
"Looking at that draw itself I think Pool D is probably the toughest one with Oceania 1 (expected to be) Samoa so that makes it even more difficult. Samoa is always a traditional rivalry which is from ages past and that is understandable, the Fijian fans would say 'oh gee that would be really physical'. Then you talk about Wales, when we defeated Wales last year, now when they see Wales again they will be thinking that will be another match because Wales would want to avenge that match last year. Then South Africa. We really played well [against them in the RWC 2007 semi final) and if we had played well at that time, then something could have happened. I think that to me that would still be the one our people are looking forward to, playing South Africa again." Bio Posco Tikoisuva, Fiji High Commissioner
1. Max Verstappen ()
