Both the hosts and the tournament broadcaster have a familiar feel,the teams are settling in and statistical evidence for the ‘pool of death’Pool A contains four of the world’s top 10, whereas Pool B has only one. Using the average world ranking of each team (where the lower the average, and the better the quality of teams) we can see how deathly it is: Pool A: average 7.8 (Australia 2,England 4, Wales 5, and Fiji 9,Uruguay 19). Pool B: 10.6 (S Africa 3, Scotland 10, and Samoa 12,Japan 13, USA 15). Pool C: 11.1 (N Zealand 1, or Argentina 8,Tonga 11, Georgia 16, and Namibia 20). Pool D: 12.4 (Ireland 6,France 7, Italy 14, or Romania 17,Canada 18). The ripples from a draw made at the Tate contemporary in December 2012, when Wales were fleetingly the world’s No9 side, and will finally have their thunderous effect.
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Source: theguardian.com