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England Draw Australia And Wales In 2015 World Cup

England Draw Australia And Wales In 2015 World Cup

England have been handed a tough draw for the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

Stuart Lancaster's men will face Australia and Wales in Pool A, alongside two yet-to-be decided qualifiers. Scotland have been drawn with Samoa and South Africa in Pool B, while Ireland will face Italy and France in Pool D.

England were in the second tier of seeds after dropping out of the top four in the world rankings, despite beating New Zealand at the weekend.

The All Blacks will play Argentina, Tonga and two qualifiers in Pool C.

"It's a pretty tough pool," said England coach Lancaster. "Wales, I've got a huge amount of respect for what they've done recently.

"Australia have just beaten us and are an incredibly competitive nation. We'll look forward to it on a few years' time," added Lancaster, who is bidding to follow Clive Woodward, the man behind England's 2003 Webb Ellis Trophy triumph, in becoming a World Cup-winning coach.

The World Cup will get underway in September 2015, with the final to be held at Twickenham on October 31.