Seedings for the next Rugby World "are likely to be based" on int'l results in '17, according to Iain Morrison of the SCOTSMAN. The top 12 ranked nations at a given point "automatically qualify for the tournament, so the timing of the decision is key." The seedings for last year’s Rugby World Cup were based on rankings taken in '12, three years before the tournament kicked off. Governing body World Rugby "looks likely to change it for the next edition so the seedings are based on rankings taken just two years ahead of 2019 World Cup in Japan." So instead of the seedings "being set in stone this summer," they are expected to be finalized in the second or third quarter of '17. The British and Irish Lions tour New Zealand that year "just adds another complication because World Rugby’s rankings do not take into account" that fact that teams -- England and Wales are the "obvious examples" -- will be "much weakened after losing their best players to the Lions." The '17 summer tours, involving "weakened teams, would skew the World Cup seedings" so World Rugby will "presumably either bring the date forward to immediately after the 2017 Six Nations" or, "more likely, push back the seedings" until after the '17 autumn window to give teams a chance to field "full strength sides and regain ground lost while touring in the summer" (SCOTSMAN, 3/23).
