After the final qualification match between Japan and Hong Kong we now know the pools for next year’s World Cup.

The pools for next year’s World Cup will be:

A: Canada, New Zealand, Wales and Hong Kong

B: England, United States, Italy, Spain

C: France, Ireland, Australia, Japan

Assuming the schedule of games follow the seedings, the matches should be:

9th August Result of last match All results to end of 2016 Pool A

Canada v Hong Kong

New Zealand v Wales

No previous game

N Zealand 63 Wales 7 (2014)

No previous game

New Zealand 3 wins, Wales 0 Pool B

England v Spain

United States v Italy

England 45 Spain 5 (2014)

Italy 20 USA 34 (2012)

England 13 wins, Spain 1, 1 draw

United States 1 win, Italy 0 Pool C

France v Japan

Ireland v Australia

France 99 Japan 0 (1994)

Ireland 14 Australia 18 (2006)

France 2 wins, Japan 0

Australia 2 wins, Ireland 0 13th August Result of last match All results to end of 2016 Pool A

Canada v Wales

New Zealand v Hong Kong

Wales 3 Canada 25 (2007)

No previous game

Canada 4 wins, Wales 2, 2 draws

No previous game Pool B

England v Italy

United States v Spain

Italy 24 England 33 (2016)

Spain 5 USA 23 (2002)

England 15 wins, Italy 0

USA 2 wins, Spain 0 Pool C

France v Australia

Ireland v Japan

France 17 Australia 3 (2014)

Ireland 55 Japan 0 (2004)

France 3 wins, Australia 1

Ireland 2 wins, Japan 1 17th August Result of last match All results to end of 2016 Pool A

Canada v New Zealand

Wales v Hong Kong

Canada 10 N Zealnd 20 (2016)

No previous game

New Zealand 12 wins, Canada 0

No previous game Pool B

England v United States

Italy v Spain

USA 13 England 39 (2016)

Spain 38 Italy 7 (2013)

England 14 wins, USA 1

Spain 9 wins, Italy 3 Pool C

France v Ireland

Australia v Japan

France 18 Ireland 6 (2016)

No previous game

France 17 wins, Ireland 2, 1 draw

No previous game

22nd August: Semi-finals and classification matches

26th August: Final and classification matches

Other notable facts: