The pool draw for the 2019 Rugby World Cup is just 19 days away.

Taking place at Kyoto's State Guest House on 10 May, the draw will decide the composition of the four pools of five teams to challenge for the Webb Ellis Cup in Japan.

Of the 20 teams taking part in the 2019 tournament, 12 have directly qualified as a result of their positions in the 2015 event with the remaining eight to be decided through regional qualification tournaments that will conclude by November 2018 when all 20 participants will be known.

The 12 directly qualified teams will be seeded based on the World Rugby World Rankings on Wednesday, 10 May, 2017 and positioned into three bands of four teams.

Three-times winners and reigning champions New Zealand top the rankings at the moment, followed by England, Australia and Ireland who would together make up the first seeds.

They are followed in the rankings by Scotland, France, South Africa and Wales who would occupy the second-seed positions, with Argentina, Japan, Georgia and Italy set to comprise the third group of seeds.

The remaining eight team will come through the global qualification process and will be classified as Oceania 1, Europe 1, Americas 1, Oceania 2, Africa 1, Americas 2, Play-off Winner and Repechage Winner.

As with previous RWC tournaments, there will be four pools of five teams. Each team will be banded according to strength to try and ensure evenly matched pools. The teams in each band will be randomly drawn to determine the pools they go into.

The timing of the draw two, and a half years out from Rugby World Cup 2019, enables organisers to develop the match schedule in association with broadcasters, venues and base camps to provide teams with an appropriate lead-in time to maximise planning and preparation.

World Rankings at 20 March 2017
1 New Zealand 94.78
2 England 89.53
3 Australia 86.35
4 Ireland 84.66
5 Scotland 82.18
6 France 82.00
7 South Africa 81.79
8 Wales 81.21
9 Argentina 79.91
10 Fiji 76.46
11 Japan 74.22
12 Georgia 72.92
13 Tonga 71.94
14 Samoa 71.25
15 Italy 71.17