The highly anticipated draw, which took place at the Hôtel de Ville in Paris, saw the home team placed in pool C alongside Australia, Wales and South Africa.

This is the second successive World Cup that these three countries have been drawn against each other, with New Zealand completing the group in the 2010 World Cup in England.

Wales had a tough time in that group last year, failing to win a single game, however, their team coach Rhys Edwards is hopeful for next year's competition.

"I'm happy to have avoided England and New Zealand because they are obviously the top two teams in the world at the moment," Edwards explained.

"The draw has been a long time coming so it's nice to know now who we are playing.

"Up until this point everything has been hypothetical but now we can give France, South Africa and Australia our full attention.

"France at home is going to be a huge challenge but we will be looking to next year's Six Nations as a springboard for the World Cup.

"We are in a healthy position at the moment as we have genuine competition for places right across the team so there are no guaranteed starts - that has been our downfall in the past."

The French women face tough opposition after being drawn against Australia, Wales and South Africa in pool C


Pool A for next year's tournament will see England, who finished runners up in the 2010 World Cup, face off against Canada, Spain and Samoa.

The England team will be confident going into the tournament, holding a 100 per cent World Cup record against their three group opponents.

Despite this record, Canada have come out on top of the two meets between the teams during 2013 and will be looking to make it three in a row when the they meet again at Twickenham on November 13.

England coach Gary Street gave his reaction to the draw in Paris.

"This is certainly going to be an interesting pool for us," he said.

"We know that Canada will offer a hugely physical challenge and they have enjoyed a lot of success recently, culminating in a Nations Cup win in July.

"It is also going to add quite a bit of spice to our Test match against them on November 13th at The Stoop.

"Samoa are a relatively unknown side to us but what we do know is that they have a successful Sevens programme and they have got some talented strong players.

"Spain, meanwhile, are always a dogged side and we have enjoyed some very close games against them in the European Cup and the Six Nations when they were in it.

"Spain are certainly not a side to take lightly.

"The WRWC draw has certainly made next year's tournament come alive now.

"We are currently in camp preparing for our autumn international series against France and Canada and this news has definitely added another dimension to our training.

"It's going to be an exciting nine months."

The England team will be hoping to make up for their heartbreaking loss in the final to New Zealand in the 2010 World Cup


In pool B, defending champions New Zealand will face tough clashes as they are up against the United States and Ireland, as well as Asian qualifiers Kazakhstan as they attempt to win a fifth successive title.

The US were the last team to beat New Zealand in a Women's Rugby World Cup after securing a 7-0 win over the Black Ferns in the inaugural tournament in 1991.

New Zealand have never played Ireland or Kazakhstan before and Ireland team captain Fiona Coughlan is relishing the challenge in Paris next year.

"The Black Ferns are the only team ranked above us in the world that we haven't played so it's a very exciting prospect to test ourselves against the world champions," she said.

"With just the top 12 teams in the world qualifying for the World Cup the draw was always going to be tough no matter what pool you end up in."

The Women's Rugby World Cup 2014 will take place from August 1-17.

The pool stages will take place at FFR Marcoussis, with the semi-finals and final being played at Stade Jean-Bouin the French capital.

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