whoops i confused myself its like this.
Group A (A "super group" made up of the top 4 seeds with 3 qualifiers)
Australia
New Zealand
England
France
Group B (5th to 8th seeds, 2 qualifiers)
Papua New Guinea
Samoa
Tonga
Ireland
Group C (9th to 12th seeds, 1 qualifier)
Scotland
Wales
Fiji
Lebanon
Top 2 from Group A go straight to semi-finals
Round 2
Match A: 3rd place in Group A vs, winner of Group C
Match B: First place in Group B vs. Second place in Group B
Semi Finals
Match C: Winner of Match A vs. Group A runners-up
Match D: Winner of Match B vs. Group A winners
Final
Winner of Match C vs. Winner of Match D
+ A continuation cup running parallel with the knockout stages.