On Wednesday, the Springboks were drawn alongside Italy, Georgia and Romania in the pool stage of the expanded 24-team World Cup for 2027, and while that may seem like a favourable draw, it does put them on a path to face the All Blacks in the quarter-finals.
First things first, the Springboks will look to avoid any slip ups against their pool opponents, but they have only lost one game against Italy in 19 meetings, while they have won all three games against Georgia, and both previous matches against Romania.
The Boks have faced all three their pool opponents in Rugby World Cups before – Romania in 1995 and 1999, Georgia in 2003, and Italy in 2019.
The Springboks would be expected to finish top of Pool B comfortably, and then would face a third-place finisher from either Pool C, E or F in the Round of 16, and they’d certainly be favourites there.
What’s worth noting is that the All Blacks – although they have been drawn in Pool A with Australia – would still be backed to finish top of Pool A. They’d also expect no issues in progressing past the third best finisher from Pool D, E or F in the first knockout round.
Where it gets interesting is that this pairing of winners from the Round of 16 are then set to meet in the quarter-finals. This puts the Springboks and All Blacks on a collision course for a quarter-final meeting in what would be a repeat of the 2023 World Cup final.
If the Springboks were to overcome the All Blacks, then there could be another huge match up in the semi-finals against France, the team they edged at the quarter-final stage of the last World Cup.
Should they progress through this to the final, then it’s most likely that England or Ireland would lie in wait.
The Springboks and All Blacks are set for an early World Cup rematch
- Pool A: New Zealand, Australia, Chile, Hong Kong China
- Pool B: South Africa, Italy, Georgia, Romania
- Pool C: Argentina, Fiji, Spain, Canada
- Pool D: Ireland, Scotland, Uruguay, Portugal
- Pool E: France, Japan, USA, Samoa
- Pool F: England, Wales, Tonga, Zimbabwe
EYES ON THE PRIZE
