Springboks draw All Blacks for World Cup but it’s actually okay
If you break down Wednesday's draw, this could actually work in Allister Coetzee and his troops' favour in Japan.
Allister Coetzee is flanked by his Italian and New Zealand counterparts, Conor O’Shea and Steve Hansen. Photo: Dave Rogers – World Rugby/World Rugby via Getty Images.
There was good news and bad news for the Springboks after Wednesday’s Rugby World Cup draw in 2019.
On the negative side, Allister Coetzee’s troops did draw the All Blacks in Pool B, as was feared initially.
Given the stranglehold the New Zealanders have over South Africa, it currently seems unlikely that the Boks would win that match.
But there’s a silver lining to that.
The rest of the Boks’ group looks fairly straightforward with Italy probably the only other side that could give them a headache.
The other opponents are the African conference winner – expected to be Namibia – as well as the repechage winner, which could be any side from Kenya to Uruguay.
Coetzee wasn’t too fazed about his side’s draw.
“As I said before the draw was made – to us it doesn’t matter who we are drawn against, because to win the Rugby World Cup, you have to beat the best teams out there,” he said.
“History shows that you need to win at least three of your four pool matches to be sure of a place in the play-offs. We will focus on our journey towards the RWC 2019 and make sure we are ready and well prepared.”
More importantly, the Springboks being drawn with the All Blacks means they avoid their arch rivals for at least the quarterfinals.
Instead, they’ll probably draw Pool A winner Ireland in the last eight, which any fan will tell you is an easier proposition than having to play New Zealand.
But Coetzee is wary becoming complacent over that fact.
“If ever there was testimony that the gap between the top teams have closed, then we saw that at the over the past few months in the Northern Hemisphere,” he said.
“With New Zealand established as the number one side, there is also very little to choose between the top sides in the world, while the next batch of teams continue to improve.”
2019 Rugby World Cup pools
Pool A: Ireland, Scotland, Japan, Europe 1, Play-off winner
Pool B: New Zealand, South Africa, Italy, Africa 1, Repechage winner
Pool C: England, France, Argentina, Americas 1, Oceania 2
Pool D: Australia , Wales, Georgia, Oceania 1, Americas 2
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