Coach Rassie Erasmus believes the Springboks will need to win five tough games to win a third-straight World Cup in Australia in 2027.
Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus believes the change of format for the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia has made the competition more difficult, as the Boks will now have to overcome five tough games to lift the Webb Ellis Cup.
In previous editions, pools of five were drawn, with the top two from each pool progressing into the tournament quarterfinals, but from 2027 pools will be cut down to four teams each, with a round of 16 knockout added to the playoff phase.
Erasmus believes that although the top ranked team in a pool will get a favourable last 16 draw, the pressure of not slipping up in the pool phase, and of having an extra knockout game, will make things more difficult for all teams.
Pool losses
In the previous two World Cups, the Boks lost a pool match, with them going down to New Zealand in Japan in 2019, and Ireland in France in 2023, before going unbeaten over the rest of both tournaments to triumph in the end.
But if they want an easier opponent in the last 16 in Australia, they will need to win all of their pool games, which they should have no trouble doing, having been drawn with Italy, Georgia and Romania.
“I have been to four World Cups (as a player and coach), but I haven’t been through this before. You can actually be knocked out (in the last 16). It’s actually a good thing for the lower tier nations to have a chance of progressing,” explained Erasmus.
“So that is good for rugby. It does put (extra) pressure on the teams, but we all have to deal with it, so we can’t moan. It’s another game where you can be kicked out and another week where there will be a lot of pressure on you.
“In past World Cups there would be one tough pool game, and then a quarterfinal, semifinal and a final. So there were four really tough games, but it now becomes five tough games (with the round of 16) … with all due respect to the other teams in your pool.
“So it is now almost tougher than the Rugby Championship, with how many difficult games there are now.”
Italy and All Blacks
Erasmus believes that Italy pose a strong challenge to the Boks, while if they progress through to the quarterfinals as expected, they could end up facing their biggest rivals, the All Blacks, if both teams go unbeaten up until that point.
That has led to many questioning the point of the World Rugby rankings in deciding teams placements before the draw, as the current top two teams in World Rugby could meet well before the final.
“Italy is going to be tough. And then who do we play in that round of 16, can it be Tonga? We would have to see how things develop. Then we might hit New Zealand. But if you don’t win the tournament then you’re out,” said Erasmus.
“We could meet them (All Blacks) in the final (if results don’t go as expected). Or France or Ireland, who are just as tough. So I can’t moan about how the draw has been done.
“It’s much easier when there is a seeding in tennis (as it keeps the top seeds away from each other until later in the tournament), but it’s (the World Cup) still far out. Next year you could drop six places (on the rankings), so it’s far out to determine what form the teams will be in going into the World Cup.”
