Nerves on edge as Boks head for ‘group of death’
THERE will be sweaty palms and jangling nerves when members of the Springbok management, SA Rugby hierarchy and fans watch the draw for Rugby World Cup (RWC) 2019 on Wednesday because the Boks are strong candidates to be grouped in a “pool of death”.
The Springboks’ world ranking has plummeted to seventh, which means they are no longer among the elite of world rugby when it comes to seeding for the draw, despite finishing third at RWC 2015.
Falling out of the top four of the rankings means that the Boks could be drawn against some difficult opponents, and face the possibility of group-stage elimination for the first time in the country’s history.
“We’ve been nervous ever since we dropped to seventh on the rankings,” SA Rugby president Mark Alexander said.
“Look, to win RWC you have to play against the best teams in the world, whether you start off playing them or end up playing them.
“The draw is the draw and we have to go through it. There isn’t anything we can do about it now.”
A difficult draw will heap pressure on the already beleaguered Bok head coach Allister Coetzee, who has overseen the national team’s rapid descent down the world rankings Best possible draw for Boks: Australia, South Africa, Georgia, Africa 1 (Namibia, Kenya), Americas 2 (Canada, USA) Worst possible draw for Boks: New Zealand, South Africa, Argentina, Oceania 1 (Samoa, Fiji, Tonga), Europe 1 (Romania, Germany) during the past 12 months.
The Boks started last year ranked third in the world after finishing third at RWC 2015 in England. But in Coetzee’s first year at the helm, the green and gold lost eight of 12 tests and saw their almost permanent position in the top four of the world rankings drop to sixth by the end of the year. At the conclusion of the 2017 Six Nations, they had slipped a further place to seventh while they were inactive.
So, going into the draw, the topfour ranked teams are New Zealand, England, Australia and Ireland.
At this week’s ceremony at Kyoto’s State Guest House, those four teams will be slotted into band one as the top seeds in Pools A,B, C and D in 2019.
Teams in band two — Scotland, France, South Africa and Wales — will then randomly be drawn into the pools. That means the Boks could face the All Blacks in pool play at worst, and at this stage, Australia at best.
Teams ranked from nine to 12 in the world — Argentina, Japan, Georgia and Italy — make up band three. Those teams will be randomly assigned to the four pools with the other eight teams to be placed into the pools once the full qualification programme is done.
Being pooled alongside the defending champions and the undisputed No 1 team in the world, the All Blacks, is in itself not an impediment to qualifying for the quarterfinals as two sides from each pool progress to the knockouts. But given that Argentina, fourth at the last World Cup, have dropped into band three, the potential exists for those three southern hemisphere giants to be grouped together with two dangerous floaters such as Samoa and Fiji.
World Rugby chairman Bill Beaumont said: “The pool draw is an important milestone on the road to Rugby World Cup 2019 as it really drives excitement and momentum both in the host nation and throughout the global rugby family — it is the moment when teams and fans really start to plan for their Rugby World Cup 2019 experience.”