SA face tough draw for World Cup

THE Six Nations is over and‚ as expected after their calamitous 2016‚ the Springboks have dropped to seventh on the world rankings‚ which means they face a potential group of death at Rugby World Cup 2019.

The draw for that tournament takes place in Japan in May and for the first time since 2003 the Boks will be out of the elite top four‚ which places them in the second band of the draw.

The top four teams – New Zealand‚ England‚ Australia and Ireland – are in band one and will be the top seeds in pools A‚ B‚ C and D at the World Cup.

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.

Progressing to the knockouts from a pool with New Zealand would be tricky but is certainly doable for the Boks depending on the third-seeded team from band three.

Teams from nine to 12 on the world rankings are Argentina‚ Japan‚ Georgia and Italy.

Those teams will be randomly assigned to pools and there is a chance the Boks could be in a group featuring the All Blacks and Argentina as well as two lower-ranked teams.

Emerging from a pool of that quality‚ which could also feature Samoa and Fiji‚ would be a big undertaking.

There is also a possibility the Boks could find themselves pooled with Japan again.

Given that the Cherry Blossoms would be on home soil and the scar tissue the Boks still carry after famously losing to Japan in Brighton at RWC 2015‚ that would not be a great draw either.

On the flip side, there are not too many teams that would relish having the Springboks in their pool as a dangerous second-band team.

But the Boks are in this position because of their own sloppiness.

They started last year ranked third in the world and one of coach Allister Coetzee’s key performance indicators was that they had to stay in the top four.

By the end of the season‚ after eight losses from 12 tests‚ the Boks had slipped to sixth.

They slid a further position down during the Six Nations as France and Scotland moved up the rankings.

Coetzee remains Bok coach despite a 33% winning ratio and failing to keep the side in the top four.

If his side does not show a drastic improvement in the coming season‚ it is likely that someone else will be in charge at the World Cup in 2019.

And they will not be thanking him for the draw.