Scots face tough draw in World Cup

SCOTLAND’S abject performance at the World Cup in Japan last year came back to haunt them yesterday after they were handed a nightmare group with reigning champions South Africa and Ireland for the 2023 showpiece occasion in France. The seedings were based on results from the 2019 tournament, when Scotland exited early, and Gregor Townsend’s side were subsequently left among the four lowest-ranked teams of the 12 countries given automatic qualification. As well as the Springboks and the Irish, the other two places in Pool B have been set aside for one team from the Asia/Pacific region (most likely Tonga or Samoa) and the second best placed European side (most likely Romania or Spain) with these final two qualifiers decided through play-off games over the next two years. ‘There is an excitement when you see the draw and you look ahead

to Paris in three years’ time,’ said Scotland head coach Townsend.

‘Then there’s the reality of who you’re playing against. I believe it’s the toughest pool based on current world rankings.

‘South Africa are ranked first, Ireland are fifth and we’re seventh. So all three teams are in the top eight in the world. That means it’s going to be very competitive.

‘When you see the draw, there are no easy games and likewise the teams still to qualify — whether it’s Tonga or Samoa, who have a lot of quality players at their disposal — will be tough to beat.’

What makes it all the more painful — and perhaps unfair on the Scots — is that World Rugby based the seedings on how the rankings stood after the tournament in Japan rather than how they currently look — which had been the rule for previous World Cup draws.

If they had been based on present standings, Scotland, who finished the year seventh in the world, would have been in the second group of seeds rather than the third.

World Rugby ruled that because some teams hadn’t played at all this year due to Covid restrictions — South Africa and Japan among them — and others had played more games than others over the past 12 months, it was fairer to base the draw on the standings after the 2019 World Cup.

They did not even consider putting back the World Cup draw a year to allow the seedings to change once every country had played more games.

That may not sit well with Townsend and senior figures within the SRU but it could be argued t hey only have themselves to blame after such a poor performance at the World Cup in Japan that left them so lowly ranked in the first place.

SRU chief executive Mark Dodson didn’t lose faith in Townsend after the early exit and last week handed him a contract extension till after the 2023 World Cup.

Having that i n his pocket gives Townsend a chance to start planning for the next tournament.

‘I feel very honoured to be given my contract extension and I love working with this group of players and the staff that we have,’ said Townsend. ‘The draw does get you looking forward to a big tournament being held in the northern hemisphere and, every four years, it gets bigger and bigger, so that’s something to look forward to.

‘We have the Six Nations every year and the short-term focus is there, but we also have the long-term focus of developing a team and a squad that can play its best rugby in 2023.’

Townsend currently has six South Africans who qualify through residency in his squad, with winger Duhan van der Merwe and prop Oli Kebble among them. He also believes having South African sides in the Pro14 from early next year will allow his i nternational players at Edinburgh and Glasgow Warriors to learn from having regular outings against the best Springbok players around.

‘Any competition that gets our players playing closer to i nternational rugby will help their development for us to have success at Test level,’ he said.

‘ We have that through the current set-up in the Pro14 but, if those four South African teams come into the competition, that will enhance it and it will let our players experience a different kind of rugby in different conditions.

‘On top of that, hopefully we’ll have a number of players involved in the British and Irish Lions where they will gain insight into how to take on South Africa and t he strategies t hat will be deployed during that tour.

‘Playing Test match rugby with the Lions against them will be a great experience for our players. That tour will be exciting for so many people involved in rugby and will give Scottish and Irish players the chance to play against the Springboks and maybe beating them will be very helpful for us as individual nations.’

Scotland captain Stuart Hogg said his side would be facing two of the best teams in the world in the pool stage.

Hogg said: ‘It’s a tough one. There is no such thing as an easy game, especially at international level.

‘To be the best, we need to beat the best and we’re going to be up against the world champions and that’ll be a huge test for us, but one we’ll be looking forward to nearer the time.

‘We’ve played Ireland a lot and we know the challenges they come with. For us, it’s all about building towards the World Cup now.’