Despite the 2015 World Cup being well over two years away the IRB has conducted the draw which determines the pool placing for the top 12 teams in the world, with hosts England joining Australia and Wales in the ‘Pool of Death’.
Hot on the heels of a famous victory over the All Blacks, confidence would have been riding high in the English camp ahead of the draw, but this most challenging of groups will have even the staunchest England fan slightly concerned.
It’s not that the group itself should be that challenging – unless Wales perform miracles in the next couple of seasons Australia and England should both progress. But the Australians, with a host of young players and some world-class senior members, will be a tough proposition come 2015, and the loser of that clash is destined to face South Africa in a daunting quarter-final match up.
The ‘Boks should top their group, with the vastly improved Samoans likely to provide a physical test, but unlikely to upset the former champions.
On the other side of the draw, All Blacks’ fans will be heartened by what appears to be a relatively straight-forward assignment in the round-robin phase, where they will meet Argentina and Tonga, but will be nervous of being cast on the same side of the draw as the French, their traditional foils when the World Cup is played on British soil.
The All Blacks will win their group barring a huge upset by the Pumas, making France’s clash with Ireland a vital one – win that and the chances of a semi-final berth greatly increase, with only Argentina standing in the way.
Should results go according to the current world rankings, the quarter-final match ups would be Australia v Samoa, South Africa v England, New Zealand v Ireland and France v Argentina. But things very rarely run according to plan when the Webb Ellis Trophy is on the line!