Barring major upsets, Michael Cheika’s Wallabies won’t come face-to-face with the All Blacks until the decider of the 2019 Rugby World Cup, to be held in Japan.
The pools were drawn this week, with the first three in each pool from the 2015 Cup automatic qualifiers.
The Wallabies, Wales, and England qualified from Pool A; the Springboks, Scotland, and Japan from Pool B; the All Blacks, Pumas, and Georgia from Pool C; and Ireland, France, and Italy from Pool D.
Pool A in Japan will be Ireland, Scotland, Japan, Europe 1, and the play-off winner.
Pool B will be headed by the two-time defending champions New Zealand, with South Africa, Italy, Africa 1, and the repechage winner.
Pool C will have England, France, the Pumas, USA and Tonga.
Pool D will be the Wallabies, Wales, Georgia, Fiji, and America 2.
Wales must be wondering if they’ll ever be drawn away from the Wallabies, who are haunting them.
As it sits, Ireland and Scotland should comfortably finish one-two in Pool A, while the All Backs and the Boks should be far too strong in Pool B.
It will be closer in Pool C, with England showing the way, but France and the Pumas will battle it out for the second spot.
While the Wallabies and Wales should top Pool D, don’t be surprised if Fiji and Georgia give the Welsh a shake.
The top two in each pool will qualify for the quarters:
The winner of Pool C will meet the runner-up in Pool D.
The winner of Pool B will go head-to-head with Pool A’s second place-getters.
Pool D’s top team will meet the runner-up of Pool C.
The winner of Pool A clashes with the runner-up of Pool B.
That should translate to England playing either Wales or Fiji in the first quarter-final, the All Blacks and Scotland to meet in the second, Australia to take on either France or the Pumas in the third, and Ireland to clash with the Boks in the fourth.
The semi-finals should be England vs the All Blacks and the Wallabies vs Ireland or South Africa, leading into a repeat of the last Rugby World Cup final – the All Blacks and Wallabies.
Looks good on paper, but it will be up to the men in black and gold to make it a reality.
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