ONE of the many intriguing permutations of the draw for the 2019 Rugby World Cup, to be made this morning in Kyoto, could see Scotland placed in the same pool as all three of the opponents they will meet on tour this summer.
Having been positioned in Band Two thanks to their current world ranking of fifth, Gregor Townsend’s team have a chance of meeting Australia from the band above them, Italy from the band below, and Fiji, should the South Sea islanders qualify as Pacific Nations champions and thus go into Band Four.
Only 12 teams having qualified automatically for the tournament in Japan, eight places have yet to be decided, so it will be some time before Scotland learn the identity of their opponents from the two bands below them.
Even so, and allowing too for the fact that a lot can change in two and a bit years, a lot of spice would be added to the games against the Italians in Singapore, the Wallabies in Sydney and Fiji in Suva if all three were indeed forerunners of the 2019 pool matches.
“That would be great,” Townsend said on Monday after announcing his squad for those three Tests next month. “That’s another thing to look forward to on Wednesday morning.
“The World Cup isn’t too far away. Going to Singapore on the back of going to Japan last year gets our players used to the travel and playing in that part of the world. If we do get Australia, we’ve got them in November too, so we’ll definitely know them well.”
Being in Band Two, Scotland are seeded to reach the quarter-finals as runners-up, but they will obviously aim to go through as winners. As things stand, their best chance of doing so would be to draw Ireland from Band One rather than England, New Zealand or Australia, and Italy from Band Three in preference to Japan, Georgia or Argentina.
The worst draw would pit the Scots against the All Blacks, who will be out to win the Webb Ellis Cup for the third time running, and the Japanese, who are likely to be even tougher opponents on home soil than they were in 2015, when they shocked the Springboks in their opening group match. Bands Four and Five, meanwhile, should hold no real fears for Townsend’s team, although the weakest possible opponents are likely to be those who qualify as Africa 1 and Repechage winners.
By getting into the second band thanks to some improved results in the latter stages of Vern Cotter’s reign as coach, Scotland have at least given themselves a better chance of a favourable draw than they had four years ago. Seeded in the third group of seeds then, they were fortunate to be paired with the weakest seeds from group two, Samoa, whom they narrowly beat in Newcastle to qualify for the last eight.
Four years before that, England and Argentina were in the same group as Scotland, who finished third in the group. Those three could again be drawn together this time, something you suspect they will be keen to avoid.
And, having failed to reach the last eight at their own World Cup two years ago, England, for all that they are now a far better team, will be equally eager to avoid Wales, who went through from the pool along with Australia then.
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