The Springboks has been drawn with the holders New Zealand and Italy in Pool B Rugby World Cup 2019. The Allocation Draw for the 2019 Rugby World Cup happened in Kyoto, Japan.
It saw South Africa emerge as one of the five teams in Pool B for the 2019 tournament. Below is the 2019 Rugby World Cup Pools:
Pool A: Ireland, Scotland, Japan, Europe 1, Play-off winner
Pool B: New Zealand, South Africa, Italy, Africa 1, Repechage winner
Pool C: England, France, Argentina, Americas 1, Oceania 2
Pool D: Australia, Wales, Georgia, Oceania 1, Americas 2
Springbok coach Allister Coetzee attended the draw at the Kyoto State Guest House alongside representatives from the other 11 qualified teams. Speaking, Coetzee remarked that he’s satisfied with the outcome of the draw. He said: “…To us it doesn’t matter who we are drawn against because to win the Rugby World Cup, you have to beat the best teams out there.
“The pools consist of five teams each and history shows that you need to win at least three of your four pool matches to be sure of a place in the play-offs.
Records have it that the Boks and New Zealand national rugby union team, All Blacks have battled four times in Rugby World Cups. Both sides can boast of two victories in the four meetings.
The first clash was in 1995 Final which the Boks won (15-12). South Africa defeated All Black again in 1999 (22 – 18) and pocketed the bronze medal. In 2003, New Zealand came out tops in the quarter-final crushing South Africa (29 – 9). They again, defeated the Boks (20 – 18) in the 2015 semi-final.