Two years before the next Rugby World Cup 2027 kicks off, bookmakers already have South Africa positioned as strong favourites to defend their title. But even with the odds stacked in their favour, head coach Rassie Erasmus will not simply rely on luck or confidence when the pool draw takes place in Sydney on Wednesday morning.
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He knows better than anyone that Rugby World Cup 2027 success is never guaranteed, no matter how dominant a team may look on paper. What the Springboks have done this year, however, is remind the rugby world that they do not fear any opposition. South Africa has developed a reputation for thriving under pressure and rising to the moment when it matters most.
Their performances in 2019 and 2023 are perfect examples. In both those tournaments, they suffered a pool-stage loss first to New Zealand in 2019, then to Ireland in 2023, and yet still managed to recover, rebuild momentum, and eventually lift the Webb Ellis Cup. No other nation has twice won the World Cup after losing a match in the group stages.
The Springboks did it back-to-back, proving their resilience and mental strength on the biggest stage. Since making their World Cup debut in 1995, the Boks have only lost World Cup matches to five countries. New Zealand and Ireland are part of that list, but the most painful defeats are the ones that came at unexpected moments.
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England 2003 and Japan 2015: Lessons From Costly Rugby World Cup Shocks
In 2003, a struggling Springbok team fell to England in the pool stages before the English went on to win the entire tournament. And of course, no South African supporter will ever forget Japan’s famous Miracle of Brighton in 2015, a match that still stands as the biggest upset in Rugby World Cup history. The fifth country to have beaten them is Australia.
A team that has long been viewed as South Africa’s World Cup nemesis. Ironically, Australia is one of the biggest potential threats the Springboks could face in this year’s pool draw. Because the Wallabies finished outside the top band of seeds after ending 2025 ranked seventh in the world, they will be placed in the second tier of teams.
That means one of the pool leaders, South Africa, New Zealand, England, Ireland, France, or Argentina will draw them. The Springboks could easily be the unlucky team that ends up facing the Wallabies early in the competition. History gives South African fans mixed emotions when thinking about the Wallabies. In the 1999 Rugby World Cup.
Australia beat the Boks in the semi-final thanks to a bizarre long-range drop goal from Stephen Larkham. In 2011, an ageing and tired Springbok squad fell to the Australians again in a frustrating quarter-final defeat in New Zealand. Even more concerning is the fact that earlier this year, South Africa suffered a heavy loss to Australia in a Rugby Championship match played in Johannesburg.
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Rugby World Cup Final: How the 2027 Pool Draw System Works
These memories will be somewhere in the back of the team’s mind, though not enough to create fear or panic. One thing the Springboks have shown repeatedly is that they do not crumble under bad memories. Instead, they use them as motivation. That is why the possibility of drawing Australia should not worry them.
Even if the Wallabies remain one of the few sides with a history of troubling South Africa in Rugby World Cup Final fixtures. The pool draw system for 2027 is straightforward. The top six seeds, South Africa, New Zealand, England, Ireland, France, and Argentina, cannot be drawn against one another. Each of these teams will lead a pool.
From there, teams from each lower band are slotted in one by one. Because Australia sits in the second band, one of those six pool leaders is guaranteed to get them. The only question is: who? When analysing the best and worst possible outcomes for South Africa, several scenarios emerge. A favourable draw could give them a relatively smooth path into the knockout stages.
A tougher draw might place them alongside a high-tempo side or a team that knows how to unsettle their structured style. Yet history tells us that the identity of the opposition rarely determines South Africa’s World Cup fate. What matters is the Boks’ preparation, physicality, mental strength, and ability to adapt under pressure.
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