What Scott Robertson makes of a potential All Blacks-Springboks quarter final

The rugby world sat on the edge of their seats as the Rugby World Cup 2027 pools were drawn on Wednesday night in Sydney, and fans, pundits, and players were all quick to piece the puzzle together and find their teams’ respective routes to victory. For New Zealand, that route couldn’t be much more difficult.

The All Blacks will square off with tournament hosts, Australia, in Pool A, with the winner of that pool facing a third-placed team from pools C, E, or F in the round of 16. Should they advance from that stage, the quarter-final could see them face the winner of Pool B, which includes back-to-back world champions and New Zealand’s arch-rivals, South Africa.

Fellow top six team France are a potential semi-final opponent, while England, Ireland, and Argentina remain on the other side of the draw as potential finalists.

The possibility of an All Blacks-Springboks quarter-final was a major topic when New Zealand head coach Scott Robertson addressed the media on Thursday morning, following the draw.

Robertson shared what was going through his mind as the teams were drawn, and his initial reaction when it was confirmed his side would be pooled with trans-Tasman rivals, Australia.

“The deeper it went and the fewer balls that were in there, you felt it was inevitable, getting into Pool A and playing Aussie,” he said. “We get to play them quite a lot, but it will be pretty special and unique to do it at a Rugby World Cup, especially when it’s their one.

“And then it was looking through everyone else, seeing who it’s likely to be afterwards, what are the permutations, and who do we play after our pool?

“We knew Pool A and B get together, and that was one of the scenarios you look at; who’s going to be the lineup, who’s going to be first in that pool and second in that pool. You do a little bit of homework.

“You look at it and go, ‘okay, we get to play South Africa a lot, and this is just another time that you get to have a crack at it. Coming into a World Cup, you’re going to have to face someone in their form to win it, and if it’s in the quarter-final, that’s the way it works out, that’s just part of the draw. You’ve got to embrace it.”

The coach was keenly aware of how the knockout stages are set up and admitted to wanting to be a little further away from the world’s No. 1-ranked team, South Africa, in the draw.

“As I said, the inevitability of it, the further we got down, and then Brett (Robinson) only had three balls left, you were going, ‘okay, you have to be next, otherwise you’re playing South Africa’, because you knew you were going to be in pools B and A.”

Should New Zealand emerge from Pool A as the second seed, they would face the runner-up from Pool E in the round of 16, which includes France, Japan, the USA, and Samoa. From there, a quarter-final date with either the winner of Pool F (England, Wales, Tonga, Zimbabwe) or the runner-up in Pool B (South Africa, Italy, Georgia, Romania) would await.

Given all of the possible scenarios end with New Zealand potentially playing a fellow top-three team, Robertson was asked whether winning every pool game would actually benefit the All Blacks or not.

“That’s one of the anomalies of the way the format has gone along. And just with the sides of the draw, the way it shapes, sometimes it can form that way.

“But look, you play your best every Test, that’s the mindset you’ve got to have, but there’s definitely strategy there.”