LINDIZ VAN ZILLA looks at how the top-seeded teams are shaping up ahead of the 2027 World Cup draw in Sydney on Wednesday (11am SA time).
The top six nations on the World Rugby rankings are in Band 1 and the top seeds, while one of the Band 1 teams will face host nation Australia (Band 2) in their pool.
SPRINGBOKS (Ranked 1)
It’s hard to look past the four-time champions and not just because of their outstanding World Cup record – four wins from eight tournaments (South Africa missed 1987 and 1991 due to sporting sanctions).
The Springboks remain the benchmark for physical dominance, tactical clarity and knockout composure. But this a very different side that melds the traditional blueprint of raw physicality, brutal defence, a high-pressure kicking and unmatched forward power, to a new, attacking verve which has the capacity to blow even the best teams away.
In addition, South Africa has a depth of talent that is the envy of every other rugby-playing nation. It is no exaggeration to say that the Boks’ third-choice starting front row is better than most tier-one nations’ starting line-up.
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Innovative coach Rassie Erasmus has built one of the all-time great dynasties, filled with a plethora of double world champions, a crop of emerging young stars, including the brilliant Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, and led by iconic captain Siya Kolisi. Oh yes, and the small matter of that infamous Bomb/Nuke Squad.
The biggest question revolves around which World Cup veterans will or won’t make it to Australia.
WALLABIES (7)
Hosts Australia are two-time world champions but those glory days feel a very, very long time ago now. 1991 and 1999 to be precise.
The Wallabies come off an annus horribilis in which they suffered a record 10 defeats and a first winless European tour since 1958.
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Australia are capable of brilliance but it tends to come in moments. A win in the final British & Irish Lions Test was followed by a stunning 38-22 come-from-behind win over the world champion Springboks at Ellis Park.
It hinted at something special brewing under celebrated coach Joe Schmidt, but that was as good as it got. They managed two more close wins over Argentina and Japan but have regressed as a force in world rugby.
The Wallabies were unable to even crack the top six rankings at the end of the year and as a result found themselves in Band 2. Their reward? Being drawn in Pool A with one of the heavyweights.
Still, passionate home support will spur them on. They have just under two years – and two coaches in Schmidt and Less Kiss who takes over next July – to produce a team that can challenge the best in the world.
ALL BLACKS (2)
For so long the standard bearers in not just rugby, but sport globally. The All Blacks enjoyed periods of unprecedented dominance, culminating in being the first team to successfully defend a World Cup title when they went back-to-back in 2011 and 2015, to add to the inaugural event won in 1987. All-time greats Richie McCaw and Dan Carter were the poster boys for world rugby.
However, the current crop of All Blacks are a far cry from those heady days. New Zealand may have lost out to South Africa in this year’s Rugby Championship on points difference, but there is a gulf in class between the two nations as shown in the World Rugby rankings. Nowhere was this more evident than when the Boks handed the All Blacks their heaviest ever loss in a 43-10 hammering in Wellington earlier this year.
All Blacks coach Scott Robertson and captain Scott Barrett are under intense scrutiny from an angst-ridden New Zealand public. There are serious concerns in terms of squad depth, leadership, a coaching carousel and a worrying lack of truly world-class players. Beauden Barrett is in the twilight of his career and there is a big call to be made between Damian McKenzie and Richie Mo’unga for the No 10 jersey.
But outside of the imperious Ardie Savea and World Rugby Breakthrough Player of the Year Fabian Holland, New Zealand stocks look fallow.
ENGLAND (3)
England are on the up again after a testing period under coach Steve Borthwick.
The November internationals saw England beat three of the four Rugby Championship sides to put a spring in English steps ahead of the 2026 Six Nations. This included dominant wins over the All Blacks and Wallabies.
The big unknown, however, is how England would have fared against the Springboks who completed an unbeaten tour of the northern hemisphere. We will get a better sense of where England are at when they travel to South Africa to face the world champions on 4 July as part of the newly-established Nations Championship.
That tournament will be a key barometer of where the leading World Cup contenders are in their preparations.
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But take nothing away from this England team. Borthwick was appointed in 2023 and initially struggled to win over sceptics with a dour and conservative brand of rugby. But England have shown impressive growth as a new crop of exciting youngsters, including the likes of Henry Pollock, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso and Chandler Cunningham-South among others, have come through to provide spark to a tried and tested squad led by Maro Itoje.
Could this England team be the one to follow in the footsteps of the 2003 vintage?
IRELAND (4)
The past decade has seen Ireland enjoy a period of unprecedented success. This has included a first-ever victory over the All Blacks in Chicago back in 2016, followed by four more epic wins. They have also regularly beaten the Springboks and are perennial Six Nations contenders, winning five out of the last 12.
However, the big monkey on their back has been the World Cup. Despite serious pedigree, Ireland have never made it past the quarter-final stage. They have lost a total of eight quarter-finals, including at the last four tournaments.
It has become a bad joke and despite reaching the No 1 Test ranking at various points between 2019 and 2024, the World Cup bogey hangs heavy. In 2023, Ireland beat South Africa in the pool stage to set themselves up for a title run. We all know how that ended … again.
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This may also be as good as it gets for Ireland. The crop of players who dragged the country to the summit of world rugby are now mostly in the twilight of their careers and Ireland simply does not possess the depth of talent of a South Africa, France or England.
FRANCE (5)
Enigmatic as always, the reigning Six Nations champions have the firepower to blow any team out of the water and can also press the self-destruct button in a way only the French can do.
Yet they are arguably the team everyone fears to face. The 2023 World Cup was truly spectacular and a fervent home support roared and willed Les Bleus to go all the way. In the end, it ended in a heart-breaking one-point loss to eventual champions South Africa.
No doubt they will use that as motivation to go further in Australia. France have reached the World Cup final on three occasions (1987, 2003, 2011) and will be hoping to finally taste glory in 2027.
And they have the players do deliver. Cyril Baille and Grégory Alldritt deliver traditional French forward power, while at the back, Antoine Dupont, Damian Penaud, Thomas Ramos, Louis Bielle-Biarrey and Romain Ntamack provide swagger, verve and panache to dazzle.
ARGENTINA (6)
The South American nation is the growing powerhouse of the sport. Inclusion in the Rugby Championship in 2012 and the fact that most of their leading players turn out in top European club competitions, mean their development has accelerated at pace over the past two decades.
This has seen them reach the World Cup semi-finals in 2007 and 2015, and they are more than capable of beating any team in the world these days. This year they beat New Zealand, Australia, Wales and Scotland and suffered narrow losses to all their Rugby Championship rivals, as well as England.
Argentina mix traditional forward power with a sharp, exhilarating attack, a growing tactical acumen and no little South American passion and emotion. It is a toxic and dangerous mix and you ignore their credentials at your peril.
Photo: Tom Jenkins/Getty Images
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