Rassie Erasmus says talk of a Springbok–All Blacks quarter-final at the 2027 World Cup is premature.
On Wednesday, New Zealand were drawn in Pool A with Australia, Chile and Hong Kong, while the Boks were placed in Pool B with Italy, Georgia and Romania.
If the Boks and All Blacks both top their pools, and win their round-of-16 matches, they will collide in the last eight.
“Everybody keeps talking about us and New Zealand meeting in the quarter-finals, but Australia are hosting this World Cup,” Erasmus said on Thursday. “People are underestimating the power of a home nation. Look at 1995 – we weren’t favourites then.
“I know Australia didn’t have a great [end-of-year] tour, but on their own ground, wouldn’t they more likely be the team that played against the [British & Irish] Lions?”
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Erasmus stressed that World Cups rarely follow a script.
“It’s a big judgement call just to say the All Blacks are automatically going through [as Pool A winners]. New Zealand’s going to have a tough time, as are we, to get to that [quarter-final] game.
“At the end of the day, you have to win every [playoff] game to win the World Cup. Somewhere you’re going to cross paths with the big teams – whether early or later, it doesn’t matter.
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“The only bad thing about a quarter-final is if you lose, you’re out. In a semi-final, even if you lose, you stay together for the third-place playoff. A quarter-final loss means you go home immediately. That’s tough.”
Photo: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images
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