Skewed draw rips up World Cup form guide

LONDON : Holding the draw for the Rugby World Cup in 2020 has meant that the tournament has a bizarrely skewed look where three of the sport's top five teams are in the same pool, while one of the next five is virtually guaranteed a semi-final spot.

The early draw, made on the back of dubious "administration" requirements when the rankings looked very different, means that two of the top-four teams – Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa and France – will not make it into the semi-finals. It does, however, also mean that pool stage will have meaningful match-ups and the quarter-finals already look hard to call.

In a sport where only five countries have reached a World Cup final since the tournament began 36 years ago, to have three of the world's top five facing off in the preliminaries is nothing short of bizarre and has led to a change of plan for the 2027 edition in Australia.

For now, though, world number one Ireland, defending champions South Africa and Scotland, enjoying their best form for decades, will battle it out for two places.

The reward for the top two will almost certainly be a quarter-final against France or New Zealand, who should get the World Cup off to a cracking start when they meet on Sept. 8.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the draw, a group of teams going into the tournament in various levels of disarray, can plot a realistic path to Paris and the semi-finals.

One of England, Argentina, Australia or Wales are highly likely to get to the semis, where in a one-off against one of the high-fliers, anything can happen.

Ireland go into the tournament on the back of a fabulous run where they have not only claimed big wins against the best in the world, but have backed it up with repeats.

DIFFICULT CHALLENGE

Howeve