World Cup draw reaction

LONDON, Dec 3 : Reaction to the draw for the 2027 Rugby World Cup, made on Wednesday.

South Africa (Pool B with Italy, Georgia and Romania)

"We are pleased with the pool we have been drawn in, but this is a World Cup, and every team will go out there with great passion and do their utmost to represent their nations with pride," said coach Rassie Erasmus as South Africa seek a third successive title.

  "There have been surprises in the tournament before, so we'll need to be up mentally and physically for every match.

"Italy may be ranked 10th in the world, but they showed us what they are capable of when they hit their straps earlier this season, even though the scorelines may not have reflected that.

  "Georgia and Romania are also extremely physical and passionate teams."

  Should South Africa win their pool and a round of 16 match against a third-placed team, they would face a probable quarter-final against New Zealand or Australia.

Australia (Pool A with New Zealand, Chile and Hong Kong)

"You just take nothing for granted, if you start plotting a pathway through, that pathway could change completely because somebody upsets someone," said coach Joe Schmidt.

"I remember sitting in a changing room in 2015 and watching Japan beat South Africa. Nobody predicted that. That's one of the great things about World Cups. There's going to be a surprise in those pool matches somewhere, and so I don't think you can afford to get too predictive."

England (Pool F with Wales, Tonga and Zimbabwe)

"The feeling today is an overriding sentiment of excitement about some potentially incredible games," said England coach Steve Borthwick.

"I think that this Round of 16 adds another exciting chapter, an extra dimension.

"As we saw with Japan in 2015, the