The draw for the 2019 Rugby World Cup has been made in Kyoto, Japan – a full two years and four months ahead of the tournament’s kick off in September 2019. So which teams should be happy with who they’ll face, and who will be worried?

And more importantly what will it all mean once the tournament kicks off?

How the draw was made

All 20 teams were drawn – or seeded – into five ‘bands’ of four teams each, based on their current world rankings. One team from each band was then randomly allocated a pool.

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The top teams in Band 1 were, New Zealand, England, Australia and Ireland. Band 2 were, Scotland, France, Wales and South Africa, while Band 3 consisted of Argentina, hosts Japan, Georgia and Italy. Bands 4 and 5 were made up of the remaining 12 ‘minnow’ nations who are still yet to qualify.

Winners

Ireland

Joe Schmidt’s men will be backing their chances of finally reaching a Rugby World Cup semi final after being handed a friendly-looking pool. Scotland won’t scare the Irish and while their match against tournament hosts Japan could be tricky, they will be happy to have avoided the likes of South Africa, France and Argentina.

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South Africa

South Africa have been in freefall over the past 12 months, which included a drop in the world rankings to seventh and a loss against Italy in November last year. However, two years is a long time to get their house back in order, and while New Zealand may be too much for them to finish top of the group, the rest of Pool B shouldn’t cause them any issues.

Japan

Japan should be over the moon following the make up of Group A. Ireland and Scotland represent arguably the best returns they could have hoped for – established Rugby World Cup sides, but ones Japan should feel with a little luck and home advantage they could beat. A win against either side should be enough to qualify for the quarter finals for the first time. After all they could have drawn any combinations of NZ, Australia or England from Band 1 and South Africa, Wales or France from Band 2.

Losers

England

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Poor old England. They may not have much sympathy from other fans, but being drawn in Pool C sees them in the arguably the toughest RWC group for the second tournament in a row – and we all know what happened on home turf in 2015. Rivals France are improving and should be peaking in 2019, while RWC 2015 semi finalists Argentina will back their chances of repeating their 2015 performance and reaching the semi finals . It gets worse – they will also face Fiji or Samoa and neither of those sides are pushovers.

Italy

Italy’s reward for being placed in Band 3 was to be drawn in Group B with New Zealand and South Africa. It is the sixth time Italy will face the All Blacks at a Rugby World Cup, and although they beat South Africa for the first time last year, beating one of those two to reach the quarter finals will be an almost impossible task.

Australia

Rugby is not in a strong position Downunder and there are concerns over what state the Wallabies will be in 2019. Being drawn into a tough and bruising group consisting of Wales, Georgia and Fiji or Samoa will see them tested, both mentally and physically, and was probably the last thing the ARU wanted. They will be expected to make it out of the group but will they be in peak position to compete in the playoffs?

What does the draw mean for Rugby World Cup 2019?

Pool A

Ireland, Scotland, Japan, Europe 1, Play-off winner

There are no big-name nations in Pool A – in eight previous tournaments Ireland, Scotland and Japan have combined for one quarter final win and only one appearance in the semi finals (Scotland way back in 1991). However, Ireland have topped their group in the last two Rugby World Cups and have been challenging for the Six Nations title in recent years, while Scotland and Japan have made giant strides recently.

Scotland beat Ireland in the 2017 Six Nations, while Japan stunned the sporting world when they beat South Africa at the 2015 RWC, and almost reached the quarter finals in the process. Not many sides will want to face the Brave Blossoms with home support in 2019. They will be joined by the winner of Europe’s qualifying process, likely to be World Cup veterans Romania and the Europe/Oceania Playoff winner, likely to be Tonga (currently third in Pacific qualifying) or Spain/Russia.

Pool B

New Zealand, South Africa, Italy, Africa 1, Repechage

South Africa’s struggles over the past 12 months saw them slip into Band 2 and into Pool B with two-time defending champions New Zealand. The result has given Pool B a top-heavy feeling with five titles between the two great rivals and not even a playoff appearance for the rest of the group. Italy will be cursing their luck as they look destined to finish third in their group for the seventh time at RWCs.

They will be joined by Africa’s qualification winner and the repechage winner. Namibia have qualified for the past five Rugby World Cups as Africa’s representative and will back their chances to make it six, while the repechage winner could be any one of several teams from the Americas, Europe and/or Oceania, Asia. Africa’s runner-up will definitely be one of four teams vying for that final spot however . However, rankings and expected results could see this be Uruguay or Europe’s second-placed team in qualifying which at the moment is Spain.

Pool C

England, France, Argentina, Americas 1, Oceania 2

The ‘Group of Death’ will see Six Nations rivals England and France battle it out, while two-time semi finalists Argentina round out the three automatically qualified sides. England have made giants strides under the stewardship of Eddie Jones but this will be the ultimate test of their mettle. France are showing signs of a resurgence with a third-placed finish in this year’s Six Nations and if that form continues to build, they will be dangerous opponents in 2019. Argentina meanwhile, love major tournaments and will be looking to build on 2015’s performance where they reached the semi finals.

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They will be joined by the top team from the Americas which will be the winner of Canada’s playoff with the USA. Rounding out Pool C will be a tricky proposition in the second-ranked Oceania side, which is currently Samoa.

Pool D

Australia, Wales, Georgia, Oceania 1, Americas 2

On paper, Pool D promises to be the most intriguing of the all Rugby World Cup groups. Australia and Wales will renew World Cup hostilities after both knocked England out of the 2015 RWC. Despite the game being in strife in Australia, both sides will be expecting to reach the playoffs again. However, Georgia have made steady progress at RWCs and in 2015 they finished third in their group, ahead of more established Tonga, to automatically qualify for the first time. They’ll be looking to go one further in 2019 and spoil one of Australia or Wales’ campaigns.

Adding to the intrigue will be the appearance of the top Oceania side – at this stage Fiji – who will be looking to add their name to the mix. Fiji have Rugby World Cup history, having reached the quarter finals twice, they even knocked Wales out in the group stages in 2007. The loser of the Canada v USA playoff rounds out the group. One thing’s for sure, don’t expect all the matches to go according to plan in Pool D.