Boks draw Samoa, Scots
3 Dec 2012
The Springboks will play Samoa and Scotland in Pool B of the 2015 World Cup.
The draw for the 2015 tournament in England was held on Monday, with the 12 qualified teams being drawn into four pools. The remaining eight teams are still in the process of qualifying and are thus yet to be confirmed.
Of the top four ranked teams in the world, the Boks look to have the easiest route to the 2015 play-offs.
The Boks smashed Samoa at the 2007 World Cup in France, but found the Pacific islanders harder to put away in the 2011 pool fixture in New Zealand. This is bound to be the most physically taxing match of the 2015 round-robin stage, but it is a clash the Boks will feel confident about winning.
Scotland beat South Africa in 2010, but lost by 11 points in this year’s fixture at Murrayfield. Like Samoa, they have never beaten South Africa at a World Cup.
The Boks’ final two pool opponents are yet to be confirmed, but will come out of the Americas and Asia.
The Boks narrowly avoided being drawn in Pool A, the Pool of Death. The Wallabies weren’t so lucky, and will have to beat hosts England, and Wales, who should also enjoy good home support, to top that group.
Proceeding to the knockout rounds won’t be much easier for the French, who will battle Six Nations opponents Ireland and Italy.
Current world champions New Zealand will face off against Argentina, whom they beat in the World Cup quarter-finals last year. The All Blacks have also drawn Tonga in Pool D, a team they played against in the opening game of the 2011 tournament.
POOL A
Australia
England
Wales
Play-off winner
Oceania 1
POOL B
South Africa
Samoa
Scotland
Americas 2
Asia 1
POOL C
New Zealand
Argentina
Tonga
Africa 1
Europe 1
POOL D
France
Ireland
Italy
Europe 2
Americas 1
At the draw it was also confirmed that the knockout-phase structure will be the same as previous World Cups:
QF1: Winner Pool B vs Runner-up Pool A
QF2: Winner Pool C vs Runner-up Pool D
QF3: Winner Pool A vs Runner-up Pool B
QF4: Winner Pool D vs Runner-up Pool C
SF1: Winner QF1 vs Winner QF2
SF2: Winner QF3 vs Winner QF4
Bronze Final: Loser SF1 vs Loser SF2
Final: Winner SF1 vs Winner SF2
355 Comments
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3 Dec 2012, 17:17 pm
Eish Pool A is tough, poor Aussies… Wtf is Africa 1 ?
3 Dec 2012, 17:18 pm
RT @keocoza: Boks draw Samoa, Scots: The Springboks will play Samoa and Scotland in Pool B of the 2015 World Cup. More to … http://t.c …
3 Dec 2012, 17:18 pm
Time to open up a can of whippass in Pool B at the World Cup..
3 Dec 2012, 17:20 pm
@Jeez-1: Probably Namibia
3 Dec 2012, 17:22 pm
Samoa again, ho hum
3 Dec 2012, 17:22 pm
Pool A group of death
Pool B. could be tricky for the Safwits
Pool C. World champs march on
3 Dec 2012, 17:27 pm
@bokke baiter-5: Safwits?Get a life,bud.
3 Dec 2012, 17:28 pm
Why do we always get Samoa (and the resulant 5 injuries that come from playing them)
3 Dec 2012, 17:29 pm
Eish, Aussies could be in a world of sh y te?
3 Dec 2012, 17:31 pm
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-7:
Under Heyneke’s gameplan we will do to them what the Bulls did to the Chiefs when they had Rodney Soailo, Jerry Collins and a bunch of other big Island boys visiting Loftus.
By halftime Anton Leonard, Pedrie Wannenburg, Daniesaur, Bakkies, Kees Lensing and Jacques Cronje had them limping off to their mothers and it was game over with 40 minutes left on the clock.
You can expect Eben, Bismark, Beast, Gurhtro, Duane Vermeulen, Willem Alberts etc. to lay down a world of hurt when we take on these guys. Pulverise them up front and they become meek as kittens.
Except for the odd armless tackle to the throat, of course.
3 Dec 2012, 17:32 pm
boks are definitely going to be undercooked come quarterfinal time… a bit like NZ after their pool in ’07
3 Dec 2012, 17:34 pm
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-7: I thought the same!
Samoa are absolute thugs when they play 1. a RWC 2. The Boks.
SARU has to do some SERIOUS talking to the IRB beforehand to prevent what happened in 1995 & 2011 (and a few inbetween) recurring.
I used to love Samoa but lost a LOT of respect for them. Their fullback’s open-hand in Brussow’s face was disgusting and shouldve been red.
Wasnt he born in NZ?
3 Dec 2012, 17:36 pm
..and in other news Dan Carter has receiued the IRB player of the year award.
3 Dec 2012, 17:39 pm
@bokfan1-11: I honestly don’t see why Samoa are the darlings of the rugby world… Yes they have come a long way and are playing better rugby these days, but they are still fixated with dealing the opposition cheap blows and the rugby world in general seems to turn a blind eye to this fact.
3 Dec 2012, 17:41 pm
@Tacitus-9:
The problem isn’t their forwards, it’s their kamikaze backs that do the damage.
3 Dec 2012, 17:42 pm
Ha, I had to chuckle a little when I saw South Africa and Samoa drawn together. Maybe there is something to the conspiracy theories. The shadowy kiwi figures running things thought it would be a good laugh!
I’m predicting it’ll be a final between France and whoever wins pool A, with France finally taking the cup.
Or New Zealand
3 Dec 2012, 17:43 pm
@ali-10:
The ABs only have one serious game, against Argentina. The others are barely practice matches.
3 Dec 2012, 17:45 pm
@Rage-12: source?
3 Dec 2012, 17:49 pm
Hypothetically speaking, if Australia has managed to overtake the Boks for #2 in world rankings, would SA then have been in pool A?
Anyone know?
3 Dec 2012, 17:50 pm
3 easy games and a fight.
3 Dec 2012, 17:51 pm
According to the seedings, they’re looking at a Bok/England, Aussie/Samoa , France/Argentina, Kiwi/Ireland quarter finals.
3 Dec 2012, 17:54 pm
@ali-18:
Probably. although pools A&B are linked. That is the winner of players 2nd team in B.
3 Dec 2012, 17:54 pm
Ali – yes!
3 Dec 2012, 17:54 pm
@ali-18: it was random, so anyone in tier 1 could get anyone in tier 2
3 Dec 2012, 17:55 pm
@David-20: repeat of the 99 world cup it seems.
3 Dec 2012, 17:57 pm
How is it that the 1 and 2 seeded teams in the world end up possibly [laying against eachother in the semi’s if they all play according to seeding?
3 Dec 2012, 18:01 pm
@ali-10: You survive Samoa mate, you can survive anything. (Except a crooked ref….)
3 Dec 2012, 18:04 pm
@ali-18: The groups are also drawn I think. The top four get drawn first: First name our – gets Pool A etc etc etc.
So even if Oz had managed to take over the 2 spot, no guarantee SA would be Pool A – we could have been drawn Pool C, with Aussie still in A, NZ in B and Frogs in D.
Not 100% sure, but I think that’s how it’s done.
Open to correction though.
3 Dec 2012, 18:04 pm
magic draw for Boks….poor Aussies…!
3 Dec 2012, 18:04 pm
Could the loss against the English be the start of the Kiwis win ratio going down…? Ireland almost pipped them while on tour and the Welsh havent been pushovers… and a draw against a weak and injury ravaged Aussie team while they where on a winning streak… Graham Hendry’s influence might be fading a wee bit…
IF the boks improve their attack;
settle on a flyhalf or settle the backs in genereal (best players);
Bismark, Coenie, Goosen, FSteyn (in better center combination) all coming back; get central contracts;
HM having regular coffee dates with Mallet
AND they beat the ABs more often (at least 50 % of the time) the boks will be hard to beat in the next few years and at the WC….
3 Dec 2012, 18:05 pm
@BULLET-22: Ok so I was wrong. So how do they decide which Top 4 nation, get’s what pool? A, B, C or D?
3 Dec 2012, 18:06 pm
@fantasticbarnsmell-13: Ja I dont know either! A few years ago I also admired the strides they made and their level of rugby with no funding behind them.
There was some story where everyone on the island paid $50 to get the team kit for the RWC2011?
Its a great story, but then why does the team spoil it by acting like total thugs on the field?
And nothing is said or done by IRB?
3 Dec 2012, 18:07 pm
@Tacitus-9: Hilarious. This particular game is 3 years away and you know exactly how it’s gonna go down. The Oracle has arrived.
3 Dec 2012, 18:08 pm
@Tuna-19: A street fight. I totally forgot about how dirty those Samoans played against us, and the officials did squat! That was a real dicrace from IRB not to make an example out of them after such blatant dirty tactics being displayed for the world to see. A great advert for the game…pppfff
3 Dec 2012, 18:09 pm
*disgrace not dickrace lol
3 Dec 2012, 18:09 pm
@Tacitus-9: Taccy. I am glad you have such faith. Hopefully the messiah Meyer can convince a few more of us to join the ship they call “positivity” next year
3 Dec 2012, 18:19 pm
@Jeez-33: Thugs boet.
I really don’t like these easy pool games. Last year showed that the AB’s was seriously under cooked in the quarters coming from their easy pool games.
3 Dec 2012, 18:21 pm
People are laughing a bit too easily at the Aussies. Group A might be the group of death, but whoever makes it out there on top has a relatively easier path, with probably:
-Samoa or Scotland in the quarter,
-and France, Ireland or Argentina in the semi-final
-the Boks or NZ in the final (probably)
While the Boks will have:
-Australia, England or Wales in the quarter
-All Blacks (probably) in the semi
-and England, Wales, Australia or France in the final (probably)
3 Dec 2012, 18:22 pm
@Tuna-36: yeah it was an easy pool,especially when we destroyed France. Oh yeah they got to the final.
3 Dec 2012, 18:24 pm
@Jeez-29: You could be right. I have been wondering for years how much longer the ABs could keep it up since the game went pro. NZ has no money, no decent audience, terrible time zone, and we’re thousands of kms away from the largest rugby markets.
But I asked the same thing in 1998, the only year in the pro era that we had a win rate below 70%. We recovered fairly well after that. I won’t be reading too much into one loss. Ireland almost piping us is not new, they’ve pushed us close a number of times, as have Wales.
3 Dec 2012, 18:25 pm
@bokke baiter-38: They did get to the final and played better than NZ and shouldve won the game (if not for the worst display of reffing since Bryce Lawrence)
3 Dec 2012, 18:34 pm
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-30:
I think they ensure that Seeds 1&4 are in either 1 &2 or 3&4, the same with seeds 2 & 3. If the top 2 seeds win all their games they should only meet in the final
3 Dec 2012, 18:39 pm
@David-41: Not true. If the higher seeded team always wins, it will be SA vs NZ in one semi, and Aus vs France in the other.
3 Dec 2012, 18:44 pm
@David-41: It’s random, you can watch the draw. 1-4, 5-8, 9-12 won’t be in the same pool but any combination is possible. Who plays who in the QF, semi, final is also random.
And I would like to point out to everyone that even though Richie was part of the draw, he played no part in Samoa getting into your pool again
3 Dec 2012, 18:48 pm
@wpjoulekkading-42:
Are you sure. That’s not how I see it. At no time does the winner of QF 4 meet the winner of QF2.
3 Dec 2012, 18:50 pm
@bokke baiter-38: Destroyed France?? Hahaha ok… Still dumbstruck about the England defeat? You talking kak my friend.
@bokfan1-40: Don’t bother explaining.
3 Dec 2012, 18:50 pm
And yet another world cup where the IRB puts the Springboks in the same pool as Samoa. In 3 previous world cups, they have injured key players of ours, so this seems to be quite a successful tactic by the dishonorable IRB.
No problem, we will play them and beat them and then go on and play whoever else they put in front of us as best we can.
We are a champion nation and will continue to demonstrate champion character no matter what angle the IRB takes to “teach the Japies a lesson”. The more the IRB cheat, the more character we will show… It is this champion character which has seen us earn a higher world cup win ratio of any nation in world rugby and it is this champion character which has earned the respect of institutions across the world, including Hollywood who were so inspired they made a movie about us.
The Springboks… Through thick and thin… The greatest rugby team ever.
I am The Authority.
3 Dec 2012, 18:51 pm
@gonzo-43: Thought so. The top 4 each get randomly drawn into either A, B, C or D. And then 5-8 are drawn and added to the A, B, C, D. And then the 3rd group.
3 Dec 2012, 18:53 pm
The Springboks – a team of Champions.
South Africa – a nation of Champions.
I am the Authority.
3 Dec 2012, 18:53 pm
@gonzo-43:
Not for the top 4, who if they win all their pool games meet the runners up in another pool. If you look at the pools, 1 & 2 meet 4 and 3 in the semis if they win all their games up to that point.
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