Elliot Smith: Newstalk ZB rugby commentator chats Rugby World Cup pools

Last night the 6 pools were drawn for the newly formatted Rugby World Cup in 2027. With the number of teams increased to 24 there will now be an added round of 16 to the playoffs. 

The All Blacks were drawn into pool a with hosts Australia, Hong Kong, China and Chile. The new format means there's high likelihood that the All Blacks face off against the reigning champion Springboks as early as the quarter final. 

D'Arcy was joined by Newstalk ZB rugby commentator Elliot Smith to discuss. 

LISTEN ABOVE

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sports Talk podcast with Dancy Waldegrave
from News Talk ZEDB.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
All right, it's set rugby at ten to eight last night,
pauls for the rejegged at Rugby World Cup twenty twenty seven.
They were drawn. The All Blacks were drawn into a
pool at paul A alongside the host Australia, Hong Kong, Chile. Okay,
Elliott Smith News Talks, he'd rugby commentator joins us now
to discuss. Ellie, welcome to the show. So what do

(00:34):
we learn? What do we need to know and what
pete your interest when you saw it?

Speaker 3 (00:39):
Well, this is the first World Cup with twenty four
teams and that is shaken up the way that this
tournament is going to operate. So previously, obviously you'd have
the top two qualifiers from each pool, pools of five
go through to the quarter finals, semi fin blah blah blahah. Now,
with the round of sixteen added as a result of
the twenty four teams, you're going to have the top

(00:59):
six qualifiers go through, the top teams in each pool,
then the second qualifiers, then a group of four of
the third rank sides will go through. So they're going
to have more knockout games, obviously, that's the one upside
of that. But after the pool stage, you'll fear welling
fewer teams than you were after the knockout after the
pool stages of the previous format. And what it does

(01:20):
lend to is this bizarre scenario where you have the
current one and two rank sides in the world on
a collision course potentially for a quarter final meeting. They
said that they pushed the drawer a year later than
they did it last time to make sure that it
was a bit more even because remember it has been
pretty lopsided last time. Well it's lopsided again. So this
is world rugby operating on a level that would become

(01:43):
used to. They try and change things for the better
and it never works out for the better. So you
just sit there and shake your head. But the drawer
is the drawer, and you have to play these teams
at some point and if you're good enough, your blacks
will beat them in the in the quarter finals, well, you.

Speaker 2 (01:56):
Got to beat everybody to be the world champion, unless
you're England. I think the side of the draw there
on they don't have to beat anyone until the final
Is that right?

Speaker 3 (02:05):
What it is? Yeah, they can go through and you
basically don't play a pool winner until the semi finals.
That's the side of the draw that they went into
and when they got pulled out and put it in
that side of the pool pool if I think it is,
off the top of my head, pretty advertageous for them,
at least at this stage. Remembering we are two years
out from a World Cup draw. Who's to say that,
you know, wowes might improve over the next couple of years.

(02:26):
Tonga might come in with a whole lot of former
All Blacks and Wallabies players and all of a sudden
we bolstered and then you never know the way that
the fortunes of world rugby can change that a team
now that's sitting at the top might not be there
at the top table in a couple of years and
vice versa. So on the surface of it, though it
is lopsided, doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me,
and I think World Rugby's made a giant mistake going

(02:48):
to twenty four teams at this point in time. Would
they ever admit to that, Absolutely not no, because they
will just go, oh, look, we had such and such
it's the third highest ranked TV event in the world.
We had all these eyeballs on it. We sold out
the ticket stadiums, tickets around the stadiums around Australia. They
won't care as long as they get quality rug out
of it. But what this change has done is basically

(03:09):
made the pool stage not quite irrelevant necessarily, but bordering
on it because there are so many teams that go
through to that round of sixteen. All Wax and Wallaby's
big game, but the prize for losing or winning not
that big. The All Blacks win that they're still playing
in the spring box, you would have to think they
lose it they go and play England in the quarterfinals,
you know, assuming everything else goes to plan. So I

(03:32):
can't wrap my head around it. I think World Rubies mate,
as I say, a giant mistaken expanding twenty four teams.
I think this format is very, very poor, hasn't been
thought through. But World Rugby will say we're building the game.
We're expanding by inviting these small nations in by going
from twenty to twenty four teams. But what it has
done is made the tournament look rather lopsided as a result.

Speaker 2 (03:53):
So they're saying if we beat Australia or Australia beat Us,
that's just changed the path of both sides. Is that
similar with all the other groups though? Could it be
really like a cat being thrown amongst the proverbials for
this all so.

Speaker 3 (04:05):
Than times, it's more not the pool stage. It's more
the bracket and the side of the draw that you
are on. And regardless of the All Blacks, if they
have a pool a winner of the pool, a runner up,
it's not hope. They're fighting for the third ranked teams
that advance to the next stage. But that may actually
be more advantageous for them potentially if they were to
finish third in the pool, because that would need no

(04:27):
avoid in South Africa and maybe England, they would still
face a different team and a tougher round of sixteen game.
But as I said, this format is just the format's
one on the cat amongst the pigeons litt alone the
you know the way that a results might fall in
the tournament.

Speaker 2 (04:40):
Is it open to being abused, a losing deliberately or yeah? Unlikely,
but it's the possibility, is there?

Speaker 3 (04:49):
Right? It is? And look if you're Russia, Rasmus we
know what kind of crazy schemes Russia has rolled into,
you know, seven to one benches and various things. Maybe
he decides that they're going to roll out a whole
bunch of second stringers in the quote unquoite toughest Paul
game against Subtly, maybe they lose that they avoid the
all blacks. So I mean, I don't know. It is
open to abuse potentially, and you just look there and go, Okay,

(05:12):
this draw is ridiculous. Twenty four teams in a knockout
tournament doesn't really work. I think they should start with
twenty for another cycle personally, and the fact that they're
doing it so far out as well, you think they
moved it a year closer. It's still two years out.
We've got the FIFA World Cup drawer on Saturday morning
to find out everyone's playing and what pools are in

(05:33):
for mid twenty twenty six. That's six months. Notice, Rugby
World Cup apparently needs nearly two years.

Speaker 2 (05:39):
We'll put a fork in that now and call it
done now. Ed Smith, Rugby editor for News Talk, ZB
and n z ME. We thank you very much for
your time and your expertise. You go well, pleasure Darcy.

Speaker 1 (05:49):
For more from sports Talk, listen live to News Talk
ZB from seven pm weekdays, or follow the podcast on
iHeartRadio