12 Jun 2019
All Blacks still very much the team to beat as all roads lead to Japan
With the pools announced for 2019’s Rugby World Cup last Thursday, excitement is definitely in the air as the top 8 teams in the current world rankings look to build momentum at this year’s autumn internationals.
Ranked world number one for twice as long as the rest of the world combined, New Zealand have never been ranked lower than second in the world and are without a doubt the team to beat.
Their dominance has seen the All Blacks achieve an extraordinary win ratio of almost 95% from 2004 to 2014, and 92.61% during Steve Hansen’s first five calendar years as manager. That being said, some might argue 2017 has exposed chinks in their armour, with a win ratio of just 77.27% ahead of last Saturday’s clash against the Barbarians.
Hansen himself has cited injuries, suspensions and personal tragedies as the reasons behind this - but as they lick their wounds from the Lions tour - France, Wales and Scotland will look to be the hyenas that capitalise on any signs of weakness.
For France, it’s been far from a hallmark 2017, but they’ll look to build upon an unbeaten record on home soil this year with two match-ups against the All-Blacks to kick off proceedings. Having often been New Zealand’s world cup nemesis over the past two decades, the orchestraters behind their earliest ever world cup exit in 2007’s quarter-finals, they come in at odds of 5/1 to beat New Zealand in their opening game at the Stade De France.
With a gruelling four match schedule ahead of them, Wales coach, Warren Gatland, will look towards Lions’ player of the series, Jonathan Davies, to inspire Wales to a historic win against the All Blacks for the first time since 1953. It is, however, hard to bet against an All-Black side that recorded record points’ tallies of 54 and 57 points against Australia and South Africa respectively in a flawless Rugby Championship campaign earlier this year.
Scotland, meanwhile, have never beaten the All Blacks. If they are to dive into unchartered territory and achieve the unthinkable, they will look to take inspiration from Ireland, who during last year’s autumn games beat New Zealand for the first time in 111 years.
For Ireland, like England, they perhaps have a tamer set of autumn fixtures, but facing up against the Springboks, they will look to prove that their first ever win on home soil against the side last year was no fluke. On the flip-side, South Africa will look to build upon a somewhat rejuvenated 2017, after a year to forget in 2016 which saw them slip to their worst ever world ranking earlier this year and a woeful 33% win record.
England are expected to rest some players, but with self-improvement the focus, they will still expect to win all of their games - buoyed by a win record of 95% and 19 in 20 since Eddie Jones took over the reins in 2015.
In stark contrast, their biggest test is expected to come from an Australia side that had a win ratio of just 50% before beating Japan last Saturday.
As the first full weekend of fixtures roll around this weekend, Australia will hope to build confidence in what we expect to be a close match-up against a Wales team that look worth a punt at odds of 7/5 to beat the Wallabies for the first time in their last 13 attempts.
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