Wallabies earn dream Rugby World Cup draw

Wallabies coach Michael Cheika is refusing to take comfort in what appears to be a dream draw through to the 2019 Rugby World Cup quarter-finals in Japan.

Australia's head coach Michael Cheika

Wallabies coach Michael Cheika is playing down Australia's dream 2019 Rugby World Cup draw. (AAP)

Wallabies coach Michael Cheika is playing down Australia's seemingly dream 2019 Rugby World Cup draw.

Third-ranked Australia's highest-ranked opponents in the group stages in Japan will be eighth seeds Wales, a team the Wallabies have dominated during a 12-Test winning streak that stretches back to 2008.

The Wallabies' other Pool D opponents during what shapes as a saloon passage through to the quarter-finals will be Georgia and two yet-to-be-determined qualifiers from Oceania and the Americas 2 division - probably Fiji and Canada.

Without question, it's a much more favourable draw than that which Australia's greatest rivals received at Wednesday night's draw in Kyoto.

Defending champions New Zealand were pitted alongside fierce Rugby Championship rivals South Africa, while Pool C will undoubtedly be dubbed the group of death.

It features Eddie Jones' second-ranked England, France and 2015 semi-finalists Argentina.

As one of the top four seeds, Australia were always guaranteed to avoid the All Blacks, England and Ireland before the quarter-finals.

Now the Wallabies will be heavily favoured to cruise through the pool stages, despite what Cheika says.

"You've just got to deal with each game as it comes and that is the key to tournament play," Cheika said from Japan.

"I'm not just saying that ... the European Cup or all those things, you don't forecast, you don't predict what's going to happen, you don't gamble on things.

"You just look at what's in front of you and do the absolute best in that one because other things are happening around you that you can't control.

"So any predictions you make are irrelevant."

Cheika declared Georgia as dangerous dark horses despite being unknown to most Australian fans.

"They are a team being run by a few Kiwi lads over there and they're on the up and up," he said.

"They have some strong forward play and some gas out wide, so between now and 2019 we're going to have to learn a bit about them.

"It just shows how big of an event a World Cup is, and how important it is for us to go one better than we did in 2015.

"You can plan the lay of the land, know the teams you're playing, know who the potential cross-over teams are, you can do the homework but - at the end of the day - it's all about how we play.

"You have to win seven games to get there.

"If you look at the 2015 Rugby World Cup, we came up short in one half of one game at the end, and that cost us from winning seven in a row.

"So we need to change and get better so we can win those seven games in a row when the time comes."

Should the Wallabies, as expected, advance from Pool D, they will face the runners-up from Pool D - most likely France or Argentina and possibly England.

POOLS FOR 2019 RUGBY WORLD CUP IN JAPAN

Pool A: Ireland (4), Scotland (5), Japan (11), Playoff Winner (between Europe 2 and Oceania 3), Europe 1

Pool B: New Zealand (1), South Africa (7), Italy (15), Africa 1, repechage winners

Pool C: England (2), France (6), Argentina (9), Americas 1, Oceania 2

Pool D: Australia (3), Wales (8), Georgia (12), Oceania 1, Americas 2

QUARTER-FINALS

QF1: Pool A winners v Pool B runners-up

QF2: Pool B winners v Pool A runners-up

QF3: Pool C winners v Pool D runners-up

QF4: Pool D winners v Pool C runners-up


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Source: AAP



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