With RWC2027 exactly 12 months out, this AFP countdown piece maps the tournament landscape and makes clear the Springboks enter as the team everyone is gunning for. The expanded 24-team format — six pools of four, a new round of 16, and 52 matches across seven Australian cities — reshapes the knockout bracket in ways that matter: the draw puts South Africa and New Zealand on a collision course for the quarter-finals rather than the final, meaning a potential Bok-All Black eliminator before the business end. Erasmus has acknowledged the threat, and Barrett has done the same from the New Zealand side. The Boks' Pool B draw (Italy, Georgia, Romania) is comfortable on paper, but the reward for topping it may be a last-eight tie against the All Blacks — still stinging from that 12-11 final loss in 2023 and freshly beaten 3-1 in the 'Greatest Rivalry' series.
Beyond the Boks-vs-All Blacks thread, the piece sketches the broader contender picture: Ireland in Pool D, France headlining Pool E, England and Wales sharing Pool F, and the host Wallabies in Pool A — buoyed by that wild 42-38 win over the Springboks in Perth despite playing most of the match with 11 men. Tournament demand is strong, with over 750,000 pre-sale tickets sold inside six hours, and Rugby Australia is eyeing a ~AUS$100m windfall. For Springbok supporters tracking the road to a potential fourth consecutive title, this is a useful orientation piece on format, draw dynamics, and who the serious threats are.