New Wallabies coach Eddie Jones has predicted an early Rugby World Cup exit for England and his successor Steve Borthwick in France later this year.
Taking over the reins from Dave Rennie, Jones will be in charge of the Wallabies for the upcoming Rugby World Cup.
And a confident Jones believes he can guide Australia to their first World Cup triumph since 1999 when they beat France in the final.
“If we can have everyone fit and healthy going into the World Cup this year, I am confident that we can go to France and break the 24-year drought of winning the Rugby World Cup,” he said
When asked if this means he’d expect to beat his old side, Jones replied: “Definitely, mate. You have to beat the best sides to win a Rugby World Cup.”
If the pools work out as expected, that would see the Wallabies brush past England in the quarter-finals. .
The finals work the same way as the 2019 tournament with the first two teams in each pool progressing to the quarter-finals, which will be contested by knock-out matches.
If we suppose the top-ranked teams each win their pools and the second-ranked teams finish runners-up then the quarter-finals in 2023 could look something like this…
- Wales vs Japan
- South Africa vs France
- England vs Australia
- New Zealand vs Ireland
The 2023 tournament will take place between 8 September and 21 October 2023.
FULL 2023 RUGBY WORLD CUP DRAW:
POOL A
- New Zealand
- France
- Italy
- Uruguay
- Namibia
POOL A FIXTURES:
- Sep 8: France vs New Zealand (Pool A) – Stade de France, Saint-Denis
- Sep 9: Italy vs Namibia (Pool A) – Stade Geoffroy Guichard, Saint-Etienne
- Sep 14: France vs Uruguay (Pool A) – Stade Pierre Mauroy, Lille
- Sep 15: New Zealand vs Namibia (Pool A) – Stadium de Toulouse, Toulouse
- Sep 20: Italy vs Uruguay (Pool A) – Stade de Nice, Nice
- Sep 21: France vs Namibia (Pool A) – Stade Velodrome, Marseille
- Sep 27: Uruguay vs Namibia (Pool A) – Parc OL, Lyon
- Sep 29: New Zealand vs Italy (Pool A) – Parc OL, Lyon
- Oct 5: New Zealand vs Uruguay (Pool A) – Parc OL, Lyon
- Oct 6: France vs Italy (Pool A) – Parc OL, Lyon
