The World Cup draw has landed and, honestly, World Rugby has cooked it again. The All Blacks are likely to face the Springboks in the 2027 quarter-finals, and everyone’s asking the same question. How does a sport end up with its top two seeds crashing into each other that early? We dig into the mess, the maths, and the madness.

Martin breaks down the draw logic that somehow rewards the loser of the opening New Zealand-Australia match with the easier path. We also look at the gulf between the top sides and the teams ranked nine to 12, and why that pushes the whole format out of shape.

We also spoke with Razor and Scott Barrett at a press conference this morning, talking through the implications, the strategy, and how you prepare when you’re already pencilled in to meet the world champions in the knockout stages. Plenty to chew on.

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