‘There’s going to be upsets’- Dan Carter’s verdict on All Blacks-Springboks collision course at World Cup 2027
Legendary All Blacks fly-half Dan Carter has weighed in on New Zealand and South Africa possibly meeting in the Rugby World Cup 2027 quarter-finals.
The draw for the tournament in Australia was completed on Wednesday, and Carter was in attendance, drawing the first few names out.
His nation was drawn in Pool A alongside the hosts, Hong Kong China and Chile, while the back-to-back world champion Springboks were drawn along with Italy, Georgia and Romania in Pool C.
South Africa and the All Blacks are the most successful nations in the history of the tournament, collectively winning seven of the 10 competitions, including the last four.
However, if they are both to top their respective pools in Australia and win their round of 16 matches, then the nations will square off in the quarter-finals of the tournament.
There are going to be upsets
Speaking after the draw, the double World Cup-winning All Blacks’ legend says that there is no use getting too carried away with the permutations, as anything can happen at a World Cup.
“I was looking at that when Brett [Robinson, World Rugby Chair] was pulling out the last couple of teams, and I saw that South Africa and New Zealand could potentially meet,” Carter told reporters.
“But you come up with different scenarios, and what I’ve noticed in World Cups is that you can never predict exactly what’s going to happen.
“There’s going to be upsets. There are going to be things that you don’t expect to happen.”
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Carter played in four Rugby World Cups during his illustrious career, two of which ended in heartbreak with New Zealand losing the 2003 semi-final to hosts Australia and crashing out to France in the quarter-final four years later.
He was far more successful in his latter two tournaments, helping the All Blacks lift the William Webb Ellis Cup on home soil in 2011 before doing so in England in 2015.
He states that once you get into the knockout stages of the competition, it doesn’t really matter who you face; you have to win regardless.
“But if that is the case [that the All Blacks and Boks meet], you just have to accept it and live up to the challenge.
“From the playoff stages, you still have to win every single game from that point forward, and who you’re up against, it doesn’t really matter.
“We saw it at the 2023 World Cup, where the top teams were playing each other in the quarter-finals. So, if you want to go all the way, you have to beat the top teams at some stage.”
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Verdict on current All Blacks
The World Rugby Hall of Famer was asked whether he sees the current All Blacks team as potential Rugby World Cup winners.
Scott Robertson’s side ended the year in second place on the World Rugby rankings, but failed to win the Rugby Championship and fell to an end-of-year tour defeat to England.
A loss to Los Pumas in Argentina was another unwanted first for Robertson’s men, but Carter still believes that this squad has the makings of a World Cup-winning squad.
“I think they’ve definitely got the players to win a World Cup,” he said.
“They’ve been working on building depth, but now we just need to start working on combinations, consistency and monitoring the growth over the next two years.
“You don’t win World Cups two years out from the tournament. So, just as long as the trajectory is forward over the next couple of years, they’ll definitely put themselves in the best possible shape to do that.”
READ MORE: AS IT HAPPENED: The 2027 Rugby World Cup draw
