Wallabies drawn in Pool D for 2019 Rugby World Cup
The Wallabies have been drawn in Pool D alongside Wales and Georgia at the 2019 Rugby World Cup draw in Kyoto, Japan on Wednesday.
Australia will also face two qualifiers with Oceania 1 and Americas 2 also drawn in Pool D.
Wales is a familiar foe for Australia having played 12 times in the last nine years, including at the 2015 Rugby World Cup, while the Wallabies are yet to face Georgia at Test level.
Wallabies coach Michael Cheika said: “No matter how the balls got pulled out, it was always going to be about getting right, turning up and playing the best you can on the day.”
“Australians probably won’t know a lot about Georgia but they are a team being run by a few Kiwi lads over there and they’re on the up and up. 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.”
Rugby World Cup 2019 Pools:
Pool A: Ireland, Scotland, Japan, Europe 1, Play-off winner
Pool B: New Zealand, South Africa, Italy, Africa 1, Repechage winner
Pool C: England, France, Argentina, Americas 1, Oceania 2
Pool D: Australia, Wales, Georgia, Oceania 1, Americas 2
Wallabies Rugby World Cup history
1987: Fourth place
1991: Winners
1995: Quarter-finalists
1999: Winners
2003: Runners-up
2007: Quarter-finalists
2011: Third place
2015: Runners-up
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