We take a look at the two teams vying for 2019 Rugby World Cup glory

2019 Rugby World Cup Favourites

The 2019 Rugby World Cup has been unlike any other tournament. The fact it was the first edition of the tournament held in Asia is of course the most apparent but it was also the first tournament where there were probably five or so teams with serious chances of taking the trophy home. In past tournaments it was often difficult to name three teams that stood a realistic hope of victory whereas the international to-ing and fro-ing of the top teams winning and losing against one another has meant the 2019 tournament was incredibly open.

But only two teams remain right now and they are England and South Africa.

England

After a disappointing 2018 Six Nations, Eddie Jones’s men have been back on form in the past year or so. During the autumn Internationals they beat South Africa and Australia, as well as only losing to the All Blacks by a single point. They put together a reasonably solid 2019 Six Nations and have managed to get themselves to the final thanks to incredible performances against the Wallabies and All Blacks in the knockout stages.

South Africa

After a couple of difficult years South Africa are on the up, as shown by their recent Rugby Championship victory. Rassie Erasmus clearly knows his best team and given the size and physicality of the pack in particular, the Springboks are a match for any team on the planet.

That has been the case despite an early loss to the All Blacks during the group stages. The Springboks have beaten the Japanese and Welsh to reach what is their third final, following the victorious campaigns of 1995 and 2007.

Follow our Rugby World Cup homepage which we update regularly with news and features.

Also make sure you know about the GroupsWarm-upsDatesFixturesVenuesTV CoverageQualified Teams by clicking on the highlighted links.

Finally, don’t forget to follow Rugby World on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.