The South African prop Ollie Roux has described tonight's third place play-off at the Millennium Stadium as "exciting a prospect as kissing your sister". But as weary and mentally drained as the Springboks and All Blacks are after the disappointment of missing out on the final, they are both aware that the losers will have to pre-qualify for the 2003 finals.
As New Zealand are the co-hosts of that tournament, defeat tonight would be the ultimate humiliation.
Australia and France will take two of the four seeded positions in 2003 as the main hosts and participants in Saturday's final. New Zealand and South Africa had hoped the fourth place would be offered to tonight's losers, but the International Rugby Board chairman Vernon Pugh has ruled out that possibility.
"The losers will have to pre-qualify," he said. "Both teams go into the play-off match knowing exactly what is at stake. It is far from the case that they have nothing to play for." Pugh revealed that the IRB will next year draw up a table of world rankings to determine the pool placements in 2003. The country which heads the list, outside of the three teams who pre-qualified for the finals, would assume the fourth seed position.
"It will mean that every international match counts for something," said Pugh, "though clearly there will be a weighting system to take into account the quality of opponents." He added that the 2003 World Cup would probably consist of four pools of five teams, rather than five pools of four sides as has been used this time round.
But the two coaches tonight will not be looking four years ahead. Both New Zealand's John Hart and South Africa's Nick Mallett have come under fire after their failure to make the final. Mallett has the comfort of a contract which has two years to run, but Hart's tenure ends next month.
"I think my position is quite secure," said Mallett. "I know that people back home are angry because they expect the Springboks to do well, but there was little to choose between Australia and us last Saturday. We have to pick ourselves up and beat New Zealand." Hart has yet to say whether he will be seeking reappointment, but the reaction in New Zealand to the defeat by France has run 70-30 in favour of him being replaced. The Wales coach Graham Henry is the popular choice, though he has 13 months to serve in the principality before being able to exploit the opt-out clause which kicks in halfway through his five-year contract.
