Watch: Joe Schmidt Reacts To Ireland’s Rugby World Cup 2019 Group

The Rugby World Cup 2019 draw took place in Japan this morning and it’s safe to say Ireland could have done a hell of a lot worse.

Ireland have been drawn alongside hosts Japan and neighbours Scotland. Even though Ireland were beaten by the Scots in the Six Nations, things could have been worse given the standard of teams in band two.

Joe Schmidt caught up with the media after the draw and gave his thoughts on the draw.

“I think they’re all good, bad and ugly really. I think it’s very hard to assess where team are going to be in two years time for example.”

“I think the upward curve that Japan have taken in recent times, they got very close to beaten Wales in the Millennium Stadium last Autumn and obviously their heroics in the last World Cup were pretty spectacular.”

“I think the play-off winner it could be Romania most likely. We obviously we need to be on our metal, and lastly it could well be Tonga or Samoa or Fiji depending on how that works out,”

“We lost to Scotland recently so it’s a mixed bag! But I think it’s incredibly exciting to draw the host nation in that the crowd, the enthusiasm and the interest in that game is going to be huge.”

Should Ireland progress from their group they will likely face either New Zealand or South Africa from Pool B.