A draw with a winner? The routes to northern glory at 2027 World Cup

It is a hit rate that trumps any opposing argument.

Ten times the world's best teams have assembled for a World Cup final, and nine times the William Webb Ellis trophy has headed off in southern hemisphere hands.

New Zealand in 1987, 2011 and 2015. Australia in 1991 and 1999. South Africa in 1995, 2007, 2019 and 2023.

The Tri-Nations triopoly has been broken only once - 2003, Jonny Wilkinson's glorious dropper and all that.

England's triumph came at Sydney's Stadium Australia, the venue that will host the 2027 final.

And, as the balls were plucked from pots and placed into pools in Wednesday's draw, the possibility of the northern hemisphere adding to that paltry total seemed to rise.

England and Ireland, ranked third and fourth in the world behind South Africa and New Zealand, were placed in pools F and D respectively.

Should all four teams live up to their seedings and progress as pool winners, England and Ireland would be on the opposite side of the draw from the two southern hemisphere superpowers and unable to meet them until the final.

England and Ireland would also be kept apart from each other until the semis, while the Springboks and All Blacks would be on a quarter-final collision course, ensuring one would fall before the last four.

Should France advance as pool winners - and it is difficult to see Japan, USA or Samoa preventing them - Fabien Galthie's side would be primed to try and pick off whoever emerges from that titanic encounter.

Scotland, who have gone out in the pool stages in three of the past four tournaments, could hijack France's route into the latter stages.

Gregor Townsend's side have won only one of their past 16 meetings with Ireland, including coming off on the wrong end of a Pool B meeting at France 2023.

If that trend continues in Pool D but Scotland see off Uruguay and Portugal, they would most likely meet France - against whom their record is much better - in the last 16.

The current rankings predict that a quarter-final against Fiji would follow.

Even Wales, mired in dire form and structural upheaval behind the scenes, have reason to be cheerful.

Tonga and Zimbabwe are far more friendly Pool F opposition than a worst-case scenario of Georgia, winners at Principality Stadium in 2022 and itching to make a point over a potential place in the Six Nations, and Samoa, who inflicted famous World Cup defeats on Wales in 1991 and 1999.

A runner-up spot in Pool F will earn a last-16 tie against the team that finish second among Argentina, Fiji, Spain and Canada in Pool C.

Now, for the caveats.

At the moment, at a point in the World Cup cycle when they are normally building, South Africa are without equal. However you split the 24 teams, they would be favourites and deservedly so.

Other southern hemisphere contenders will have a say.

Argentina, who have twice made the World Cup semi-finals at Ireland's expense, would fancy their chances to do so again. Australia, on home soil, will be a more focused and formidable outfit than in 2023.

Fiji, afforded the dedicated build-up their disparate squad rarely get, are always a bigger threat at a World Cup.

While this draw is more timely than past ones, there is still a whole heap of rugby to be played before the tournament begins in October 2027.

There will be upsets once it does. No campaign or competition travels so smoothly down pre-ordained paths.

England coach Steve Borthwick and Ireland counterpart Andy Farrell were keen to emphasis that fact.

"It's brilliant for the supporters to plan this out and plan that out and talk about who's going to win what game," Borthwick told BBC Sport.

"As a kid - it was probably more about football World Cups - you'd have the map on the bedroom wall looking at who was playing who.

"It's brilliant, isn't it?

"But, from a coaching point of view, we deal with what's immediately in front of us, what we're going to do, and making sure we're prepared for the tournament."

Farrell said: "If you don't look after your own side of things first and foremost then things could slightly happen a little bit differently."

If you do take care of business however, as 2023's lop-sided quarter-finals showed, a draw can open up.

North v south is the storyline to power the finale of next year's inaugural Nations Championships, with the hemispheres pitted against each other in the autumn crescendo at Allianz Stadium in Twickenham.

Twelve months later, on the other side of the world, something similar may play out in Australia 2027's showpiece game.