2019 Rugby World Cup: Breaking down the potential World Cup finals

We are down to the final four at the Rugby World Cup - and the tournament has a distinct mix of potential showdowns for next weekend's final. Chris Rattue breaks down the good and the bad of each possible final matchup.

NEW ZEALAND v WALES

Head-to-head record: NZ 31, Wales 3

Courtney Meredith "stands alone" as a British rugby columnist put it. ​

The 93-year-old is the only living Welshman to have tasted victory over the All Blacks while wearing his nation's jersey. Meredith played at prop in the 13 - 8 victory in 1953.​

Not that he is talking about it, so don't expect any moving stories if Wales do make the final against the All Blacks.​

Meredith is never seen at his local Neath club, skipped his own Hall of Fame induction there, and has told reporters: "I don't do interviews." ​

Or to put it another way, there are just two living All Blacks who have tasted defeat against Wales. The now 92-year-old John Tanner, a centre from Auckland, played the last of his five tests that day in Cardiff. The other survivor is 92-year-old Bill McCaw, from Southland, who played No 8.​

At the other end of the scale, Welsh flanker Sid Judd died of leukemia just seven years after that Welsh victory.​

The rest of the rugby world might not find it so significant, but a New Zealand v Wales final would reek of history.

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It will also likely be the final international meeting between rival Kiwi coaches Steve Hansen and Warren Gatland, who drew the All Blacks-Lions series two years ago. They've certainly got history, with Hansen unhappy about comments Gatland made during the Lions tour. ​

Waikato legend Gatland has had a strange relationship with New Zealand rugby, of good and bad. He was an All Black during four seasons but never played a test, was surprisingly overlooked for the 1991 World Cup squad, and as a coach never seemed fully embraced by the New Zealand hierarchy despite his successes.

And the Mooloo mob reckon Duane Monkley was their unluckiest rugby icon.​

New Zealand-Wales rugby history is full of drama, from the Deans no-try, to lineout dives, to Keith Murdoch, to Wales illegally fielding Kiwi players.

And Hansen is one of three Kiwis who have coached Wales.

An absolutely tantalising prospect.

NEW ZEALAND V SOUTH AFRICA​

Head-to-head record: NZ 59, South Africa 36, Draws 4

In other words, an All Blacks v Springboks final would be the 100th meeting between the great rivals.​

Until the Springboks were forced into more than a decade of isolation because of their country's apartheid system, they held an edge over the All Blacks in the battle of rugby's superpowers.​

Until 1981, the scoreline read South Africa 20, New Zealand 15, two draws. But the All Blacks have dominated the professional era, outside of that run of infamous World Cup disappointments.​

In five World Cup meetings, New Zealand has won three but lost the historic 1995 decider in Johannesburg and the bronze medal match four years later. They had a big win in the 2003 Melbourne quarter-final and squeaked home in the 2015 London semifinal. In Japan they faced a huge threat to their record of never losing a pool game, and put South Africa away with a scoring burst.​

There is a lot of respect between the two camps, far more than exists between - for instance - New Zealand and Australia, or England and just about everyone else.​

This is in stark contrast to the distant past, such as the brutal 1956 series when New Zealand lay in wait to right the hurt of 1949 when they were whitewashed in South Africa.

And as for South African referees...​

Former Springboks centre John Gainsford supposedly said: "When you come to us, we cheat you and beat you. And when we go to you, you cheat us and beat us."​

Times have changed, and incredibly so. Steve Hansen and the 2015 Springboks World Cup coach Heyneke Meyer came across as virtual best mates, a sure-fire case for an impeachment inquiry in earlier All Black-Springbok times.​

But the rivalry still burns extremely deep.​

ENGLAND V WALES

Head-to-head record: England 63, Wales 59, Draws 12

Wales scored a crushing win over England in February, leading the World Cup winning coach Clive Woodward to say: "England got turned over partly because every team raises their game against them and they couldn't handle it." Cue the former Welsh captain Phil Bennett, whose pre-match speech before a clash in Cardiff went something like this.​

"Look what these bastards have done to Wales. They've taken our coal, our water, our steel. They buy our homes and live in them for a fortnight every year. What have they given us? Absolutely nothing. We've been exploited, raped, controlled and punished by the English — and that's who you are playing this afternoon."​

One of the Welsh players, the legendary Gareth Edwards, remained unmoved and Bennett knew how to get to a man who loved fly fishing.​

"They're going to pinch the rivers as well," Bennett roared, which did the trick.​

Bennett, who had the best sidestep in rugby history, reckoned that Welsh team had so many famous players that he needed something special to get their attention.​

But you still get the drift.​

Rugby is the national sport in Wales, where it thrives in all walks of life. In England, it is favoured by the upper classes. ​

To this day, Wales can see dastardly English deeds based on power and money. World Cup forwards Billy and Mako Vunipola, brought up in Wales, were lured into the English public/rugby school system.

Oh yes. England conquered Wales in the late 13th century and dotted the country with a record number of castles to ram the message home.​

Now that's a rivalry.​

ENGLAND V SOUTH AFRICA

Head-to-head record: South Africa 25, England 12, Draws 2

From a neutral's perspective, this is probably the least intense rivalry - if there is such a thing - amongst the 2019 final prospects. The players and supporters won't see it like that of course, and there is the Anglo-Boer War to remember.​

Rugby is essentially an Afrikaans sport in South Africa, and that makes for terrific English antipathy. But big rugby series between the two countries were not part of the old rugby structure. ​

Their World Cup rivalry includes some famous or infamous goalkicking feats, including the tryless 2007 final won by the Springboks in France.​

This isn't one for the neutrals to enthuse over. A lot of sports fans in Premier League-obsessed England won't give a stuff while rugby support in South Africa is complicated, because of the apartheid history and how it still affects society today.​

Three of their four World Cup meetings have been in Paris, and two of them were very high scoring affairs won convincingly by the Springboks.​

Another final between two teams trying to find more attacking class might kick something more interesting into life. Then again, it could involve a lot of kicking.​