LONDON, Dec 3 : Steve Borthwick is probably the last man on earth who would dare to say he was pleased with how the Rugby World Cup draw panned out and though the England coach played his usual straight bat when discussing it, he must have been beaming inside.

England were placed with Wales, Tonga and Zimbabwe in Wednesday's draw, which, if the games in two years go anywhere close to current form, would put them into a Round of 16 game against a third-placed finisher.

Their probable quarter-final opponents would then be the loser of the Australia v New Zealand pool match, with a probable semi-final against Argentina or Ireland the reward for the winners.

It means that England are highly unlikely to face world number one and double-defending champions South Africa, who they lost to by a

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