5 Potential Stars of the 2019 Rugby World Cup

As the post-2015 Rugby World Cup era commences, it's time to peer into the tea leaves to predict the men who might be the box office hits of Japan 2019.

Since John Kirwan tore up the inaugural tournament in 1987, the World Cup has given rise to players who went on to become legends of the game.

The tournament this year was no different, with the likes of Nehe Milner-Skudder and David Pocock carving their names into the history books as some of the star performers of the eighth edition.

In 2011, no one would have picked either of those two as a potential standout performer four years later. Indeed, no one outside of his living room would have known who Milner-Skudder was.

His rise, and the performances of so many previously unheralded players over the last two months, shows us that much can change in a four-year cycle, and there will doubtless be a handful of bolters who only show themselves on the eve of the next big show.

But for this list, we must act only on the evidence before us of the promise and potential we have seen already and hope the included players will prove this columnist to possess the wisdom of Solomon.

Here are your five for 2019. Good luck to them all.

1. Santiago Cordero

Santiago Cordero will be 25 at the next tournament and arguably in his prime.

He arrived in England with just two Rugby Championship appearances to his name and was more known for his exploits on the sevens scene.

He leaves having established himself as one of the world’s most exciting talents. He possesses that one quality to which no opponent has an answer: raw pace.

Cordero announced himself to the world against Georgia with two tries. The first came after a burst off his wing and vicious sidestep to score under the posts; the second was an outrageous pirouette out of a tackle on halfway and a depression of the accelerator that no Georgian could live with.

He was at it again against Tonga, scything his was past black shirts having caught a restart and sparking a move that ended with one of the tries of the tournament.

And he created Argentina’s two early strikes that sunk Ireland, leaving both Kearney brothers for dead to feed Matias Moroni for the opener, then showing his footballing skills with the chip that was chased and caught by Juan Imhoff to score.

It would be no surprise to see him in the 2016 Olympic sevens tournament given his pace, but he has already shown he can flourish in the more confined spaces of the 15-man game and will doubtless be a star of the full Pumas side for years to come.

He is listed as a member of the new Argentinian Super Rugby franchise squad, which will give him the conditions and team-mates to get the best out of his skill set.

The best may be yet to come from the kid from Buenos Aires.

2. Maro Itoje

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England should pick Maro Itoje now and give him four years to flourish.

The young Saracen captained England to a World Rugby U20 Championship triumph in 2014 and is now, at just 21, establishing himself as a mainstay of an uncompromising Saracens pack.

He can cover lock and blindside but was cut from the wider England squad before the World Cup.

At the time, Mick Cleary wrote in the Telegraph: "Itoje’s time will most definitely come and the odds on him being England captain for the 2019 World Cup campaign in Japan will be fairly narrow."

He should move up the queue ahead of James Haskell, Nick Easter and Geoff Parling to join Joe Launchbury and Courtney Lawes as one of the hulking, dynamic, versatile locks capable of playing in the back row too.

3. Vasil Lobzhanidze

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Georgia scrum-half Vasil Lobzhanidze became the youngest player to grace a World Cup in 2015 and was named on the shortlist for World Rugby’s Breakthrough Player of the Year award.

He was just 18 years and 340 days when he took the field against Tonga on Sept. 19, per the Daily Mail.

And he held his own against his more senior opponents, as Rob Bartlett wrote for ESPN.

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Following warm-up games against Newcastle and Japan, [Georgia coach Milton] Haig started Lobzhanidze in their Pool C opener against Tonga, stating the youngster had been too good to drop. His faith was rewarded as Lobzhandize produced a spellbinding performance in Gloucester, instrumental in both the victory over the Pacific Islanders and helping turn Georgia's World Cup ambitions into reality.

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A move from his homeland to a larger club in Europe will surely follow in time for Lobzhanidze, and if Georgia’s best World Cup performance to date is rewarded with more games against Tier 1 nations—perhaps even a place in the Six Nations—the young man could turn up in Japan as one of the world’s best No. 9s.

4. Sean McMahon

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Australia’s production line of world class opensides shows no sign of slowing down.

Sean McMahon was pitched into the Wallabies 2015 World Cup squad ahead of the experienced George Smith and Liam Gill and did not look out of place.

The 21-year-old Melbourne Rebel scored twice against Uruguay and was preferred over Ben McCalman to fill in for Michael Hooper against Wales after the first-choice No. 7 was banned.

He wasted no time in proving he was up to the job, putting in a massive tackle on Welsh No. 10 Dan Biggar.

Four years down the line, McMahon has every chance of being first choice in the Australian back row. He looks capable of meeting the high standards set by Hooper and David Pocock.

5. Otere Black

Otere Black is New Zealand under-20’s incumbent fly-half but may well find himself elevated up the All Blacks pecking order in the months to come.

Dan Carter and Colin Slade are both heading overseas, which gives Aaron Cruden and Beauden Barrett the chance to battle for the job.

Behind them stands Lima Sopoaga of the Chiefs, but on all their heels is Black.

It has been said the Manawatu man “might be the right man at the right time” by Stuff.co.nz’s Peter Lampp, who hinted the youngster, currently with the Hurricanes, may well be required to fill one of the two spots vacated at the Crusaders by Carter and Slade.

But he has signed on with the Hurricanes and will bide his time behind Barrett at the Wellington outfit.

Should he be afforded the chance, Black looks to have the attributes capable of going to the very top.

We have seen how New Zealand are happy to give fresh blood its chance, and it’s startling how quickly new players such as Nehe Milner-Skudder can look at home as a first-choice All Black.

Black graduated through the same club scene as Milner-Skudder, and Michael Brown of the New Zealand Herald has already said it may not be long before they are both wearing the black shirt.