2027 Men's Rugby World Cup

Last updated

2027 Men's Rugby World Cup
RWC2027logo.png
Tournament details
Host nationFlag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia
Dates1 October – 13 November 2027
No. of nations24 [1]
← 2023
2031 →

The 2027 Men's Rugby World Cup is scheduled to be the 11th edition of the Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's rugby union teams. It is scheduled to take place in Australia from 1 October to 13 November 2027. It will be the first tournament to be branded as the Men's Rugby World Cup, a change that was announced in October 2023 to promote gender parity.

Contents

The defending champions are South Africa, who beat New Zealand in the 2023 final.

Host selection and bidding

World Rugby was hoping to award the bids for both the 2027 and 2031 men's World Cups (along with the bids for the 2025 and 2029 Women's World Cups) by May 2022. The process of talking to prospective nations began in February 2021 with the formal candidate process commencing three months later. Finalists were evaluated in February 2022. [2]

By June 2019, Argentina, Australia and Russia had declared their interest in hosting the 2027 Rugby World Cup, [3] [4] but Argentina withdrew their bid in April 2020, leaving two bidders. [5] There was speculation that the United States and South Africa would be interested in hosting the event, but the South African Rugby Union has stated that it would not be bidding for the 2027 World Cup. [6]

World Rugby chairman Bill Beaumont suggested in late 2018 that the host of the Rugby World Cup following the 2023 event in France could be an emerging nation. [7] World Rugby CEO Brett Gosper also suggested in 2019 that World Rugby may bid the 2027 and 2031 World Cups together (as they did with England 2015 and Japan 2019), so that they could make “a bolder decision and a traditional decision.” [8] The hosts for the 2027 and 2031 tournaments were to be revealed in May 2022. [9]

The fact that three consecutive World Cups (England 2015, Japan 2019, and France 2023) will have occurred in the Northern Hemisphere made the Southern Hemisphere countries considered the favourites. [10]

On 12 May 2022, it was announced that Australia would host the 2027 Rugby World Cup. [11]

Announced bidders

Australia

Rugby Australia announced on 13 December 2017 that Australia would bid for the 2027 Rugby World Cup. [12] Australia has previously hosted the inaugural 1987 Rugby World Cup together with New Zealand, as well as the 2003 Rugby World Cup on its own.

Withdrawn bids

Argentina

Argentina had announced on 5 October 2016 that it would bid for the 2027 Rugby World Cup, but withdrew its bid in April 2020. Argentina has never hosted the tournament before, and World Rugby chairman Bill Beaumont had pledged that he would back the right of countries such as Argentina to bid for the event. [13] Argentina is the only country to reach the World Cup semi-finals that has not hosted any World Cup matches. [14] In April 2020, Argentina withdrew its bid to strengthen the Australian bid, making Australia favourites for the 2027 Rugby World Cup host. [5] [15]

Russia

Stanislav Druzhinin of the Russian Rugby Union said at a meeting on 31 May 2019 that Russia would apply to host the 2027 Rugby World Cup. Russia would use the 2018 FIFA World Cup stadiums and legacy for the 2027 Rugby World Cup. [16] [17] President Vladimir Putin backed Russia's bid to host the 2027 Rugby World Cup. [18]

Rugby Union of Russia could not proceed with its bid to host after Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) imposed a two-year ban on 17 December 2020 on Russia hosting any major sports tournament. [19]

Expansion

Talks of expanding the tournament to 24 teams intensified after the performances of emerging nations like Chile and Portugal at the 2023 Rugby World Cup, and on 4 October 2023, it was reported that World Rugby had decided to expand the World Cup to 24 teams in order to help grow the sport. [20] A "Swiss model" pool stage similar to those adopted by the European Rugby Champions Cup and football's UEFA Champions League, or six pools of four with an additional round of 16 were under consideration. [21]

The expansion to 24 teams was confirmed on 24 October 2023. [22] [23] [24]

Format

To accommodate the expansion from a 20-team finals tournament to 24 teams, the format was changed from the one used in 2023 with the addition of two extra groups in the group stage, and an extra round in the knockout phase. [25]

Development and preparations

Australia won their bid to host the 2027 Rugby World Cup on 12 May 2022. [26]

The tournament will be the first branded as the Men's Rugby World Cup, a change that was announced in October 2023. [27] All previous editions were branded as simply the Rugby World Cup, with the Women's tournament branded as the Women's Rugby World Cup between 1991—2017 and without a gender designation in 2021 tournament.

Host cities

Nine venues in seven cities were proposed venues for the tournament. [28] The opening match, as well as the opening ceremony, will be at Perth Stadium, while the final (including both semi-finals and the bronze final) will be played at Stadium Australia in Sydney. [29]

In early January 2025, it was reported that no matches would take place in the state of Victoria, after the Victorian state government pulled its bid in protest of Rugby Australia's revocation of Melbourne Rebels' participation in Super Rugby Pacific. [30] The full list of host cities was confirmed later in January when it was confirmed that the state of Victoria would host games in Melbourne in an yet to be determined venue. [31] [32]

Sydney, New South Wales Newcastle, New South Wales Melbourne, Victoria Map
Stadium Australia a
(Homebush, New South Wales)		 Newcastle International Sports Centre TBA
Capacity: 82,000Capacity: 23,000Capacity: TBA
2022 NRLGF stadium.jpg Ausgrid Stadium (cropped).jpg
Adelaide, South Australia
Adelaide Oval a
Capacity: 53,500
Adelaide Oval hosts Wallabies and Springboks Rugby Union 27 August 2022.jpg
Perth, Western Australia Brisbane, Queensland Townsville, Queensland
Perth Stadium Lang Park a North Queensland Stadium
Capacity: 65,000Capacity: 52,500Capacity: 25,000
E37 Perth Stadium Open Day 089.JPG Suncorp Stadium Brisbane Australia 01.jpg 2021 State of Origin Game 1 Queensland Country Bank Stadium National Anthem.jpg

a Stadium/site used in 2003 Rugby World Cup.

These host cities will host the following matches;

Teams

Qualification

A total of 12 teams gained automatic qualification for the tournament by finishing in the top three of their pool at the 2023 Rugby World Cup, these positions being determined at the close of the pool stage. [33] The qualification process for the tournament was confirmed by World Rugby on 13 August 2024. Four teams will qualify from Europe, three from the Pacific, one each from Africa, Asia and South America, one from a South America/Pacific play-off, and one from a four-team repechage tournament. [34]

Qualified teams
RegionTeamQualification
method		Previous
apps		Previous best result World Rugby
Ranking¹
Africa Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa 2023 Rugby World Cup pool stage 8Winners(1995, 2007, 2019, 2023)
Africa 1 2025 Rugby Africa Cup winners
Asia Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 2023 Rugby World Cup pool stage 10Quarter-finals (2019)
Asia 1 2025 Asia Rugby Championship winners
Europe Flag of England.svg  England 2023 Rugby World Cup Pool Stage 10Winners(2003)
Flag of France.svg  France 2023 Rugby World Cup Pool Stage 10Runners-up (1987, 1999, 2011)
IRFU flag.svg  Ireland 2023 Rugby World Cup Pool Stage 10Quarter-finals (eight times)
Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 2023 Rugby World Cup Pool Stage 10Pool stage (ten times)
Flag of Scotland.svg  Scotland 2023 Rugby World Cup Pool Stage 10Fourth place (1991)
Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales 2023 Rugby World Cup Pool Stage 10Third place (1987)
Europe 1 2025 Rugby Europe Championship winners
Europe 2 2025 Rugby Europe Championship runners-up
Europe 3 2025 Rugby Europe Championship third place
Europe 4 2025 Rugby Europe Championship fourth place
Oceania/PacificFlag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia Hosts10Winners(1991, 1999)
Flag of Fiji.svg  Fiji 2023 Rugby World Cup pool stage 9Quarter-finals (1987, 2007, 2023)
Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 2023 Rugby World Cup pool stage 10Winners(1987, 2011, 2015)
Pacific 1 2025 Pacific Nations Cup winners
Pacific 2 2025 Pacific Nations Cup runners-up
Pacific 3 2025 Pacific Nations Cup third place
South America Flag of Argentina.svg  Argentina 2023 Rugby World Cup pool stage 10Third place (2007)
South America 1 2025 Sudamérica Rugby Championship winners
South America/Pacific Play-offRepechage 1Play-off winner
Final Qualification TournamentRepechage 2Final Qualifier

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References

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