The 2027 Men’s Rugby World Cup will open with a seemingly unbalanced matchup between Australia, the host country, and Hong Kong, on October 1 in Perth, while France will begin the next day against the United States, World Rugby announced on Monday.
For the opening match of this 11th Men’s World Cup, the Wallabies will benefit from a gentle start against Hong Kong, the weakest or almost of the 24 qualified teams (23rd in the world ranking) and for which this will be their first participation. The clash of this Group A, between Australia and New Zealand, will take place on the second day.
An affordable group for the Blues
France will begin its quest for a first world title against the United States in Melbourne on October 2, before traveling to Brisbane to challenge Japan (October 9), then to the Sydney Football Stadium, to face Samoa on October 17, in a very affordable Group E.
For this first World Cup with 24 teams, compared to 20 since 1999, the teams are divided into six groups of four teams, from which the first two in each group and the four best third-placed teams will qualify. The 16 teams thus qualified will compete in the round of 16, another new feature of this edition.
By finishing first in its group, France would return to Melbourne for its round of 16 on October 23, then return to Brisbane in the quarterfinals on October 30 before playing a possible semi-final then a potential final in Sydney, at Stadium Australia this time, the Olympic stadium of the 2000 Olympics.
The reigning double world champions South Africa will enter the fray on October 3 against Italy in Adelaide, while the All Blacks will begin their tournament against Chile on October 2 in Perth.
The Blues’ group stage program
- Saturday October 2: France-United States, in Melbourne (Docklands Stadium)
- Saturday October 9: France-Japan, in Brisbane (Brisbane Stadium)
- Sunday October 17: France-Samoa, in Sydney (Sydney football Stadium)
