RWC ’27 step closer
AUSTRALIA is set to host the 2027 Rugby World Cup after being confirmed as the preferred candidate by World Rugby.
The announcement follows a World Rugby Council meeting that accepted a recommendation from the Rugby World Cup Limited Board to work exclusively with Australia to finalise a hosting model for the 2027 tournament.
After a concerted campaign led by former Wallabies including Phil Kearns, Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan called the nomination a huge step forward for “rebooting the game in Australia”.
“Throughout this process, we’ve held the genuine belief the time was right to bring the Rugby World Cup back to our shores,” he said.
“The team at Rugby Australia have worked hard on this for a number of years and today’s announcement is great reward for those efforts.
“Through this hard work … we’ve been able to get to a position where we can demonstrate to World Rugby that we’re a safe pair of hands and the obvious choice to host RWC 2027.
“This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity and we’re now closer than ever before to making that dream a reality. Game on for Australia 2027!”
Kearns, a veteran of 67 Tests, said Australia was ready to host its third World Cup.
“We’ve hosted Olympic Games before, we’ve hosted Rugby World Cups before, we’ve hosted Cricket World Cups before, Commonwealth Games, you know, millions of events,” he said.
“We’ve got the stadia ready to go and some of those are brand new stadia around the country as well, so we think we’re a safe pair of hands to get a great economic result but also a great social result for World Rugby.”
Kearns said the World Cup presented an “amazing” opportunity for young Australian rugby players. “When you’re a 15-year-old and you can see that the World Cup is only six years away and that potentially, as a 21-year-old, you could be playing in that World Cup, you can see the excitement in their eyes.”
Australia last hosted the Rugby World Cup in 2003 with New Zealand when the Wallabies lost a heartbreaking final to England, 20-17.
Rugby Australia will now work in an exclusive partnership with World Rugby to develop the tournament model ahead of a final World Rugby Council vote in May next year.
Rugby Australia chief executive Andy Marinos said the planning would start now to deliver the best possible tournament.
“It certainly is a very exciting day for Rugby Australia.”