Preparations for Men’s Rugby World Cup 2027 reached an important milestone with confirmation of the six pools that will headline the largest tournament in the sport's history.
For the first time, Men’s Rugby World Cup features 24 teams competing across six pools of four in an expanded format designed to break down barriers and make the game more accessible to fans around the world.
Two SANZAAR Unions will go head-to-head in Pool A where New Zealand, Australia, Chile and Hong Kong China will fight it out for spots in the Round of 16 qualifying finals. South Africa sit in Pool B with Italy, Geortgia and Romania. Argentina sit in Pool C with Fiji, Spain and Canada.
Wallabies captain Harry Wilson is keen to open the 2027 Rugby World Cup with a blockbuster against arch-rival New Zealand after drawing their trans-Tasman rivals in the same pool for the first time in World Cup history, “The opening game of the World Cup, I don’t reckon there’d be many better games to play than that one. I think it would be something everyone would be pretty excited for. If you beat the All Blacks, it’ll give your team a lot of confidence to know you probably can beat anyone on your day."
The permutations for the knockout finals following the pool matches can be viewed at: www.rugbyworldcup.com/2027/en/knockouts
The Draw was broadcast live on Stan Sport, 9Gem and 9Now in Australia, and streamed globally via RugbyPass TV and World Rugby YouTube and was presented by a star-studded line-up.
Draw Presenters included, World Rugby Chair and former Australian international Brett Robinson, All Blacks legend and two-time RWC winner Dan Carter, former Wallabies captain and Australia’s most-capped player James Slipper and Olympic gold medallist and former Australian Sevens star Alicia Lucas.
With the pools now confirmed, teams and fans can begin planning their Men’s Rugby World Cup 2027 journey. The next major milestone will be the announcement of the match schedule on Tuesday, 3 February 2026.
Rugby fans will then have an opportunity to secure seats during an exclusive two-week presale window starting on 18 February 2026 at 12:00 AEDT. Fans must create a ticketing account before 12:00 AEDT (GMT+11) on Tuesday, 17 February 2026 to be eligible to enter the presale.
For more news and information, including how to access tickets in the presale and secure your tickets, visit rugbyworldcup.com/2027.
