Australia and New Zealand drawn into same group at 2027 Rugby World Cup

SYDNEY (AP) — Host Australia and three-time champion New Zealand were drawn into the same group Wednesday for the expanded Rugby World Cup in 2027, with the group winner likely to meet defending champion South Africa in the quarterfinals.

Australia was placed into Pool A from the second band of teams that were ranked from seventh to 12th.

No. 2-ranked New Zealand was the last team pulled out in the draw by World Rugby chairman Brett Robinson. They’ll be joined by Chile and Hong Kong in the group stage.

South Africa was drawn into Pool B with Italy, Georgia and Romania.

The result means the 2023 finalists could meet in the quarterfinals, if both the Springboks and the All Blacks top their groups.

England, winner of the last Rugby World Cup staged in Australia in 2003, was drawn into Pool F with Wales, Tonga and Zimbabwe.

The field was expanded to 24 teams for the 2027 tournament, which kicks off in Perth on Oct. 1 and culminates in a Nov. 13 final in Sydney.

The teams were divided into four bands of six based on World Rugby rankings at the time of the draw. Each of the six pools contain one team from each of the four bands.

The Australians, World Cup winners in 1991 and ’99 and runners-up the last time the tournament was played Down Under in 2003, missed a seeding in the top six after their first winless November tour to Europe since 1958.

Australia, which missed the quarterfinals for the first time ever in a disastrous 2023 campaign in France under Eddie Jones, was ranked seventh and placed with Fiji, Scotland, Italy, Georgia and Wales.

No. 6 Argentina was drawn into Pool C with Fiji, Spain and Canada, while three-time finalist France will face Japan, the United States and Samoa in Pool E. Ireland is in Pool D with Scotland, Uruguay and Portugal.

The addition of four teams means the tournament will have a Round of 16 for the first time, a stage that World Rugby chairman Robinson predicted “brings greater jeopardy, earlier knockout drama, and even more entertainment from the opening matches.”

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AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby