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A strong Australian bid to host RWC 2027 is expected. The hosts of RWC 2003 and co-hosts of RWC 1987 are seeking to stage the event in seven years time. Their bid comes with Rugby Australia in financial crisis following events prior to and because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rugby Australia’s new Chairman, Hamish McLennan has appointed seven people to an advisory board. Among them are RWC 1999 Wallabies captain John Eales, former Australian Prime Minister John Howard and former Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove.
The bidding process for the tournament is expected to officially begin in November, while World Rugby will determine who will host the event in 2021. The decision will be made via a World Rugby Council election.
At this stage Australia and Russia are the confirmed candidates. Argentina had been interested in bidding, but decided against doing so. World Rugby has expressed interest in the USA hosting a Rugby World Cup with 2031 rather than 2027 being the suggested opportunity.
From 1987-2015 the Rugby World Cup rotated from the Southern Hemisphere to the Northern Hemisphere, specifically from the former Tri Nations to the former Five Nations. Change came in 2019 with Japan hosting. 2023 sees a return to the former Five Nations with France being the host. As such the Northern Hemisphere will host three consecutive RWCs from 2015 to 2023.
Australia’s bid follows the Wallabies’ exit RWC 2019 at the Quarter Finals stage at the team slip to 7th in the World Rankings. Off the field, a US$6 million deficit in 2019 has been followed by Rugby Australia cutting 33% of its staff and players receiving close to 60% pay reduction in 2020.
RWC 2003 was the second edition of the 20-team tournament. It differed to RWC 1999 which had five pools of four. The change to four pools of five has been retained until today and will be the structure used for RWC 2023.
It remains to be seen whether the tournament will be expanded to 24 teams for RWC 2027. World Rugby Chairman candidate, Agustin Pichot backed the move; Bill Beaumont’s win suggests that expansion will be delayed.
Ten cities and eleven stadiums played host to matches in RWC 2003. In recent years additional venues have been used for home matches including Gold Coast and Newcastle.
