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The RWC 2027 host will be named in May 2022. In that month the World Rugby Council will vote on the tournament hosts for both men’s Rugby World Cups in 2027 and 2031. In addition, the governing body will also confirm the tournament hosts for the Women’s Rugby World Cups 2025 and 2029.
Prior to the recent confirmation there were two confirmed bidders for RWC 2027: Australia and Russia. They are extremely different prospective RWC hosts. On the one hand is Australia, the two time RWC winners, RWC 2003 hosts and 1987 co-hosts. On the other hand, Russia has never hosted a RWC match and is winless in two RWC tournaments.
The two options may have opposition, although there are presently no indications of additional interested parties. RWC 2023 will be played in France, a reality which all but rules out RWC 2027 from being in another Six Nations union or unions. Furthermore, neither Argentina nor South Africa will bid for RWC 2027.
The likelihood of a new bidder or an attempt from RWC 2019 hosts Japan or RWC 2011 hosts New Zealand are all but minimal. In other words, RWC 2027 is lining-up as a two horse race between Australia and Russia.
In the case of Russia, the bid may be not only a new host country, it may also be an expansion to 24 teams. Americas Rugby News received a non-official RWC 2027 hosting model.
It lays out a 24 team RWC. This would be an expansion from 20 teams, the number used throughout the professional era from RWC 1999-2023. The increase by four competitors sees a structure of six pools of four. Sixteen of them advance to the knock-out stages which would begin with an historic round-of-16.
The expansion noted would not require additional time than the existing format. It would, however see an increase from a total of 48 to 52 matches.
The Russia RWC 2027 model also includes match venues. They are a total of 14 venues across 13 Russian cities. All told the average capacity would be 47,289 per match. By way of comparison the average attendance for Australia 2003 was 38,282 while Japan 2019 averaged 37,745 per match.
The proposal also includes a comprehensive sample draw. In it Russia are pooled with Brazil, Scotland and Wales. The match schedule lists Russia vs Scotland as the tournament opener with the match taking place in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia. The proposal lists all 52 matches and allocates the RWC 2027 final to Moscow.
The following Russia RWC 2027 hosting model was sent to ARN.
