It is the first edition of the tournament that will feature 24 teams after being expanded from 20, with the Wallabies playing host and kicking off proceedings on October 1 in Perth.
However, New Zealand always provide a major threat on the biggest stage and England look to be making significant progress halfway through this World Cup cycle under Steve Borthwick, while Australia will have hope of a deep run on home soil after pushing the British and Irish Lions close in the summer.
Three-time runners-up France will also be eyeing maiden global glory along with Ireland, who have famously never managed to advance beyond the quarter-final stage in 10 previous attempts.
When is the Rugby World Cup draw?
The draw for the pool stage of the 2027 Men’s Rugby World Cup takes place today, Wednesday December 3, 2025 in Sydney, Australia.
Proceedings are scheduled to begin at 8pm local time, which is 9am GMT in the UK.
The draw will be conducted by World Rugby chair Brett Robinson, plus All Blacks icon Dan Carter, Australia’s most-capped men’s player and former captain James Slipper, and rugby sevens Olympic gold medal winner Alicia Lucas.
How to watch the Rugby World Cup draw
TV channel and live stream: In the UK, the draw will be available to watch live and for free on RugbyPass TV.
It is also being broadcast for free online via World Rugby’s official YouTube channel.
The pre-sale period for 2027 Men’s Rugby World Cup tickets opens on February 18, 2026 – the month when the match schedule is also released. It closes on March 4.
You can find more information here and must have created an official ticketing account by February 17.
Dominant: The Springboks will be favourites to win a fifth World Cup title in Australia in 2027
AFP via Getty Images
How does the Rugby World Cup draw work?
The new expanded Rugby World Cup format will see six pools of four teams, whereas it was previously four pools of five teams.
The tournament used to go straight into the quarter-finals after the initial pool stage, but the increase in teams now allows for the introduction of a round of 16 in between.
The top-two finishers from each pool will all advance into the last 16, with spots in the knockouts also reserved for the four best third-place teams.
For the draw, there are four bands of six teams, which are based on the most recent World Rugby rankings from November. The top six-ranked teams as things stand are in Band 1, 7-12 in Band 2, 13-18 in Band 3 and 19-24 in Band 4.
One team from each band will be drawn randomly into each pool with the exception of Australia, who as hosts have already been confirmed as the team from Band 2 in Pool A. Teams from the same band cannot be drawn into the same pool.
Which teams have qualified for the Rugby World Cup?
Nations that finished in the top three in their respective pools at the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France automatically qualified for the 2027 tournament.
Those teams were France, Ireland, Wales, England, New Zealand, South Africa, Fiji, Argentina, Italy, Scotland, Australia and Japan. Australia also qualified automatically as hosts.
Georgia, Spain, Romania and Portugal all qualified through the Rugby Europe Championship, while Tonga, USA and Canada did so via the Pacific Nations Cup.
Uruguay won the Sudamerica Rugby Championship to qualify, with Chile winning a Pacific/Sudamerica play-off tie against Samoa, who, after a dramatic 13-13 draw, then narrowly edged out prospective debutants Belgium to finish top of the four-team Final Qualification Tournament standings that also contained Namibia and Brazil.
Zimbabwe and Hong Kong won the Rugby Africa Cup and Asia Rugby Championship, respectively.
Contenders: England are making impressive progress and beat New Zealand during the autumn
AFP via Getty Images
Rugby World Cup draw seedings
South Africa, New Zealand, England, Ireland, France, Argentina
Australia, Fiji, Scotland, Italy, Wales, Japan
Georgia, Uruguay, Spain, USA, Chile, Tonga
Samoa, Portugal, Romania, Hong Kong, Zimbabwe, Canada
When is the next Rugby World Cup?
The next Men’s Rugby World Cup will run from October 1, 2027 until November 13 in Australia, with games taking place in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Newcastle and Townsville.
The Wallabies will contest the first match in Pool A at Perth’s Optus Stadium on October 1. The addition of four extra teams will see the number of fixtures rise from 48 to 52.
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