Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Sport
Angus Fontaine

Rugby World Cup 2027 draw: Australia and New Zealand drawn in Pool A – as it happened

Former Wallabies Morgan Turinui and Phil Waugh with the Webb Ellis Cup before the draw in Sydney.
Former Wallabies Morgan Turinui and Phil Waugh with the Webb Ellis Cup before the draw in Sydney. Photograph: Mark Kolbe/World Rugby/Getty Images

Rugby World Cup 2027: the pools

Pool A New Zealand, Australia, Chile, Hong Kong

Pool B South Africa, Italy, Georgia, Romania

Pool C Argentina, Fiji, Spain, Canada

Pool D Ireland, Scotland, Uruguay, Portugal

Pool E France, Japan, USA, Samoa

Pool F England, Wales, Tonga, Zimbabwe

Joe Schmidt is confirming that there’ll be no ongoing role for him with Australian rugby after his contract runs its term in mid-2026 and there’ll be no fourth World Cup for him in 2027. Instead he’ll happily hand over the Wallabies to Queensland Reds boss Les Kiss, his former right-hand man during Ireland’s glory days “and we’ll be in contact anyway.”

I’ll be in the stadium watching. Rugby World Cups are special. The atmosphere builds into a crescendo on match days. I’m excited it’s only two years away… and in some other ways I can’t wait to not be involved because it’s pretty nerve-wracking!

That’s it for tonight’s 2027 World Cup draw, folks. Thanks for your texts and emails and good luck plotting a path to the final for your team!

Updated

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.