Everything you need to know about Wednesday’s Rugby World Cup draw

On Wednesday, December 3 at 9:00 GMT, in Sydney, the pool stage of the 2027 Rugby World Cup will be drawn.

The Australian edition of the tournament will have 20 teams and 24 teams, with the next one having October 1 through November 13.

The 12 teams competing in the 2023 Rugby World Cup who placed in the top three of their pools have now formally qualified. That means all of France, New Zealand, Italy, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Fiji, Australia, England, Argentina, and Japan are included.

Through qualifying tournaments, Georgia, Spain, Romania, Portugal, Tonga, Canada, the United States, Uruguay, Chile, Zimbabwe, Hong Kong, and Samoa all qualified for admission.

Based on their world rankings at the time of the December draw, teams are ranked one to 24. Then, of six bands, they are placed.

One team from each of the four bands will participate in each pool.

As teams aimed to advance their rankings and boost their seeding in the autumn internationals, the World Cup format provided additional incentive for teams.

Band 1: Argentina, New Zealand, England, Ireland, France, and South Africa.

Band 2: Australia, Fiji, Scotland, Italy, Wales, Japan, and Italy.

Band 3: Tonga, Uruguay, Spain, United States, Chile, Uruguay, and Georgia

Along with the four best third-place nations, the top two teams from each pool will advance to the round of 16. This is where things get a little more complicated…

Some people have complained that the format is uneven, but organizers claim the issue will be resolved “in the next round” and will even itself out.

It is not uncommon for Rugby World Cup to host the draw years before the tournament. The pools for the 2023 World Cup were decided in December 2020, for example.

The top five teams in the world, Ireland, France, New Zealand, South Africa, and Scotland, were ranked at the top of the world at the time of the draw three years prior, which led to controversy.

This time around, the 2027 draw is held more closely to the actual tournament. To do:

Seven cities across Australia will host the tournament.

On February 3, 2026, the full match schedule will be revealed, with pre-sale tickets available starting on February 18.

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