Phil Waugh should also throw Australian Maori into the mix as well.
Oh and is he serious about a combined Aus and NZ team to play the Lions at the Adelaide Oval? Interesting ideaâŚ
Victoria to be cut out of RWC2027 hosting duty?
Sydneyâs Olympic stadium will host the 2027 Rugby World Cup final after a rival bid to play the match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground was derailed by petty state politics.
While a formal announcement wonât be made until the end of January, highly-placed sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, told this masthead Sydneyâs 82,000 seat Accor Stadium will be awarded the final and both semi-finals.
As well as blowing its chances of landing the most lucrative playoff matches, Victoria has been completely shut-out of the entire tournament after the state government withdrew its bid in a futile protest at the decision to cut the Rebels from Super Rugby, something which World Rugby had no involvement in.
Victoria not hosting any RWC2027 matches could also mean the state will miss out on hosting training camps for visiting overseas teams.
Optus Stadium hosting RWC 2027 matches is huge for the state. Largest crowd last year was the Australia vs SA clash
Youâd think Brisbane would get one of the semi-finals.
Are we co-hosting it with the Kiwis? Otherwise yes.
Who is making the decisions about where games are being hosted? Is it RA or a independent 3rd party? It sounds like Victoria are being punished for the Rebels being shut down.
Preference has been to have the semi-finals and finals in the same city in recent times.
No.
Usually hosting committee combined with World Rugby. It sounds like Victoria Govt has gone nuclearâŚrather sillily.
Iâm sure the four Rebels fans will be pleased the Victorian Government has their back.
Allegedly discussions are âcontinuingâ
Be a good weekend of SVNS on Stan this weekend.
Herald Sun reported this morning that Melbourne may yet be able to host some matches, after the Victorian Government and World Rugby reopened talks, following intense lobbying by MCG officials, in the hope of salvaging a last-minute deal. Senior World Rugby officials have already arrived in Australia ahead of a formal announcement about the venues, which will take place on January 30, at Sydneyâs Darling Harbour.
I suspect information reported in the original article was leaked with the purpose of forcing this.
Mixed results for Australia at the SVNS tournament in Perth last night. The menâs team went down to Argentina 41-5, while the womenâs team achieved its first home series event win after it edged out New Zealand 28-26 in the decider.
Heh, Canberra and Melbourne (potentially) beat to the punch by Newcastle for RWC games. Thatâs embarrassing. 
The Age and SMH reported last night that Melbourne would get to host some RWC2027 games in a 11th-hour deal, ahead of todayâs launch of the tournament at Darling Harbour.
UPDATE
RWC 2027 match locations
- Adelaide â five pool matches
- Brisbane â six pool matches, two round of 16 matches, two quarterfinals
- Melbourne â seven pool matches, two round of 16 matches
- Newcastle â four pool matches
- Perth â five pool matches (including the opening match), two round of 16 matches
- Sydney â five pool matches, two round of 16 matches, two quarterfinals, two semifinals, the bronze final and the RWC final
- Townsville â four pool matches
Venues and match dates will be confirmed later this year with the official draw.
Ben Smith has since written an update on The West Australian online (paywall) which quoted World Rugby chair Brett Robinson as saying that Perth was outbid by other cities when it came to hosting quarter-finals onwards, and had nothing to do with stadium capacity or travel.
Lack of Canberra in that is a big shame. I suppose when cities are âbiddingâ the ACT was never going to have the cash to splash on an event.