Rugby World Cup 2027 Groups
Group A
Australia (hosts) | New Zealand | Chile | Hong Kong China
Group B
South Africa | Italy | Georgia | Romania
Group C
Argentina | Fiji | Spain | Canada
Group D
Ireland | Scotland | Uruguay | Portugal
Group E
France | Japan | USA | Samoa
Group F
England | Wales | Tonga | Zimbabwe
I think Group C is the most wide open group. Any team from the group can qualify for round of 16.
Group F is the most tricky group. A slip-up against Tonga could see either England or Wales miss the next round.
Canada have been quite bad for a few years now, so Iâd be surprised.
Agree on Group F - Wales at an all-time low, Tonga will smell blood if this remains.
Unfortunately the change to 24 teams has thrown up an awful format, with little jeopardy in the pool stages given just eight teams will be discarded before the knockouts (compared to 12 of 20 in the previous format of 20 teams).
They could always do one of those bad cricket formats and have a âfirst roundâ thatâs just 2 groups of 4 out of the bottom 8 to then fill a spot in 4 groups of 5.
After losing to New Zealand in the Dubai SVNS final, the Australian womenâs team gained revenge by beating the Kiwis 26-12 in the Cape Town decider on Sunday.
I saw some commentary in the context of R360 about just how loss making the Sevens tournament is as a travelling carnival model - presumably propped up only by the investment that Olympic Rugby 7s generates for the sport.
I wonder if they will pull back from the rotating rounds and just have a standard host city format - Dubai one week and Cape Town the next seems like itâs not in anyoneâs interest.
I think the annual Hong Kong Sevens is the only one which makes money.