RWC 2027 in Australia
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@booboo said in RWC 2027 in Australia:
@Machpants said in RWC 2027 in Australia:
So the format changes to six pools of 4, and a round of 16 before the quarters. That reduces the length of tournament by a week (good thing). WR to take more financial risk with bookings and stuff, so the draw will be closer to kick off, although not confirmed when.
Rugby World Cup 2027 expansion and kick-off dates confirmed
World Rugby have announced that the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia will be expanded to 24 teams and have confirmed the kick-off dates for the tournament.
Rugby World Cup 2027 expanded to 24 teams | World Rugby
The men’s Rugby World Cup 2027 in Australia will feature 24 teams after the World Rugby Council approved historic reimagination of the competition format, window and timing.
How do they rank the top 16 from 6 pools?
Top 2 from each pool, plus 4 best 3rd place finishers.
It'll be messy, and a but arbitrary - there will probably be 6 teams on 1 win and 2 defeats, so it'll likely be the ones who piled on a stack of tries against the bottom team in the pool that will go through.
The bigger problem with the format, IMO, is that at the quarterfinal stage you'll have 6 pool winners. So that means 2 will get a relatively easy draw against a pool runner up, and the other 4 pool winners will play each other. A lot will come down to the luck of the draw.
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I like the reduction to 4 teams in the pool - 3 matches is enough, and it wont take a month.
But the unevenness of the knockout stages will be annoying.
I know this for sure because I grew up watching football as well as rugby, and this is the exact same format that was used for the 86/90/94 World Cups.
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@KiwiMurph said in RWC 2027 in Australia:
I can't believe we've got to wait 2 more years to find out who else Wales, Fiji and Australia have in our pool.
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@GibbonRib said in RWC 2027 in Australia:
@booboo said in RWC 2027 in Australia:
@Machpants said in RWC 2027 in Australia:
So the format changes to six pools of 4, and a round of 16 before the quarters. That reduces the length of tournament by a week (good thing). WR to take more financial risk with bookings and stuff, so the draw will be closer to kick off, although not confirmed when.
World Rugby have announced that the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia will be expanded to 24 teams and have confirmed the kick-off dates for the tournament.
Rugby World Cup 2027 expanded to 24 teams | World Rugby
The men’s Rugby World Cup 2027 in Australia will feature 24 teams after the World Rugby Council approved historic reimagination of the competition format, window and timing.
How do they rank the top 16 from 6 pools?
Top 2 from each pool, plus 4 best 3rd place finishers.
It'll be messy, and a but arbitrary - there will probably be 6 teams on 1 win and 2 defeats, so it'll likely be the ones who piled on a stack of tries against the bottom team in the pool that will go through.
The bigger problem with the format, IMO, is that at the quarterfinal stage you'll have 6 pool winners. So that means 2 will get a relatively easy draw against a pool runner up, and the other 4 pool winners will play each other. A lot will come down to the luck of the draw.
Like every RWC to date
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On Current rankings, the pools could look something like:
Pool A:
South Africa
Japan
Portugal
Hong KongPool B:
New Zealand
Italy
Georgia
CanadaPool
Ireland
Fiji
Samoa
ChilePool
France
Australia
Tonga
NamibiaPool E:
England
Wales
Uruguay
NamibiaPool F:
Scotland
Argentina
USA
Spain -
@Machpants said in RWC 2027 in Australia:
@KiwiMurph said in RWC 2027 in Australia:
2025 autumn internationals get a bit more status
Right after Lions Tour
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I just had a go at this, cos it's RWC Final week, and fuck work, right?
Here is my bracket - it assumes current rankings, on the basis that we beat SA this week (shoot me), and assumes everyone performs in the RWC true to that ranking.
I didn't do the 3rd and 4th in each pool by the law, just kept allocating lower ranked teams to higher ranked teams, if that makes sense - so it might not be 100% right
I can't see any outcome too egregious - sure Wales and Australia might disagree with meeting each other in the R of 16, but it is what it is
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@MiketheSnow said in RWC 2027 in Australia:
@Machpants said in RWC 2027 in Australia:
@KiwiMurph said in RWC 2027 in Australia:
2025 autumn internationals get a bit more status
Right after Lions Tour
Stil Nov internationals after that, and Lions don't effect rankings.
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@Machpants said in RWC 2027 in Australia:
So the format changes to six pools of 4, and a round of 16 before the quarters. That reduces the length of tournament by a week (good thing).
This reduces it by a week compared to the current format (2023) with the bye week.
But, It would be the same length as the 2019, 15, 11, 07 etc format.
It is 6 weeks. 44 days.
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@MiketheSnow said in RWC 2027 in Australia:
@GibbonRib said in RWC 2027 in Australia:
@booboo said in RWC 2027 in Australia:
@Machpants said in RWC 2027 in Australia:
So the format changes to six pools of 4, and a round of 16 before the quarters. That reduces the length of tournament by a week (good thing). WR to take more financial risk with bookings and stuff, so the draw will be closer to kick off, although not confirmed when.
World Rugby have announced that the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia will be expanded to 24 teams and have confirmed the kick-off dates for the tournament.
Rugby World Cup 2027 expanded to 24 teams | World Rugby
The men’s Rugby World Cup 2027 in Australia will feature 24 teams after the World Rugby Council approved historic reimagination of the competition format, window and timing.
How do they rank the top 16 from 6 pools?
Top 2 from each pool, plus 4 best 3rd place finishers.
It'll be messy, and a but arbitrary - there will probably be 6 teams on 1 win and 2 defeats, so it'll likely be the ones who piled on a stack of tries against the bottom team in the pool that will go through.
The bigger problem with the format, IMO, is that at the quarterfinal stage you'll have 6 pool winners. So that means 2 will get a relatively easy draw against a pool runner up, and the other 4 pool winners will play each other. A lot will come down to the luck of the draw.
Like every RWC to date
Nah, there's always some imbalance and luck of the draw, but this weird format will supercharge it.
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@voodoo said in RWC 2027 in Australia:
I just had a go at this, cos it's RWC Final week, and fuck work, right?
Here is my bracket - it assumes current rankings, on the basis that we beat SA this week (shoot me), and assumes everyone performs in the RWC true to that ranking.
I didn't do the 3rd and 4th in each pool by the law, just kept allocating lower ranked teams to higher ranked teams, if that makes sense - so it might not be 100% right
I can't see any outcome too egregious - sure Wales and Australia might disagree with meeting each other in the R of 16, but it is what it is
They won't do the knock-out stages like that though - ranking 1 to 16.
It will be predefined, and something along the lines of:
Winner A v Runner up D
Winner B v 3rd place C/E/F -
@GibbonRib said in RWC 2027 in Australia:
@voodoo said in RWC 2027 in Australia:
I just had a go at this, cos it's RWC Final week, and fuck work, right?
Here is my bracket - it assumes current rankings, on the basis that we beat SA this week (shoot me), and assumes everyone performs in the RWC true to that ranking.
I didn't do the 3rd and 4th in each pool by the law, just kept allocating lower ranked teams to higher ranked teams, if that makes sense - so it might not be 100% right
I can't see any outcome too egregious - sure Wales and Australia might disagree with meeting each other in the R of 16, but it is what it is
They won't do the knock-out stages like that though - ranking 1 to 16.
It will be predefined, and something along the lines of:
Winner A v Runner up D
Winner B v 3rd place C/E/FWell of course, I've just assumed that those predefined fixtures will be primarily designed to ensure that #1 doesn't meet #2 until as late as possible, and so on.
Hence my bracket says 1 v 16, but it's actually just Winner Pool A v 3rd in Pool C, Winner B v 3rd in Pool D etc
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My issue with this format is
What's the fucking point of the pool stage? Look at those pools above, all we are doing is rigging it so all the big teams get out. It's a pointless set of games that will add precisely fuck all. Even if you are a decent side with two higher ranked sides in your pool, you'll be pretty comfy you are going through as an extra qualifier.
NZ v Hong Kong will be 150-0. whooooo
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@mariner4life said in RWC 2027 in Australia:
My issue with this format is
What's the fucking point of the pool stage? Look at those pools above, all we are doing is rigging it so all the big teams get out. It's a pointless set of games that will add precisely fuck all. Even if you are a decent side with two higher ranked sides in your pool, you'll be pretty comfy you are going through as an extra qualifier.
NZ v Hong Kong will be 150-0. whooooo
Look at it from Honker's perspective. An opportunity to play other tier two nations on a relatively even playing field at a RWC.
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@voodoo said in RWC 2027 in Australia:
@booboo assume top 2 each, next highest 4 based on Bonus Points, then Points Diff?
Doesn’t matter too much, by the time you’re into the 3rd place in each pool you’re into the dross … should give the Wallabies a decent chance though…
@GibbonRib said in RWC 2027 in Australia:
@booboo said in RWC 2027 in Australia:
@Machpants said in RWC 2027 in Australia:
So the format changes to six pools of 4, and a round of 16 before the quarters. That reduces the length of tournament by a week (good thing). WR to take more financial risk with bookings and stuff, so the draw will be closer to kick off, although not confirmed when.
World Rugby have announced that the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia will be expanded to 24 teams and have confirmed the kick-off dates for the tournament.
Rugby World Cup 2027 expanded to 24 teams | World Rugby
The men’s Rugby World Cup 2027 in Australia will feature 24 teams after the World Rugby Council approved historic reimagination of the competition format, window and timing.
How do they rank the top 16 from 6 pools?
Top 2 from each pool, plus 4 best 3rd place finishers.
It'll be messy, and a but arbitrary - there will probably be 6 teams on 1 win and 2 defeats, so it'll likely be the ones who piled on a stack of tries against the bottom team in the pool that will go through.
The bigger problem with the format, IMO, is that at the quarterfinal stage you'll have 6 pool winners. So that means 2 will get a relatively easy draw against a pool runner up, and the other 4 pool winners will play each other. A lot will come down to the luck of the draw.
Essentially what my question is aimed at.
The randomness of draw could get some serious imbalance.
It's possible that No.1 seed could have the No.12 seed as their opponent in Pool Play.
And then how do you try and avoid all the top seeds on one side of the knockouts? Could easily achieve such randomness again.
I've gone GOM on this set up.
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@GibbonRib said in RWC 2027 in Australia:
@KiwiMurph said in RWC 2027 in Australia:
I can't believe we've got to wait 2 more years to find out who else Wales, Fiji and Australia have in our pool.
Georgia and you know it
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@voodoo said in RWC 2027 in Australia:
@GibbonRib said in RWC 2027 in Australia:
@voodoo said in RWC 2027 in Australia:
I just had a go at this, cos it's RWC Final week, and fuck work, right?
Here is my bracket - it assumes current rankings, on the basis that we beat SA this week (shoot me), and assumes everyone performs in the RWC true to that ranking.
I didn't do the 3rd and 4th in each pool by the law, just kept allocating lower ranked teams to higher ranked teams, if that makes sense - so it might not be 100% right
I can't see any outcome too egregious - sure Wales and Australia might disagree with meeting each other in the R of 16, but it is what it is
They won't do the knock-out stages like that though - ranking 1 to 16.
It will be predefined, and something along the lines of:
Winner A v Runner up D
Winner B v 3rd place C/E/FWell of course, I've just assumed that those predefined fixtures will be primarily designed to ensure that #1 doesn't meet #2 until as late as possible, and so on.
Hence my bracket says 1 v 16, but it's actually just Winner Pool A v 3rd in Pool C, Winner B v 3rd in Pool D etc
Ah, gotcha.
I doubt they will go as far as planning for #1 and #2 being on opposite sides - I assume it'll be the usual random allocation of top 6 across the pools, then the next 6 etc. So most likely, being ranked #1 will be the same as #6I predict that the only variation to that is that they might throw the hosts a bone - put Aus in the top pot of seeds even if they're not top 6 ranked; and maybe give them a 3rd place team in the round of 16 instead of a 2nd place
