12/03/25 04:14:00
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12/03 04:09 CST Australia and New Zealand drawn into same group at 2027 Rugby
World Cup
Australia and New Zealand drawn into same group at 2027 Rugby World Cup
SYDNEY (AP) --- Host Australia and three-time champion New Zealand were drawn
into the same group Wednesday for the expanded Rugby World Cup in 2027, with
the group winner likely to meet defending champion South Africa in the
quarterfinals.
Australia was placed into Pool A from the second band of teams that were ranked
from seventh to 12th.
No. 2-ranked New Zealand was the last team pulled out in the draw by World
Rugby chairman Brett Robinson. They'll be joined by Chile and Hong Kong in the
group stage.
South Africa was drawn into Pool B with Italy, Georgia and Romania.
The result means the 2023 finalists could meet in the quarterfinals, if both
the Springboks and the All Blacks top their groups.
England, winner of the last Rugby World Cup staged in Australia in 2003, was
drawn into Pool F with Wales, Tonga and Zimbabwe.
The field was expanded to 24 teams for the 2027 tournament, which kicks off in
Perth on Oct. 1 and culminates in a Nov. 13 final in Sydney.
The teams were divided into four bands of six based on World Rugby rankings at
the time of the draw. Each of the six pools contain one team from each of the
four bands.
The Australians, World Cup winners in 1991 and '99 and runners-up the last time
the tournament was played Down Under in 2003, missed a seeding in the top six
after their first winless November tour to Europe since 1958.
Australia, which missed the quarterfinals for the first time ever in a
disastrous 2023 campaign in France under Eddie Jones, was ranked seventh and
placed with Fiji, Scotland, Italy, Georgia and Wales.
No. 6 Argentina was drawn into Pool C with Fiji, Spain and Canada, while
three-time finalist France will face Japan, the United States and Samoa in Pool
E. Ireland is in Pool D with Scotland, Uruguay and Portugal.
The addition of four teams means the tournament will have a Round of 16 for the
first time, a stage that World Rugby chairman Robinson predicted "brings
greater jeopardy, earlier knockout drama, and even more entertainment from the
opening matches."
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AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby
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