Australia will host Rugby World Cup 2027. The tournament opener will take-place in Perth, Western Australia on Friday, October 01, 2027. It will be a pool match between hosts Australia and one of the Wallabies’ three Pool A rivals: New Zealand, Chile or Hong Kong. They are three very different options with each requiring careful consideration.
 OPTION A – NEW ZEALAND |
- New Zealand is ranked 2nd in the World Rankings (December 2025); Australia is 7th.
- Australia and New Zealand have both competed at every Men’s Rugby World Cup.
- Both the Wallabies and All Blacks are previous World Cup Champions.
- New Zealand is a regular opponent of Australia with multiple test matches every year for the Bledisloe Cup.
- Perth is 5 hours behind Auckland.
- The 2025 Bledisloe Cup match in Perth was a 5:45pm kick-off local time and 10:45pm in New Zealand. It was at a more favorable time of 7:45pm in Sydney and 10:45am GMT.
- New Zealand has a population of 5 million.
 OPTION B – CHILE |
 OPTION C – HONG HONG |
- Hong Kong is ranked 23rd in the World Rankings (December 2025)
- Hong Kong have never competed at a Men’s Rugby World Cup before.
- Hong Kong did not defeat any Australia 2027 competitor en route to qualifying for RWC 2027.
- The World Cup match will officially begin international competition between Australia and Hong Kong.
- There is no time difference between Hong Kong and Perth.
- Hong Kong has a population of 7.5 million.
 ANALYSIS |
The initial reactions of many may be that it is obvious: open the tournament with Australia vs New Zealand. On the one hand, a tournament opener between the Wallabies and the All Blacks is Tier 1 vs Tier blockbuster between two multiple time former World Cup Champions. On the other hand, it is arguably not the best way to arrange fixtures.
Opening the World Cup with Australia vs New Zealand would come with a serious risk of the Wallabies losing the tournament opener; this is not an ideal way to start a World Cup tournament. Do home fans gravitate more to their team and attend when they are winning? Do home fans attend matches in higher numbers as neutrals having seen a win on opening night? Research suggests the answer is yes in both instances.
In contrast to doubts surrounding victory on opening night against New Zealand, the Wallabies would enter as firm-favorites against either Chile or Hong Kong. Not only would this be this a win for Rugby Australia and for promoting the tournament to Australians but it would also provide the opposition with vastly more exposure. Growth in Chile has seen the level of the team boosted tremendously and Los Cóndores have faced Argentina, England, Italy and Scotland over the past three years.
World Rugby could also use the occasion to spread the gospel of the global game. Picture it: teams from opposite sides of the Pacific Ocean playing in the Indian Ocean city of Perth with a neutral referee speaking English to the Wallabies and Spanish to Los Cóndores. Argentina’s Damián Schneider or Uruguay’s Francisco González are both proven as bilingual referees and either could be the referee.
Another factor to consider is a sell-out attendance. Australian experience with big events implies that Perth’s stadium will be full regardless of who the Wallabies face on opening night. This suggests that starting against New Zealand is not a necessity but a possibility. The question is if Australia vs Chile can fill the stadium then ought it be positioned first up? This consideration comes with Hong Kong being debutants and lacking comparative exposure to Tier 1 compared to Chile.
If organizers are looking for damage-control, i.e. a fear of “cricket scores” then positioning Hong Kong vs New Zealand in the afternoon local time slot would be a front and center consideration. It could thus be a day two match played in the middle of the night during the hours of the prime market in Western Europe. This would also benefit viewers in New Zealand by having a highly-friendly afternoon kick-off time. Not to mention, that World Rugby is likely to push for maximizing night slots (Australian time) wherein possible for Six Nations teams.
In addition, positioning Hong Kong vs New Zealand early on Saturday could facilitate a more favorable distribution of Tier 1 vs Tier 1 matches for organizers. For instance, England vs Wales could be a Perth fixture on day three, the opening Sunday of the World Cup. An alternative for England first up is facing Zimbabwe in Perth on day three. Recent Welsh performances suggest it may not be the same box-office for neutrals as in past RWC cycles. Put differently, Australia vs New Zealand has the potential to fill Australia’s largest stadium but England vs Wales in 2027 would be a lot more difficult.
Australia vs New Zealand together in the same pool is a promoters dream; nonetheless, such a fixture is feasibly best suited to the largest possible venue. World Rugby and the tournament organizers have the opportunity of setting a new RWC World Record by playing the match at Melbourne’s MCG stadium. The existing World Record is 89,267 for Ireland vs Romania at Wembley Stadium in London during RWC 2015.
The Wallabies facing the All Blacks at the MCG rather than in Perth would also continue the great Australian rivalry between Sydney and Melbourne. Sydney holds the World Attendance Record for an international rugby match. Played in 2000, 109,874 attended Australia vs New Zealand. The Sydney Olympic stadium now has a reduced capacity of 83,5000 meaning that the MCG is Australia’s largest stadium with a capacity of 100,024.
A crowd of 90,119 attended a test match at the MCG in 1997 and 90,307 were in attendance in 2025 for Australia vs British & Irish Lions. The past and present therefore suggest that there is a market for the Wallabies to break the World Record at the MCG. How should organizers go about this? A sample schedule is for the Wallabies to go from west to east by facing Chile in Perth, Hong Kong in Adelaide and New Zealand in Melbourne. If so, Brisbane and Sydney could reserved for the Wallabies’ round-of-16 match and Quarter Final match respectively.
 VERDICT |
Tournament organizers have the choice of playing it safe with Australia vs New Zealand or gambling on Australia vs Chile. The winner of Pool A will certainly be decided by the outcome of Australia vs New Zealand and positioning this fixture later will enable gains for tournament organizers as well as home supporters.
