In the past weeks, weekends truly came alive! Thanks to the Rugby World Cup matches. It’s a bit sad that weekends might now feel a bit awkward because the World Cup has come to an end. Nevertheless, the Springboks’ victory still keeps the country buzzing as they continue their trophy parade.

With that said, if you’ve been wondering when this energy will be relived once again, brace yourself because the next Rugby World Cup is happening in 2027.

That’s in the next 4 years.

The 2027 Rugby World Cup will be hosted in Australia and will be expanded from 20 teams to 24 teams.

Dates? The Rugby World Cup will go down between 1 October and 13 November 2027.

Right before that, in 2026, a new international competition called the Nations Championship will begin, featuring the top 12 teams from the northern and southern hemispheres. Additionally, there will be a second division with 12 more teams.

The new Nations Championship top division will include the Six Nations unions (England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, France, and Italy) and the SANZAAR nations (South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, and Argentina), and it’s scheduled to take place during the July and November international windows.

The last two spots in the first division, initially Fiji and Japan, will be determined through a SANZAAR process, while World Rugby will manage the second division; the tournament aims to offer fixture consistency for unions not involved in current international competitions.

In the revised 24-team Rugby World Cup format, there will be six groups of four teams, and they’ll introduce a round of 16 before the quarterfinals to make the tournament shorter, lasting six weeks instead of seven, all while ensuring teams have enough rest between matches.

The rules for how teams will qualify for the 2027 Rugby World Cup will be figured out after looking at how things went in France 2023 and talking to different rugby groups.

Will you be there? 

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