Twenty-four years after Jonny Wilkinson broke Australia’s hearts, Sydney’s Accor Stadium will host the next Rugby World Cup final in 2027.
World Rugby has confirmed Sydney as the host city for the game’s showpiece event on Thursday in the Harbour City, along with the official confirmation of venues and the number of matches each city will receive.
Accor Stadium, which seats 82,000, will stage the final, bronze medal match and two semi-finals given it is the second largest sports venue in the country and one of rugby’s two main breeding grounds.
Sydney is set to host a mammoth 13 matches, with Brisbane hosting 10, and Perth seven. Other cities confirmed for the World Cup include Adelaide, which will host five Test matches, and Townsville and Newcastle, which will both host four matches each.
However, the biggest surprise from the announcement was the confirmation that Melbourne will host nine matches – a massive backflip from the news just four weeks ago that Victoria would be shut out of the tournament.
Fans watch the 2003 Rugby World Cup final between the Wallabies and England at The Sydney Opera House November 22, 2003. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
A who’s who was in attendance, including World Rugby chairman Brett Robinson as well as Rugby Australia chief executive Phil Waugh. It comes almost three years after its former executive team, including Andy Marinos and Hamish McLennan, secured the rights to stage the men’s (2027) and women’s (2029) World Cups.
Despite fears that Melbourne would be snubbed as a host city, the Victorian Government returned to the negotiating table – with the 11th hour haymaker to get games in Victoria paying off.
The famous Melbourne Cricket Ground, which was in line to host the opening match given its ability to bring in 100,000 fans and had initially pushed to host the final, is likely to host two quarter-final matches instead. Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium is expected to host the other two.
Rugby Australia’s former executive team, including CEO Andy Marinos, chairman Hamish McLennan, Anthony French and Phil Kearns, celebrate after securing the 2027 and 2029 World Cups on May 12, 2022 in Dublin. (Photo by Oisin Keniry – World Rugby via Getty Images)
Perth’s Optus Stadium is expected to host the opening match, with the Wallabies set to get the 11th World Cup underway.
News of 11th-hour meetings with the Victorian Government came not a second too late for every party, including World Rugby, who is desperate to bring in as much revenue as possible to help fund the game.
The state government shocked many parties, including World Rugby, when it originally withdrew its bid to host matches. It came after World Rugby asked for final offers from state governments.
While the Victorian Government used the Melbourne Rebels’ messy closure, including the women’s program, as means for withdrawing their bid, it’s understood the state government’s financial cuts was another factor at play. It came after the Victorian Government backed out of hosting the 2026 Commonwealth Games.
Jonny Wilkinson kicks the World Cup-winning drop-goal against the Wallabies at the 2003 World Cup. (David Davies / PA via AP, FILE)
Although World Rugby will keep all revenue raised from the World Cup, the $100m flat fee was negotiated to ensure RA came out of the event in a strong position and could have some financial certainty going forward.
Perth was considered to stage a quarter-final given its 60,000 venue and friendlier time zone for the game’s European and African audiences, but the city is expected to be a host venue for the new round of 16 matches.
Indeed, the 2027 World Cup will see for the first time an extra fourth round of knockout matches, with 16 of 24 nations to progress to the stage.
The addition of the extra round of knockout matches will likely ensure the Wallabies progress past the pool stages, having spectacularly bombed out in France after losing narrowly to Fiji before being hammered by Wales in Lyon on Australian rugby’s darkest day.
The World Cup will start on October 1 and finish on November 13 – two weeks later than the 2023 edition in France – after RA successfully lobbied for the tournament to be pushed back by a fortnight to help give it clean air from the AFL and NRL finals.
The World Cup is expected to inject $2.5 billion into the Australian economy.
Sydney will host the 2027 World Cup final. (Photo by Jason McCawley/Getty Images)
For RA, it also presents the governing body a second chance to breathe life into rugby union after failing to build on the 2003’s successful tournament, where England pipped the Wallabies in extra time.
Just who leads the Wallabies at the tournament remains to be seen, with Joe Schmidt unlikely to continue as head coach beyond 2025. The Roar understands the New Zealander could remain on as a consultant.
The World Cup draw will he held later this year.
