Sevu Reece of the All Blacks tackled by Marika Koroibete of the Wallabies during the All Blacks v Australia match, at Accor Stadium in Sydney on 21 September, 2024.
Photo: Steven Markham
World Rugby has defended launching the 2027 World Cup with Australia playing Hong Kong, with the opener looming as a major mismatch between the host nation and the Asian debutants.
Australia kick off the tournament against world number 23 Hong Kong in Perth on 1 October, crushing fans’ hopes of a Wallabies showdown with the All Blacks, who are in the same pool.
The hosts traditionally launch the quadrennial showpiece, with France taking on the All Blacks in the 2023 edition.
Fans in Australia and New Zealand slammed the scheduling on social media, while Perth-based media said local Wallabies fans had been short-changed.
Tupou Vaa’i celebrates after scoring for the All Blacks against the Wallabies, in 2024.
Photo: PHOTOSPORT
World Rugby chairman Brett Robinson acknowledged the Australia-Hong Kong matchup was polarising but said the governing body’s role was to grow the game.
“Clearly people will have different opinions and the sides will have different opinions, but we’ve landed where we’ve landed,” Robinson told reporters.
“For me, the pools are this great opportunity where clearly we are going to have teams that are dominating, but we also have teams that are aspiring.
“That’s our role as World Rugby, to build and grow our great global game.”
Robinson spoke after World Rugby released the fixtures for the biggest-ever tournament.
The expanded 24-team World Cup features 52 matches across 19 match days in seven cities – with a shortened pool stage but a new knockout round of 16.
Both semi-finals and the 13 November final are at Sydney’s Stadium Australia.
Tickets start at $46 with a million tickets available at $116 or under.
South Africa begin their bid for a third successive title against Italy in Adelaide on 3 October before playing Georgia and Romania while England, who won the World Cup last time it was in Australia in 2003, start against Tonga in Brisbane on 2 October and also face Zimbabwe and Wales.
Three-times winners the All Blacks start against Chile and then have the stand-out fixture of the pool stage against Australia in Sydney on 9 October.
‘Massive match’ against All Blacks
Australia captain Harry Wilson had championed starting against the All Blacks at the draw in December, saying “it doesn’t get much better than that.”
At a press event for the fixtures launch in Sydney on Tuesday, he had to row back a bit.
“I went off a little bit too early there,” Wilson told reporters.
“It’s obviously great to verse (play) Hong Kong in the first match and then have a week to build to what is going to be another massive match against New Zealand.”
Ireland, who have never got past the quarter-finals, start against Portugal before playing Scotland on 10 October, while France start against the United States.
Two matches staged in the same city over the same weekend will take place across all seven host cities.
The pool phase will conclude in a historic Super Sunday on 17 October, featuring five matches in a day, a first in tournament history.
Brisbane Stadium and Stadium Australia in Sydney will host back-to-back quarter-finals on 30-31 October.
-Reuters