{"id":325071,"date":"2025-12-03T14:04:16","date_gmt":"2025-12-03T14:04:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/325071\/"},"modified":"2025-12-03T14:04:16","modified_gmt":"2025-12-03T14:04:16","slug":"wallabies-must-improve-as-world-cup-draw-delivers-daunting-all-blacks-clash-australia-rugby-union-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/325071\/","title":{"rendered":"Wallabies must improve as World Cup draw delivers daunting All Blacks clash | Australia rugby union team"},"content":{"rendered":"

If the Wallabies are to fight their way to a World Cup triumph in front of their home crowds in 2027 they must first face off with arch-rivals New Zealand in the pool stages. The showdown between the traditional TransTasman rivals was set in stone at the tournament\u2019s draw in Sydney <\/a>on Wednesday night and will likely launch the six-week campaign of the 11th Rugby World Cup at Optus Stadium in Perth on 1 October 2027.<\/p>\n

The Wallabies will enter their home Cup outside the top seedings, ranked No 7 in the world and coming off a winless European tour <\/a>for the first time since 1958. \u201cWe didn\u2019t have a good November, it\u2019s impossible to hide from that,\u201d coach Joe Schmidt admitted last night of Australian rugby\u2019s first 10-loss season. \u201cIt was an emotional rollercoaster of a year. But there were glimpses\u2026 and we can build on those glimpses.\u201d<\/p>\n

Australia\u2019s other Pool A rivals are Hong Kong China, playing in their first ever World Cup, and Chile, the world No 17. But the men in gold must still finish at least second in their pool, then win in the Round of 16 knockout stages, possibly against a Japan side coached by Eddie Jones, architect of their disastrous 2023 Cup campaign.<\/p>\n

The Kiwi-born Schmidt welcomed Australia and New Zealand being cast in the same pool for the first time in World Cup history and duelling at the tournament for the first time since 2015. \u201cIt\u2019s exciting,\u201d the 60-year-old said with a grin. \u201cNew Zealand will be looking at Australia thinking, \u2018We know what we\u2019re up against and it\u2019ll be personal\u2019. It\u2019s a Trans-Tasman battle at a World Cup and I think both teams are going to love it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The winner of the match will likely top Pool A, and set up a quarter-final with South Africa, should the reigning World Cup champions top Pool B as expected, pitted as they are against underdogs Romania, Georgia, and world No 10 Italy. Aside from Australia v New Zealand, the draw throws together other ancient rivals early too, with Scotland and Ireland meeting in Pool D and England clashing with Wales in Pool F.<\/p>\n

Mapping the paths and permutations to the finals is something retired Wallabies skipper James Slipper won\u2019t miss. \u201cThe mental battle of a home World Cup is a beast in itself,\u201d the veteran said after drawing the pools alongside All Blacks great Dan Carter. \u201cWith friends and family in the stands comes expectation. The Wallabies will feel that pressure but if they can deal with it, a home crowd can be really powerful.\u201d<\/p>\n

And as Japan proved with their shock defeat of South Africa in the first pool game of the 2015 World Cup, rankings count for nothing in a World Cup furnace. With 250,000 international visitors expected to attend RWC 2027 and A$1.3bn projected to be splashed by travelling rugby fans across the seven host cities, Australian rugby and its fans will come out a winner, regardless of how the Wallabies perform.<\/p>\n

Although Schmidt will hand over Australia\u2019s World Cup campaign to incumbent coach Les Kiss <\/a>from mid-2026, he denied there were plans to stay on in any official role. \u201cI\u2019ll be in the stadium watching,\u201d he smiled. \u201cRugby World Cups are special. Atmosphere builds into a crescendo on match days. I\u2019m excited it\u2019s only two years away now\u2026 but in other ways I can\u2019t wait to not be involved because it\u2019s pretty nerve-racking!\u201d<\/p>\n

Wallabies fans know how Schmidt feels. After winning World Cups in 1991 and 1999, the code has slipped way behind Australian Rules and rugby league in the affections of fans, sponsors and broadcasters. But winning regularly in 2026 and playing the hard-running, crash-tackling blitzkrieg style Kiss favours could turn fortunes fast. \u201cThe challenge is to win seven games straight,\u201d says Slipper. \u201cThat takes discipline.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schmidt pointed out Australia may have four Tests against New Zealand in 2026 and 2027 before they meet at the Cup, plenty of time to size up and maybe sucker punch their old foes. And there\u2019s a warm-up starting next year too. \u201cIn 2026 the Nations Championship will see these 24 teams go head-to-head in preparation for the World Cup,\u201d said the body\u2019s chairman Brett Robinson. \u201cThat\u2019s fabulous for our sport.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pool A: New Zealand, Australia, Chile, Hong Kong China<\/p>\n

Pool B: South Africa, Italy, Georgia, Romania<\/p>\n

Pool C: Argentina, Fiji, Spain, Canada<\/p>\n

Pool D: Ireland, Scotland, Uruguay, Portugal<\/p>\n

Pool E: France, Japan, USA, Samoa<\/p>\n

Pool F: England, Wales, Tonga, Zimbabwe<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If the Wallabies are to fight their way to a World Cup triumph in front of their home…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":325072,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-325071","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-rugby","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325071","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=325071"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325071\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/325072"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=325071"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=325071"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=325071"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}