An 11th-hour deal to play nine games in Melbourne has saved Victorian blushes, but Sydney has secured the prized jewels of another Rugby World Cup on Australian soil, with the Harbour City to reprise its role as host of the final of the 2027 tournament.
Officials from World Rugby and Rugby Australia will gather in Sydney on Thursday to announce the host cities for the 2027 Rugby World Cup, and though most states will be on the list, NSW – and Sydney – will be the big winners.
Twenty-four years after it hosted the thrilling 2003 Rugby World Cup final, Accor Stadium at Homebush will be confirmed as the venue for the 2027 Rugby World Cup final, and the 82,000-seat Olympic stadium will also host the two semi-finals and the bronze medal match.
Other World Cup fixtures in NSW are set to be played at Allianz Stadium and McDonald Jones Stadium in Newcastle, although tournament organisers won’t lock in venues and a final schedule until the World Cup draw is held at the end of the year.
The host cities announcement comes almost three years after Australia won the rights to host the 2027 World Cup under a new joint-venture model where World Rugby and RA will organise the tournament as partners, and four years after RA first sought expressions of interests from state governments to bid for packages of pool games and finals.
The 2003 Rugby World Cup final at Homebush.Credit: Fiona-Lee Quimby
The Victorian government initially made a major push for the Melbourne Cricket Ground to host the final and semi-finals, selling the vision of a record crowd in a Rugby World Cup final at the 100,000-seat venue.
Victoria’s initial bid was lower than the NSW offer, according to informed sources who spoke on condition of anonymity, and when the call for best and final offers was made last year, the Victorian government instead withdrew.
The shutdown of the Melbourne Rebels in 2024 was floated as a contributing factor in walking away, but if that was intended to punish RA, it was misguided, given World Rugby were chief negotiators and had already agreed to pay RA a flat $100 million fee as part of the new joint venture structure.
Sources familiar with the negotiation, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the Victorian government’s withdrawal was more related to the state’s financial struggles, and deep cuts in major event spending.
RA says the 2027 World Cup will inject $2.5 billion into the Australian economy.Credit: Getty Images
But the prospect of Melbourne having no games during the 2027 Rugby World Cup was not well received in some quarters, and officials at the Melbourne Cricket Club (who run the MCG) were among the groups who lobbied the state government to return to the negotiating table.
Following 11th-hour talks with World Rugby, a deal was struck earlier this week and Melbourne will host nine fixtures, according to informed sources. Whether that deal will see the MCG stage two quarter-finals is yet to be revealed, but there is a strong chance. Filling the 100,000-seat MCG would help offset the limited ticket revenue from 50,000-seat Suncorp Stadium, which will also host quarter-finals.
After cutting RA a $100 million cheque, World Rugby will keep all revenues from the tournament and use it to fund the game for the next four years.
Rob Valetini takes a lineout in front of a packed MCG.Credit: Getty Images
Perth’s Optus Stadium was considered as a quarter-final venue, but there were concerns about the fairness of two of the last four teams having to fly across Australia to play in semi-finals Sydney.
Perth will likely be one of the cities to host games in the round of 16 – a new feature in the 2027 World Cup, which will be the first to feature 24 teams, up from 20. Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide could also host games in the round of 16.
Optus Stadium was in the mix for the final, but the 60,000-seat venue will instead host the opening game, featuring the Wallabies. The WA venue is not only in a friendlier time zone for Europe, it will also help avoid a probable clash with the NRL grand final on the first weekend of October.
The rest of the tournament will be played in clear air, however, after RA successfully lobbied for the World Cup to be moved from its usual September-October window to start on October 1 and finish on November 13.
World Rugby agreed in 2023 to the change, which will also ensure the clean stadiums – without existing signage – required by World Rugby to run the tournament. The NRL and AFL have long-term agreements with Accor Stadium and the MCG, meaning World Rugby would have needed to make a shift or stage big games at smaller venues.
RA is forecasting the 2027 World Cup will inject $2.5 billion into the Australian economy.
