Hosts Australia face a blockbuster group clash with New Zealand at the 2027 Rugby World Cup as holders South Africa were pitted with Italy in the draw in Sydney on Wednesday.
The four-time champion Springboks will also play Georgia and Romania in Pool B at the six-week showpiece from October 1-November 13 featuring a bumper 24 teams and 52 games.
Rassie Erasmus’s all-conquering side are favourites to win a third straight title after an exceptional 2025.
They completed an Autumn Nations Series clean sweep after retaining their Rugby Championship crown, taking an eight-match unbeaten streak into the new year.
South Africa and New Zealand are on a collision course for a mouth-watering quarter-final match-up should they both win their groups as expected.
But Erasmus warned against complacency.
“There have been surprises in the tournament before, so we’ll need to be up mentally and physically for every match,” he said, perhaps referring to the Springboks’ shock 34-32 pool stage defeat to Japan in 2015.
“Italy may be ranked 10th in the world, but they showed us what they are capable of when they hit their straps earlier this season,” he added about the Azzurri’s battling display in a 32-14 defeat to the world champions last month.
Scott Robertson’s All Blacks are looking to halt the Springboks’ march and lift their fourth title and first since 2015 after being edged 12-11 in the 2023 final in France.
They face the struggling Wallabies in Pool A along with Chile and debutants Hong Kong, a daunting prospect for their opponents with New Zealand only losing one pool game in 10 previous World Cups.
Australia are ranked outside the world’s top six and missed a top seeding, so were always destined to meet one of the big guns.
Despite being two-time champions, they are a shadow of their former selves, suffering a first winless European tour since 1958 this year and a record 10 losses in a season.
Wallabies skipper Harry Wilson said he was undaunted by the prospect of an All Blacks meeting in what is likely to be the first game of the tournament.
“As an Australian you always love to (play) New Zealand and in the opening match of a World Cup, it doesn’t get much better than that,” he said.
“Very exciting, Hong Kong and Chile as well, two up-and-coming rugby nations.”
While the Wallabies as hosts are guaranteed to feature in the opening game in Perth, the match schedule will only be announced on February 3.
Joe Schmidt, the Australia coach who is set to hand over the reins to Les Kiss in mid-2026, hopes they start against New Zealand.
“It would immediatly excite players, all the fans... I think it would be a great way to kick it off,” he said. “It’s a trans-Tasman battle, which I think both teams are going to love having.”
Other host cities are Melbourne, Adelaide, Townsville, Newcastle and 2032 Olympics host Brisbane.
Third-ranked England, the 2003 champions, are in Pool F and will go up against local rivals Wales, Tonga and Zimbabwe, who last played at a World Cup in 1991.
Ireland, who crashed to both South Africa and New Zealand last month, are in Pool D with Scotland, Uruguay and Portugal.
France, three-time runners-up, headline Pool E with Japan, USA and Samoa while Argentina are in Pool C and face Fiji, Spain and Canada.
Only four teams have won the World Cup -- South Africa (4), New Zealand (3), Australia (2) and England (1) -- and there is a new look for the 2027 version with 24 sides in contention, up from 20.
For the first time, a round of 16 will be played, with the top two in each pool plus the four best third-placed teams reaching the knockout phase.
“I couldn’t be more excited,” said World Rugby chief Brett Robinson.
“World Rugby are all about creating iconic events that unite rugby.”
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