One year to go: All Blacks' Rugby World Cup 2027 countdown begins
The tournament kicks off in Australia a day earlier, on 1 October 2027. Organisers marked the one-year milestone this week by confirming more than half of all available tickets are already gone. So far, 1.3 million tickets have been secured by fans from 164 countries. Around 250,000 international supporters are expected to travel across for the six-week event, and plenty of them will be wearing black.
The road through Pool A
The All Blacks have been drawn in Pool A alongside Chile, Australia and Hong Kong China.
The opener in Perth will be the first ever Test between New Zealand and Chile. A week later comes a trans-Tasman blockbuster against the hosts at Stadium Australia in Sydney. Pool play then wraps up in Melbourne against Hong Kong China, who are playing at their first Rugby World Cup.
WATCH: The All Blacks and Black Ferns catch up with the Baltimore Raven
All Blacks pool fixtures
- All Blacks v Chile, 2 October 2027 at Perth Stadium, Perth (13:15 local, 18:15 NZT)
- All Blacks v Australia, 9 October 2027 at Stadium Australia, Sydney (17:10 local, 19:10 NZT)
- All Blacks v Hong Kong China, 15 October 2027 at Docklands Stadium, Melbourne (17:15 local, 19:15 NZT)
Check out the full fixture list HERE.
Bigger than ever
The 2027 edition is the first with 24 teams and 52 matches, adding a round of 16 to the knockout stage. Pool play finishes with a Super Sunday of five matches on 17 October 2027.
The round of 16 will be played in Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney, with quarter-finals in Brisbane and Sydney on 30 and 31 October 2027. Sydney then hosts the semi-finals, bronze final and the Final on 13 November 2027.
World Rugby Chair Brett Robinson said the event promised to be "the biggest and most accessible celebration of rugby ever staged".
The tournament also marks 40 years since the first Rugby World Cup, co-hosted by New Zealand and Australia in 1987 and won by the All Blacks. They have since lifted the Webb Ellis Cup in 2011 and 2015, and finished runners-up in 2023, going down 12-11 to South Africa in the Final in Paris.
