AusLeisure

With World Rugby set to announce the host cities for the 2027 Men’s Rugby World Cup tomorrow, reports indicate that Perth’s Optus Stadium will host the opening match of the tournament.

With the Perth venue also having been considered - along with Sydney’s Accor Stadium - as the potential venue for the final, its availability will help avoid a probable clash with the NRL grand final on the first weekend of October in 2027.

In addition, the Western Australian venue is also in a friendlier time zone for viewers in Europe.

However, the larger capacity of Accor Stadium - 82,000 compared to Optus Stadium’s 61,266 - meant the Sydney will host the showpiece final, as it did in 2003.

The tournament schedule is also to include games in Melbourne, after a period of uncertainty over the Victorian Government’s commitment.

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.

However, its initial bid is understood to have been lower than the NSW Government’s offer, and when the call for best and final offers was made last year, the Victorian Government instead withdrew.

The prospect of Melbourne having no games during the tournament, as well as not hosting any games during the AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2026 (and missing out on key games during the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia and New Zealand 2023) reportedly prompted extensive lobbying of the Victorian Government.

The Sydney Morning Herald has reported that officials at the Melbourne Cricket Club (operators of the MCG) were among the groups who lobbied the Victorian Government to return to the negotiating table.

Now, following talks with World Rugby, a deal has been struck that will see Melbourne will host a number of fixtures.

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 Rugby Australia will organise the tournament as partners, and four years after Rugby Australia first sought expressions of interests from state governments to bid for packages of pool games and finals.

The hosting is expected to deliver a financial lifeline to Rugby Australia, with the body expected to receive $100 million from World Rugby.

World Rugby itself will keep all revenues from the tournament and use it to fund the game globally for the next four years.

An official announcement confirming all venues for the tournament is expected to be made tomorrow.

Image: The Webb Ellis Cup - the trophy awarded to the winner of the men's Rugby World Cup. Credit: World Rugby.

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