Day: December 9, 2025 Page 2 of 4

Retired Ireland rugby star Donncha O’Callaghan has launched a fierce criticism of the new Rugby World Cup 2027 format, even though the draw for Australia 2027 has created what many see as a favourable route for Andy Farrell’s team to finally break their long-standing curse of never getting past the quarter-final stage. The tournament, which expands from 20 to 24 teams.

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It will now feature six pools of four instead of the traditional four pools of five. According to O’Callaghan, this change has sucked the excitement out of the pool stages. Leaving zero interest because none of the groups can realistically be described as a pool of death. Under the previous format, major nations faced real jeopardy early in the competition.

Scotland were knocked out in the 2023 pool stages after losing to both South Africa and Ireland, and Argentina suffered the same fate in 2019 after defeats to England and France. That kind of early exit drama, O’Callaghan argues, will not exist in 2027. With the redesigned structure and the addition of a round of 16, he believes too many weak teams will sneak into the.

The knockouts after winning just a single match, leading to lopsided and uncompetitive fixtures. O’Callaghan, a 2009 Six Nations Grand Slam champion who toured twice with the British and Irish Lions, played in three Rugby World Cups in 2027. He knows exactly what high-pressure pool rugby looks like.

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O’Callaghan: New Rugby World Cup Format Removes All Meaning

Including Ireland’s 2007 disaster, when defeats to France and Argentina sent them home early. Speaking on The Offload, the podcast he co-hosts with fellow Ireland and Lions legend Tommy Bowe, he didn’t hold back when discussing the new 2027 structure. In his view, removing jeopardy removes meaning, and with that gone, the tournament’s early stages lose their appeal.

I have zero interest, he said bluntly. I know we’re all supposed to get behind the Rugby World Cup, but the new format is absolute dog s***. A round of 16 in a Rugby World Cup? It’s going to end up like the Champions Cup in Europe. You’ll be able to make the knockouts by winning one game, and that shouldn’t be possible in a World Cup.

He also questioned the logic of expanding the tournament for the sake of inclusivity when the gap between top and bottom nations remains so large. O’Callaghan pointed to Hong Kong’s recent fifty-point loss to Portugal and compared it to Ireland’s 106-7 demolition of Portugal in the summer. Instead of adding mismatched fixtures to the World Cup schedule.

He argued, perhaps the money used to bring those teams to the tournament would be better spent on helping them improve in more meaningful ways. O’Callaghan then took aim at the hype surrounding Ireland being drawn with Scotland yet again. While that matchup created real tension in 2019 and 2023.

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Rugby World Cup Final: O’Callaghan: Ireland–Scotland Pool No Longer a Threat’ in 2027

Rugby World Cup Final, the same cannot be said for 2027. With Uruguay and Portugal making up the rest of the pool, he sees no realistic scenario where both Ireland and Scotland don’t progress comfortably. The sense of threat that once made the fixture dramatic simply isn’t there. It’s bananas, he said. Everyone is trying to make a big deal out of Ireland and Scotland being in the same pool again.

But we’re both sailing through. Then we play Georgia, then someone else, and suddenly we’re in the quarter-finals without ever really being tested. Although he insisted he doesn’t want to criticise efforts to grow the sport, he made it clear the new format isn’t the way to do it. One-sided pool games and predictable knockout qualifications won’t attract new fans, he argued.

They’ll only make the tournament less compelling. The loss of a true pool of death, a group where three major nations battle for two qualification spots, removes one of the competition’s most dramatic elements.

He admitted he felt like he was turning into the famously grumpy TV character Victor Meldrew, but he couldn’t pretend to be excited. “Is there any point watching the pool stages if you can qualify with one win?” he asked. With two years to go until kickoff, he said the only thing that could rescue the draw is the possibility of New Zealand playing Australia at the MCG in front of a massive crowd.

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England have been drawn into the same pool as Wales for the Rugby World Cup 2027. And early signs suggest they may have a dream pathway to the final. Steve Borthwick’s team will compete in Pool F alongside Wales, Tonga, and Zimbabwe.

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It is a group that looks manageable for England on paper, and the schedule has also fallen in their favor. If everything goes according to the current world rankings. England would avoid facing any other pool winner until the semi-finals, a major advantage in a tournament. Knockout games are often decided by the slimmest of margins.

Based on seeding projections, England, Ireland, South Africa, and New Zealand are all expected to advance from their respective pools. If that happens, England’s first major test would come in the quarter-finals against Australia. The Wallabies are the likely runners-up in Pool A behind the All Blacks, which would set up a high-stakes clash between England and the host nation.

Should Borthwick’s men win that match, they would then meet Ireland in the semi-finals. Despite Ireland’s recent rise in the global standings and their strong showings in the Six Nations, they have famously never advanced beyond the quarter-finals at a World Cup.

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Rugby World Cup: England Enter 2027 World Cup as Top Seeds

Reaching the final would likely mean England would finally come up against one of the southern hemisphere giants: either South Africa or New Zealand. Both nations have dominated the sport for decades, and between them they have lifted the trophy an incredible seven times.

France could also disrupt that expected matchup, but they would need to pull off an upset on the opposite side of the draw. England entered this draw as a top seed after putting together an impressive run of 11 consecutive Test victories in 2025.

Their form has made them one of the early favourites for the 2027 tournament. Wales, meanwhile, is not the powerhouse it once was, but a match between the two old rivals will inevitably stir memories of the 2015 World Cup.

On that occasion, Dan Biggar delivered a remarkable performance to knock England out of their own tournament, a loss that still stings for many English supporters. England are expected to top Pool F comfortably, but the quarter-final remains a potential stumbling block. Facing Australia on home soil is never easy, especially if the Wallabies gather momentum.

On the other side of the draw, Six Nations rivals Ireland and Scotland will clash once again, having both been placed in the same pool as South Africa. The Springboks, guided by Rassie Erasmus, are chasing an unprecedented third straight World Cup title.

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Fans Question Low-Key Launch of Expanded Rugby World Cup

Their pool also includes Italy, Georgia, and Romania. If results fall the way many expect, South Africa could end up facing the All Blacks in the quarter-finals, a matchup fitting for a final rather than an early knockout round. Former Wallaby Owen Finegan has already expressed concerns about the lack of buzz surrounding the tournament announcement.

The draw for the expanded 24-team 2027 World Cup was revealed quietly in Sydney, without the fanfare such a major event usually commands. The full fixture list will not be released until February 3, 2026, which has only added to the uncertainty.

The expansion from 20 to 24 teams has also generated debate. While it allows more nations to compete on rugby’s biggest stage, some worry it will lead to more lopsided matches in the pool stage. With six pools of four teams each, and a new round of 16 that allows even some third-place finishers to advance.

The traditional pool of death scenario may disappear entirely. As a result, greater emphasis is being placed on scheduling high-profile pool games early. At the 2023 World Cup in France, the tournament opened with a blockbuster match between the hosts and the All Blacks, a fixture that set the tone for the weeks that followed.

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