Australian Rugby President David Cody spoke in a media event ahead of the final vote to host the Rugby World Cup in Sydney, Australia, on Thursday, 12 May 2022. The biggest rugby tournament will be held in the United States for the first time after Thursday’s vote. Guest of the men’s tournament in 2031 and the women’s game two years later. While the US women’s team won the inaugural Women’s Rugby World Cup in 1991 and reached the finals in the next two competitions, the United States Eagles have never qualified from the group stage in their eight trips to the biggest tournament in the US. Rugby – three wins in 25 games – and virtually no opportunity to play every year with the best teams in the world.
World Rugby has announced the next five World Rugby tournaments to provide “long-awaited reassurance” after the men’s 2023 World Cup landing race was won by France ahead of South Africa under disputed circumstances. World Rugby has announced host countries for all World Cups from 2025 to 2033 following a board meeting in Dublin on Thursday, while Australia will also host consecutive tournaments in 2027 (men) and 2029 (women). Two World Cups over a five-year period starting in 2026, beginning this year with the Men’s World Cup – with Mexico and Canada as co-hosts – and then in 2028 in Los Angeles.
The United States will now host what some see as the world’s three most prominent sporting events for five years starting in 2026. World Rugby announced the host nations for the 2025-2033 Rugby World Cup, with Australia taking a big lead. To host the men’s tournaments in 2027 and the women’s tournaments in 2029. Bids for the 2027 and 2031 men’s Rugby World Cups and the 2025 and 2029 women’s matches will be held as part of a joint exercise, according to World Rugby, possibly increasing the likelihood of non-traditional rugby nations making the winning bet. Rugby is breaking new ground by bringing the Rugby World Cup to 15 entrants per side in North America. The governing body sees it as an area of untapped potential both commercially and sportingly.
The game is what World Rugby is focusing on in an ongoing effort to shake up the international men’s calendar so that emerging nations like the United States have more opportunities. To that end, World Rugbys’ experience of hosting the men’s tournament in Asia for the first time in 2015, with Japan hosting, will be critical in preparing the United States for its debut. The 2027 tournament will mark the 40th anniversary of Australia and New Zealand hosting the first Rugby World Cup in 1987. The announcement is seen as an opportunity to revive rugby in Australia, with the World Cup following the British and Irish Lion’s tour of Australia in 2025, bringing much-needed revenue to its governing body, Rugby Australia, which is the pandemic has hard hit.
