Australia shaping as front runner to host 2027 World Cup with USA primed for 2031 tournament

The Rugby World Cup could be set to return to the southern hemisphere for the first time in 16 years as Australia appears to lead the race as favourites to host the tournament in 2027.

Additionally, the ground-breaking prospect of the United States as a potential host nation has also emerged, with the world's 17th-ranked union reportedly eyeing to hold the event in 12 years' time.

Rugby Australia have already indicated their interest in hosting the 2027 tournament, as former chief executive Bill Pulver announced the union's intentions on hosting the event two years ago.

Continue reading below...

Joining them in the race to hold the tournament is Argentina and Russia, while other nations such as South Africa and the United States have been speculated as potential bidders.

The host nations for both the 2027 and 2031 tournaments will be announced by World Rugby next November, and given that the 2023 World Cup will be held in France - making them the third consecutive nation to hold the spectacle in the northern hemisphere - a move south of the equator could very well be on the table.

Speaking to the BBC, Rugby Football Union chief executive Bill Sweeney said that makes Australia an attractive proposition as a host country given their prominence within the global rugby landscape.

"You would think 2027 would need to go somewhere southern hemisphere," he said.

"Australia is a really important rugby nation, who have had some financial challenges.

"Anything that World Rugby can do to support the game in Australia would be supported by all of us, I think."

Holding a World Cup in Australia could have the potential to spur a revival of rugby in the country, which has faced a number of challenges on and off the field in recent years.

Those issues contributed to the Wallabies' dismal 2019 World Cup campaign, where they were dumped out of the competition in a 40-16 quarter-final defeat at the hands of England.

The side's outgoing head coach Michael Cheika said during the tournament that Australia would "kill it" if his country was given the responsibility of holding the World Cup for a third time, after co-hosting the 1987 event and acting as sole hosts in 2003.

“If there’s one [thing] we like to do at home and that’s put on a good show; we’ve got so many sports fans there," he said last month.

“It was 2003 wasn’t it, the one in Australia? A great place for people, I feel like I’m working for the tourism board here, but it’s a place you want to come for a holiday, too.

“The players won’t be coming for a holiday but the spectators [would love it], and you’ve seen how many there are in all the stadiums.

“If I lived overseas and I was a foreigner, it would be the one place I’d want to go to watch a World Cup, that’s for sure…it’d be big for the whole game if the World Cup was played in Australia, without a doubt.”

In other news: