All Blacks and Wallabies Land in the Same Pool for the First Time at Rugby World Cup 2027

It's the pool draw nobody saw coming and everybody wanted. When the Rugby World Cup 2027 draw was made in Sydney on 3 December, the All Blacks and the Wallabies landed together in Pool A, the first time the great trans-Tasman rivals have ever met in the pool stage of a World Cup, as World Rugby confirmed.

Between them, New Zealand and Australia have lifted the Webb Ellis Cup five times. The last time they met at a World Cup was the 2015 final at Twickenham, which the All Blacks won 34-17, a nugget dug out by World Rugby's draw analysis, which is packed with happy coincidences from all six pools.

Joining the two heavyweights in Pool A are Chile, back for their second straight tournament, and Hong Kong China, who will become the 27th nation to play at a men's Rugby World Cup. For the debutants, a pool containing the hosts and the All Blacks is about as big as a welcome party gets.

The draw itself was a celebration of the game. All Blacks legend and two-time World Cup winner Dan Carter helped pull the balls out alongside former Wallabies captain James Slipper, Olympic sevens gold medallist Alicia Lucas and World Rugby chair Brett Robinson, World Rugby reported.

So who goes through? ESPN's Tom Hamilton, in his pool-by-pool analysis, reckons the "All Blacks are favourites to top the pool, but beware the Wallabies on home soil." Under the new 24-team format, six pools of four feed into a round of 16, so both big names can still advance, but topping the pool should mean a friendlier path through the knockouts.

We now know exactly when the big one kicks off, too. According to Planet Rugby's fixture guide, New Zealand meet Australia at Stadium Australia in Sydney on Saturday 9 October 2027, a Bledisloe blockbuster with World Cup points on the line, in front of more than 80,000 fans.

For young rugby fans on both sides of the Tasman, it doesn't get better than this. The countdown is officially on.