Why Fiji, Pumas are as important for Wallabies as lions

The tour of the British and Irish Leones could be the Big Ticket article in the Wallabies’, and the world rugby, the calendar in 2027, but a clash with Fiji in Newcastle in advance and the consecutive tests against Argentina will be much more important to the Look later at the 2027 Rugby World Cup.

While the Lions series quickly approaches, World Rugby on Thursday also presented the seven host cities for the 2027 Down Under World Cup, confirming that Sydney would be host of the tournament final as it did when Australia organized the tournament for the last time in 2003 .

Jonny Wilkinson’s memories place a falling goal in the game in extra time that still painfully remains for Australian rugby fans greater enough to remember it, while Rugby executive Australia (RA), Phil Waugh moment when He spoke at Dais in Sydney on Thursday.

But while the Wallabies had enjoyed a golden period in the 2003 World Cup, including a five -year -old Bledisloe reign that had only finished a few months earlier, a victory by Tri Nations and the Triumph of the Lions 2001 series , all outside the back of lifting the Webb Ellis trophy in 1999, the same cannot be said in two decades.

Two and a half years of the Opening Game of the 2027 tournament, which will be played in Perth, the Wallabies are currently eighth (81.52) in the world classification of Rugby. Some places ahead of them in fifth are Argentina (84.97), Sixth Scotland (83.34) and seventh England (82.31), while Fiji (80.07) are directed behind Australia in Ninth.

What makes those same classifications so important in 2025 is that by the end of the year they will be used as sowings for the 2027 World Cup, which will include a 16 round for the first time in the history of the tournament.

With the global swelling of the game of 20 to 24 teams, there will now be six groups of four, with the first two in each group and the four highest third place teams classified for the 16 round.

While some of those 16 -round games have the potential for explosions, such as Australia, Scotia, Argentina and England they will not want to see that their classifications fall into ninth before the raffle ends, which could leave them in a Russian roulette Situation of an anterior eliminatary confrontation against the two -time world champion Defensor Springboks, current No. 2 of the Ireland world or the All Blacks in the 16 round.

That could spell disaster for the Wallabies in their local World Cup, only four years after they could not reach the elimination phase of the tournament under Eddie Jones in France.

However, when observing the broader growth of the game, World Rugby executive, Alan Gilpin, said the genuine danger in the 16 -game round would show if the sport was heading in the right direction in his attempt to be truly global .

“I think so, it ensures that there are sufficiently competitive teams to make that really significant,” Gilpin told Sydney Harbor journalists on Thursday. “As a little as how we are looking at the quarterfinals of the Women depth.

“We have 12 prequalified teams (since 2023) by 2027, at the end of November, we will have the 24 qualified and the next 12 will play in the Second Division of the Nations Championship next year, and some crossing accessories, and that is the Opportunity to really prepare the 24 teams as best we can.

“And that is why the championship of those nations is so important for the competitiveness of the male game and that is why we had the confidence to expand to 24 teams at this stage.”

What is much more important for Australia in 2025 will be the test match against Fiji in Newcastle before the Lions series, and then consecutive tests against the Pumas as part of the Rugby Championship from then on.

So, although restoring some continuity for the first test with the lions two weeks later it will be the main approach for Australia against Fiji, a second loss for the Pacific islanders in the three -year space would also close the gap in the classification.

On the contrary, a sweep of the tests with the Pumas, which will be played in Townsville and Sydney, would also help to relieve the threat of a slide to the ninth, and potentially establish the platform for a spring tour where a classification rises so high As the fifth could be possible.

Since they face the Springboks in two tests in South Africa, as well as in a Bledisloe series of two tests at home with the All Blacks, the ideal result for the Wallabies would be a three perfect three against Fiji and then Argentina.

And although the lions remain the most popular ticket in the city and, with much, the largest rugby event in Australia, also a tour that will relieve severe financial pressure under the game, the three tests are not part of the broader international classification image.