"The organisers had already stoked the narrative nicely by wheeling out Jonny Wilkinson in the promotional tournament video, essentially a mashup of Mad Max and Wacky Races roaring across a dusty outback. When every Australian wakes up on Thursday to discover it is 666 days until the 2027 edition kicks off, the nagging fear of nightmarish history repeating itself will further intensify."
"The cards have certainly fallen more kindly for England than for several of their rivals. While they are lurking in one of the shallower of the six pools Wales, Tonga and Zimbabwe the opening fixture of the tournament, in Perth on 1 October, may well thrust together the Wallabies and the All Blacks from minute one. The reward for the winners? A possible place in the same side of the knockout draw as the defending champions, South Africa, and France."
Optimism about winning in Australia can be premature. The 2027 men's Rugby World Cup draw produced a sense of déjà vu around Sydney, with promotional material featuring Jonny Wilkinson in a Mad Max-style video. England received a relatively favourable pool alongside Wales, Tonga and Zimbabwe, while the tournament opener in Perth could pit the Wallabies against the All Blacks immediately. Winners of that match may face a knockout path sharing the same half as South Africa and France, potentially limiting the final to one of those three giants. Ireland and Scotland face immediate testy rematches, and the expanded 24-team format reshuffles traditional pathways.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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