Online Reporter
Brandon Moyo,Zimpapers Sports Hub
THE Zimbabwe senior men’s national rugby team, the Sables have been drawn into Pool F of the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia, where they will face 2019 runners-up and 2023 semi-finalists England, who are also ranked third in the world.
The Sables will be making their third appearance at the global showpiece, having previously competed in the inaugural editions in 1987 and 1991. Since then, they have fallen short of qualification, until now.
Going into the draw which was conducted in Sydney, Australia on Wednesday morning, the Sables, ranked 24th in the world, were placed in Band Four and were the first team to be picked onto Pool F.
The pool also features Tonga and Wales.
The Sables’ place in the tournament was secured in Kampala, Uganda, in July where they edged Namibia 30-28 to lift the 2025 Rugby Africa Cup. That victory ended a 36-year wait and snapped the Welwitschias’ run of seven consecutive World Cup qualifications.
Zimbabwe joins South Africa as Africa’s representatives at the 2027 event.
The tournament schedule is yet to be released.
The 2027 World Cup will be the biggest tournament in the sport’s history, with 24 teams battling it out for the Webb Ellis Cup. In previous tournaments going back to Rugby World Cup 2003, there have traditionally been 20 teams that were divided into four pools of five teams. The top two teams from each pool would then progress to the quarter-finals, which was the first round of the knockouts.
In 2027, with 24 teams, the tournament will require a new format and one big change: a Round of 16 as the first knockout game.
There are six pools with four teams in each. The top two teams from each pool will progress to the Round of 16, while the four best third-place teams will also progress. Those four teams will be determined by competition points firstly, and if that doesn’t separate the sides then points difference and try difference will be the next factors used respectively to determine which teams make it out of the pool stage.
2027 Rugby World Cup Groups:
Pool A: New Zealand, Australia, Chile, Hong Kong
Pool B: South Africa, Italy, Georgia, Romania
Pool C: Argentina, Fiji, Spain, Canada
Pool D: Ireland, Scotland, Uruguay, Portugal
Pool E: France, Japan, USA, Samoa,
Pool F: England, Wales, Tonga, Zimbabwe
