The Springboks will soon know who they will face in the group stages of the 2027 Rugby World Cup with the official draw set to take place in a little over a month from now.
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The Springboks – and the rest of the qualified nations – will know who their opponents will be for what will be the biggest World Cup in history.
WHEN WILL THE SPRINGBOKS KNOW THEIR 2027 RUGBY WORLD CUP OPPONENTS?
The official 2027 RWC draw will take place on Wednesday, 3 December 2025.
Once all 24 teams have officially qualified they will be seeded according to their world rankings.
Thereafter, the 24 qualified nations will be placed into four bands.
Band 1 will consist of the sides top-six ranked rugby nations. Band 2 will consist of the sides ranked 7-12. The same applies for the next two bands. Sides ranked 13-18 and 19-24 will be in placed in bands 3 and 4, respectively.
Each band or pot will be used to determine the respective groups for the tournament. Each group will consist of one team from each band.
As mentioned, this will be the biggest World Cup in history with 24 teams set to compete in the tournament for the first time in history.
As a result, there will be six groups of four teams. Adding two more groups to the traditional four pools.
IMPORTANT END-OF-YEAR TOUR FOR ALL NATIONS INVOLVED
The Springboks take on Japan at Wembley on 1 November before taking on France (8 November), Italy (15 November), Ireland (22 November) and Wales (29 November).
As a result, the end-of-year tour comes with added importance and motivation for not just the Springboks, but all nations involved given the fact that the draw for the 2027 World Cup takes place following the conclusion of the Autumn Internationals.
For the Springboks, they will want to finish the year in the highest position possible to ensure a potentially ‘easier’ route to the playoffs.
Given the fact that Australia are the hosts, they are automatically placed in Pool A.
That means that one of current top six in the World Rugby rankings – South Africa, New Zealand, France, Ireland, England and Argentina – will be drawn alongside the Wallabies in a ‘group of death’.
That will of course change should Australia break into the top six next month.
