Ireland handed easy route to the 2027 Rugby World Cup final

In 365 days time, the eyes of the sporting world will once again be pinned on Australia, as the biggest ever installment of the Rugby World Cup takes place across the land down under.

Expanded to feature more teams than ever before, and a first time iteration of a Round of 16, winning the coveted Web Ellis Trophy has never been harder for the stars of the global game.

This colossal challenge could become the ultimate Everest for the Ireland team to climb, as Andy Farrell's men chase a historic first ever Rugby World Cup title.

Ireland's 'quarter-final' curse is well documented, as the men in green have never failed to progress beyond the last eight of the tournament.

However, in this article, we are seeing just who Ireland would face, should the men from the Emerald Isle hit their stride and go all the way to the Rugby World Cup Final, penned in for November 13th at Stadium Australia in Sydney.

Let's begin with the three guaranteed fixtures that Ireland will be playing in down in Australia next October.

Ireland qualified all the way back at the 2023 RWC, as one of the 12 automatically qualified sides who finished in the top three of their respective pool in France.

Ireland kick off their 2027 Rugby World Cup campaign against Portugal, at the Sydney Football Stadium. This will mark only the second meeting between the Emerald Islanders and the Iberian side.

The inaugural match happened in the Summer of 2025, as an Ireland squad deplete of their Lions stars hammered Portugal 106-7 at the Estadio Nacional in Lisbon.

This mammoth win stands as Ireland's all time record victory in a men's Test match (99 points).

Ireland will once again take on their Celtic rivals Scotland at the Rugby World Cup, which will mark the fourth time the two sides have met in the pool stages of the competition (1991, 2019 and 2023).

Ireland won the past two meetings with their Six Nations rivals in the Japan and France tournaments, yet this will be the toughest pool stage fixture for Andy Farrell's side when the sides meet in Perth.

Then, Ireland complete their pool stage with a match up with Uruguay, in what is a third expected win for Andy Farrell's men. Ireland will take on the South Americans at Docklands Stadium, Melbourne.

This will be a historic first ever meeting between Ireland and Los Teros in a competitive Test match. Emerging Ireland teams have previously faced Uruguay, with the most recent match being a 51-3 win for the up-and-coming Irish in 2014.

The Rugby World Cup has opened it's doors to more teams than ever before, with an extra four nations expanding the competition to 24 overall.

As a result, should Ireland finish top of Pool D as we predict, they will have to wait until all the group stage action concludes to determine their incoming opponents for the first ever RWC Round of 16.

Ireland will face the best third-placed finisher from Pools B, D and F, which we anticipate to be Georgia, the United States and Tonga. From this trio, we expect the Eastern Europeans to have accrued the most points and fewest points conceded to progress on to the knock-out stage.

If there is one thing that is well documented about Georgian rugby, it's their formidable scrum.

Los Lelos garner a cult following of rugby purists every four years, as Georgia showcase an immovable eight-man shunt, that is the envy of scrum coaches the world over.

We anticipate the very same weapon to be unleashed against Ireland, with Georgia likely to collect their points from well-struck penalties, following a buckled pack at scrum-time.

However, Ireland possess a far more well-rounded game than Georgia and would go into the Round of 16 match as considerable favourites to progress.

Ireland have won all six of their previous Test matches against Georgia, and we don't anticipate this to change in Melbourne.

The historic hex will rear it's ugly head in the proceeding media week, as Ireland embark on winning their first ever Rugby World Cup quarter-final next November.

The likely opponent is Argentina, should Los Pumas following their expected tournament progression and also book themselves a place in the final eight.

Gone are the days of Argentina being a foregone conclusion that struggle to hold their own against World Cup heavyweights.

Felipe Contepomi's side are the ultimate dark horses heading into Australia, as you should not count out the South American's for long run in the tournament.

With a track record of taking the scalps of South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and even the British & Irish Lions within the past Rugby World Cup cycle, Argentina stake a solid claim for a maiden title.

This match could be a defining test in the Andy Farrell era of Irish Rugby. Win and the quarter-final curse is broken for good, however a defeat to the coming-of-age Pumas is not off the table.

Ireland have lost three times to Argentina at the Rugby World Cup, and only beaten them once. The latest meeting was Argentina's 2015 quarter-final win in Cardiff, that sent the Irish packing once again.

Ireland would have to dig deep and fight tooth and nail to defeat Los Pumas, to march on for a history making Rugby World Cup campaign.

The age old rivals look destined to meet once again. Should the tournament progress on as expected, England could make it all the way to the Rugby World Cup semi-finals for a clash with Ireland.

The immediate history is obvious. Two of the defining nations of Northern Hemisphere rugby, England and Ireland have shared the pitch 144 times in the men's test arena.

The most recent meeting between Andy Farrell and Steve Borthwick's men was during the 2026 Men's Six Nations, which brought about a milestone win for the Irish at Twickenham.

Ireland recorded their biggest ever win over England at the Allianz Stadium, with the likes of Rob Baloucoune and Tommy O'Brien getting in on the try-scoring for the 42-21 win.

Earlier this year, England and Ireland were on two very different form trajectories. Ireland were bouncing back from a disappointing 2025 Autumn Series and first round 2026 Six Nations defeat to France, as they picked up the win over England.

Contrastingly, England hit a peak throughout 2025 having gone unbeaten in 11 matches, including a home Test win over the All Blacks. However, England slipped off the gas in the Six Nations, with defeats to Scotland, Ireland, France and a first ever loss to Italy marring their campaign.

Since the Six Nations, England have recovered their form in the Summer, with wins over Argentina and Fiji, with Ireland claiming victories of their own against Australia and Japan. Both sides have peaked and fallen in recent months, which sets us up for an intriguing proposed semi-final clash in Sydney.

There is no easy way home for Ireland, should they reach the Rugby World Cup Final next November.

Due to how the Rugby World Cup draw took place for the 2027 tournament, three of the world's four top nations (1. South Africa 2. New Zealand 3. Ireland 4. France) have been drawn on the same side of the tournament tree.

This sees quarter-final and semi-final meetings between the Springboks, All Blacks and Les Blues, with only space for one to take on the Irish in the quad-annual show-piece match-up.

There are claims for all three possible opponents to make it all the way to the final, however, the Springboks are without a doubt the standard bearers for international rugby right now.

Although having said that, the back-to-back (or Bokke-to-Bokke) World Champions had their mortality proven just this past weekend, as Australia clinched a famous win over Rassie Erasmus' men in Perth.

No nation has ever won three consecutive men's Rugby World Cup titles, and South Africa want nothing more than to re-write the history books as the greatest rugby team of all time.

Ireland would face a terbulent and arguably rather up-hill challenge in the final. Farrell's men in green would be considered underdogs for any of the three proposed match-ups, be it against the Springboks, All Blacks or Fabien Galthie's flying French side.