Now that the 2023 Rugby World Cup is over, the attention of fans and experts is on the next tournament. The 2027 Rugby World Cup takes place in Australia from October 1 to November 13, 2027, and it’s highly anticipated.
New Zealand are favourites to win despite losing to South Africa in the 2023 final. Betting sites on GAMSTOP in the UK currently have them at odds of 5/2 to win, with similar odds available at overseas betting operators not on GAMSTOP. Odds of 3/1 are available on the 2023 champions, South Africa. You can see more about the odds available for the top countries and their percentage chances of winning in the table below.
| Country | Odds | Percentage chance of winning |
| New Zealand | 5/2 | 29% |
| South Africa | 3/1 | 25% |
| France | 5/1 | 17% |
| Ireland | 5/1 | 17% |
| Australia | 8/1 | 11% |
| England | 8/1 | 11% |
South Africa will be hoping to defeat the odds and win the 2027 World Cup despite only being second favourites. They stand a good chance of making this happen, given that they have dominated international rugby in recent years and have won back-to-back World Cups.
However, the Springboks did not have an easy win against New Zealand in the 2023 final, and the All Blacks will want to go one step further and win the tournament in 2027.
Looking outside of the top two, France will want to make a bigger impact than they did in 2023. They exited the tournament in the quarter-finals against eventual winners South Africa. This exit happened despite strong performances from the team that also had the home advantage.
Ireland has the same odds of winning as France in 2027. They will also want to improve on their 2023 progress after being beaten by New Zealand.
The remaining top countries, Australia and England, both currently have odds of 8/1 on winning in 2027. Australia was arguably the most disappointing team at the 2023 World Cup, so they will want to achieve more next time. In contrast, England took South Africa all the way before losing by one point. They will gain confidence from this performance and believe they can go further in 2027.
Current odds suggest that the 2027 Rugby World Cup winners will be one of these six countries. However, there are no certainties, especially as the format of the competition is changing.
This new format will involve six pools of four teams. There will then be an additional round of 16 before the quarter-finals. The format will allow the number of teams to be increased while also reducing the length of the tournament from seven to six weeks. The number of rest days will be respected, but a rhythm and momentum will build throughout the competition.
It remains to be seen whether this new format will have any impact on participating teams and what this impact will be. If current odds are anything to go by, the changes are not expected to be detrimental to the top teams and, if anything, should be beneficial.