Minnows in line for a World Cup boost

World Rugby aims to streamline the Rugby World Cup qualification process to give non-high performance nations even more time to prepare for the next tournament in Australia.

RWC 2027 will feature 24 teams, the first expansion since 1999 when the tournament went to 20 teams from the original 16. Insiders say that Europe will get four automatic places rather than three, while Asia looks set for one guaranteed place in addition to Japan.

At present, the combined results over a two-year period of the Rugby Europe Championship determine the three automatic qualifiers from Europe, with the fourth entering the global repechage.

But The Rugby Paper understands that European qualification for Australia 2027 will be determined purely by results from the 2025 Rugby Europe Championship.

With the top two teams in each pool going through to the knockout stages, reaching the semi-finals next year will be sufficient for teams to book their ticket to Australia – unless Rugby Europe opts to return to a Championship model, which is unlikely.

If next year's semi-finalists are the same as this year's, Georgia, Portugal and Romania would continue their presence at the Rugby World Cup from France, while Spain would also make their first tournament appearance since 1999.

World Rugby provided non-high performance nations (currently those outside the top 12 in the rankings) competing in the last Rugby World Cup with a $50 million split between them to prepare for the tournament in France.

There's no reason to suspect this support won't continue in the next cycle, or even increase.

With non-high performance nations also getting additional Tests and potentially a longer lead-in time to the tournament, there's a better chance that the gains enjoyed in France by the likes of debutants Chile and Portugal will be replicated in 2027.

Negotiations are still ongoing but a decision will be made at the World Rugby Council meeting on May 9.