Wallabies hit hard by rescheduling as coronavirus threatens road to France 2023 World Cup

The coronavirus continues to pound away at Australian rugby, with fewer Tests as a result of cancellations jeopardising the Wallabies’ road to success at the 2023 World Cup in France.

James O'Connor for Brothers, against Souths at Ballymore. Pic Jono Searle.

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The road to success at the 2023 World Cup in France is likely to become harder for the Wallabies as an unexpected side-effect of rugby's shutdown in the health crisis.

Michael Hooper's men in gold sit a flat seventh in the world rankings and the certain cancellation of July's three Tests and likely more will leave fewer chances to claw up the ladder over the next seven months.

Surely, there's plenty of time to mount a rankings revival with the peak tournament still more than three years away. Not so.

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Or certainly not in terms of the key November 30 date set for the World Cup draw which 2023 RWC chief Claude Atcher has just confirmed will go ahead as planned.

No more Test rugby this year would leave the Wallabies stuck among the four teams of Band Two and being drawn into a pool with a top-tier heavyweight, New Zealand, England or champions South Africa, or perhaps underperformers Ireland.

If Australia does get the chance to play Test rugby this year it may start and finish with three tough Bledisloe Cup blockbusters against the All Blacks and the limited chance of a rankings jump there.

The Wallabies celebrate a try at the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan.

Atcher has indicated that the world ranking positions at the end of the November international window, whether there are Tests or not, will be how the 12 pre-qualified teams from last year's 20-team tournament in Japan will be seeded.

The Wallabies won't be the worst affected. The mighty Japanese, after their rousing wins over Scotland and Ireland at their home tournament, have dropped from No. 8 to No. 9 without the chance of playing another Test since November.

All that hard won status may be undone because the humdrum Scots have skipped into No. 8 spot after two wins in the Six Nations earlier this year.

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That drops the Brave Blossoms to No. 9 and into Band Three which means they would again be drawn with two Tier One nations, say England and Australia, in the same pool if they get no chance to played Tests in the months ahead.

Rugby World Cup organisers have explained the early draw as a necessity so the France 2023 organising committee can optimise ticket sales ahead of the sale of tickets for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Chairman Paul McLean’s offer to view Rugby Australia’s financial statements and previous reviews of the organisation will be accepted by the cohort of 10 former Wallabies’ captains.

McLean and Nick Farr-Jones have been in contact since the former captain and champion halfback was a signatory to an explosive letter calling for RA’s leadership to stand aside so code reforms could be hastened.

It is less certain whether the captains will accept the opportunity to sit on the RA planning committee shortly to be formed to examine competition structures.