Global coup: Townsville to host 2027 Rugby World Cup match

Queensland Country Bank Stadium will play a part in one of the world’s grandest sporting spectacles, with a slice of 1.33 billion eyeballs to lock in on Townsville. Here’s what we know.

OCTOBER 12, 2003: Crowd on hill goes wild after try is scored during Scotland v Japan 2003 World Cup match at Dairy Farmers Stadium in Townsville, 12/10/03. Pic Bruce Long.

Townsville is set to be unveiled as a host city for the 2027 Rugby World Cup, with Queensland Country Bank Stadium locked in to play a part in one of the world’s grandest sporting spectacles.

The Rugby World Cup is the third-largest sporting event on the planet behind the Olympic Games and the FIFA World Cup.

The 2023 edition, staged in France, attracted a global TV audience of 1.33 billion and sold 2.4 million tickets to spectators – and Townsville is about to write its own, fresh chapter in the tournament’s rich history.

Sources familiar with negotiations have confirmed Queensland Country Bank Stadium will host at least one pool match during the biggest Rugby World Cup yet.

Hosting a World Cup match is a global coup for the city and the end product of a push by government to bring the tournament to Australia’s northern capital.

RWC 2003 Scotland v Japan @ Dairy Farmers Stadium.12/10/2003 - Japan's Takeomi Ito makes a run Scotland's Ben Hinshelwood - Pic Bruce Long

An official announcement is expected as soon as the end of the week.

The 2027 World Cup will feature an expanded line-up of 24 teams, an increase of four from the 2023 tournament.

It will be the first tournament hosted in the southern hemisphere since New Zealand in 2011, and only the second since Australia last hosted in 2003.

Townsville’s Dairy Farmers Stadium was a part of festivities in that campaign, hosting more than 20,000 spectators for Japan’s Cup-opening clash with Scotland.

The ‘Cherry Blossoms’ staged their World Cup preparation in Townsville and were adopted by North Queenslanders as the region’s second team behind the Wallabies.

RWC 2003 Scotland v Japan @ Dairy Farmers Stadium.12/10/2003 - Andy Stewart 11 and brother Alexander 12 travelled from Sydney to see the match - Pic Bruce Long

More than two decades later, a new generation will get their first taste of World Cup action on their doorstep when the tournament returns to Townsville.

Queensland Country Bank Stadium’s hosting credentials for 2027 turned rock solid in 2021 when the Covid-19 pandemic saw the Rugby Championship relocated to Australian shores.

Townsville hosted a once-in-a-lifetime double-header featuring the All Blacks of New Zealand, Springboks of South Africa, Pumas of Argentina and the Wallabies in front of 23,184 fans.

The success of that audition proved to Rugby Australia the city was capable of putting on a world class show.

The stadium will host the Wallabies again in September with a Rugby Championship test against Argentina.

Queensland Country Bank Stadium was chosen to host the Oceania Rugby Sevens tournament in the lead-up to the Tokyo Olympic Games, with men’s and women’s teams hailing from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand and a mixed Oceania side.

The Queensland Reds have twice hosted Super Rugby matches at the ground in recent years.

Australia are two-time World Cup champions, in 1991 and 1999, and were runners up in 2003 and 2015.

Originally published as Global coup: Townsville to host 2027 Rugby World Cup match