‘Everything to play for’ before next month’s Rugby World Cup Draw

There’s “everything to play for” during the Autumn Nations Series, with teams such as the Wallabies fighting for a late rise up the world rankings, while others look to hold their place ahead of next month’s 2027 Men’s Rugby World Cup Draw.

As things stand, the Wallabies are on track for a spot in the second band of pool seedings. If the Australians fail to surge up the world rankings before December 3, they will take on an international rugby heavyweight during the group stage.

Australia could face arch-rivals New Zealand, two-time defending Rugby World Cup winners South Africa, or their most recent opponent England in pool play. Ireland, France and Argentina are also placed in the top six on the world rankings at the moment.

That makes Australia’s next three Test matches incredibly important. If they can rise up one place on the rankings, they will be placed in the top band for the pool draw, which would see them miss the likes of the All Blacks and Springboks at that stage of the tournament.

“That team in seventh, we want to see that movement up,” former Wallabies lock Justin Harrison said on Stan Sport after Australia’s defeat to England last weekend.

“There’s everything to play for. These end-of-year tours are exactly where they need to be right now.

“There are players on the field today that will want to be able to get their hands on that jersey to put something that they can be happy with against Italy next week. It’s a great opportunity to develop some competition inside this squad and turn things around very quickly.”

The Wallabies will look to bounce back against Italy this weekend after falling to England at Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium. Harry Potter scored Australia’s only try of the Test, as they fell to a 25-7 defeat – with the English running away with the result in the second term.

Coach Joe Schmidt was asked about the world rankings after the England match, with the New Zealand-born rugby guru calling on the Wallabies “to build over the next two years and not be afraid of playing one of the big guns.”

For now, their focus is Italy.

Australia haven’t faced the Italians in three years, when they suffered a shock one-point defeat. Ben Donaldson had a chance to be the hero on debut, but the playmaker missed an attempted conversion which would’ve seen the Wallabies take the win.

“If we don’t get to six in the world, all we’ve got to do is just keep building, because you can still be a great chance and not be six in the world,” Schmidt told reporters on Saturday.

“That would be ideal for us.

“Having had some big wins this season so far, I think we’ve demonstrated ability with a full squad that we can knock teams over, and we’ve got to build depth in behind that squad. This tour is really part of that.

“Italy will be very tough. They were one score away from England at half-time last time they played them. They’re a good side and they’re coached by a good friend of mine in ‘Gonzo’ Quesada. I know that Gonzo’s a very good coach and he’ll have them primed.

“You look through their team and they’ve got some great attacking players… so many players that play at the very top level and that’s going to be a massive challenge for us. We’re gonna have to dust ourselves off very quickly.”