Schmidt looks to RWC: ‘The character to be able to challenge South Africa’

Australia’s path to the semi-final stage and beyond at Men’s Rugby World Cup 2027 already has fans talking. The tournament draw on Wednesday placed the hosts alongside arch-rivals New Zealand in Pool A and set up some possible blockbuster knockout Tests.

This is the first time the Wallabies and All Blacks have been drawn in the same World Cup group, with the two former champions pitted against China and tournament newcomers Hong Kong China in one of the six pools.

The Wallabies are on a record-setting 11-Test losing streak against the All Blacks dating back to November 2020, but captain Harry Wilson remains confident. Australia showed signs of promise in this year’s Bledisloe Cup Series but couldn’t quite get the winning job done.

If the Wallabies top Pool A in two years’ time,  they would be one win away from facing the Pool B winner in the quarter-finals. Two-time defending World Cup winners the Springboks are early favourites to top that pool, drawn alongside Italy, Georgia and Romania.

Australia won five of their 15 Tests in 2025, but one of those triumphs came away to South Africa at Johannesburg’s Emirates Airline Park. The Wallabies fought their way back from 22-0 down to win 38-22, before a close clash between the same sides the following weekend in Cape Town.

“It wasn’t too different last World Cup with New Zealand, you’re either going to play South Africa in a quarter-final or Ireland and either way it was going to be really tough,” Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt told reporters on Wednesday evening.

“If you’re going to get into a final or into even a semi-final, you’re going to have to beat good teams to get there.

“I wouldn’t plot a path for sure, but you’ve got to be aware of who you’re likely to meet and I think the advantage of that is you know South Africa really well… I think the team have shown the character to be able to challenge South Africa.

“We saw them get better and better as the year went on. They got maybe some of their combinations sorted but on any given day, I still think the way this team can build their way forward on the confidence of some of the really good performances they’ve put together.

“I know we didn’t get the result against France but there were glimpses right from the kick-off [of] what the team can do when they have the confidence to play.”

Whoever finishes second in Pool A will race on the Pool E runner-up in the round of 16, before a potential meeting with a Six Nations giant in the quarters. They would face the top-placed side out of Pool F – England, Wales, Tonga and Zimbabwe – for a spot in the final four.

While the Wallabies will be aware of their potential path through the World Cup knockouts, their focus will be on the All Blacks and their other two pool-stage rivals. Australia last defeated New Zealand on November 7, 2020, winning 24-22 at Suncorp Stadium.

“It’s really exciting. The Wallabies will play [New Zealand] four times in the lead-up and it gives you a great opportunity to really plot a path to get up and organise for that game,” Schmidt said.

“Chile and Hong Kong China, they’re two newcomers that will challenge you in a different way; challenge you to keep that level of performance to a certain height so that when you hit the round of 16, you hit the ground running.

“I’m excited about the pathway that we can plot in between now and the next time we play New Zealand, but then also beyond that,” he added.

“I know that Les [Kiss] is pretty excited about where the team can get to… we didn’t have a good November and it’s impossible to hide that we didn’t have a good November. There were glimpses though and we can still build on those glimpses after a bit of an emotional rollercoaster of a year.

“Les is pretty excited to get started. Had a couple of good conversations with him today.”