SYDNEY (AP) — Perth Stadium in Western Australia has been announced as the site of the opening match of the expanded men's Rugby World Cup in 2027, with the Wallabies playing a team to be determined on Oct. 1 that year.

The six-week tournament will end on Nov. 13, 2027 with the final at Sydney's Olympic stadium.

Also on Wednesday, tournament officials said Dec. 3 of this year is the date of the draw when all 24 qualified teams in the expanded format will discover their pool stage opponents via a live video link.

The tournament will feature six pools of four teams, with the men’s rankings at the end of the November internationals used to create four bands of six teams, with each band drawn randomly into Pool A, B, C, D, E or F.

The top two teams from each pool plus the four best third-p

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