With the World Cup 2027 ticketing package and schedule rolled out, rugby.com.au sat down with World Rugby Chair Brett Robinson to chat about the tournament, the Wallabies and the future of the game (both personally and professionally).
The 16 Test-capped Wallaby is the first person from the Southern Hemisphere to be appointed to the highest honour in World Rugby
Get your tickets to see the Wallabies tackle the British & Irish Lions in Sydney on Saturday.
Nathan Williamson: Brett, the main message around this ticketing announcement is affordability. How much has that been a big part of World Rugby, just trying to make this tournament available to everybody
Brett Robinson: Ultimately, Rugby World Cups are about taking the game to the world and to our country. We have two and a half million tickets that we're announcing that we want to sell and we've said a million of those are $100 or less, so they're affordable and accessible
You can be in Townsville, you can be in Adelaide, you can be someone that just wants to go and have a look at the game for the first time and it's affordable for you and for your family and accessible. So accessibility is everything.
One of the big roles that World Rugby plays is trying to make the game available to people all over the world, men and women and the World Cup is such a showcase event for that. Because Australia, and I'm a proud Australian, is such a beautiful country and we have such magnificent cities and some of the best football stadiums in the world, it's a really special time. So to open that up to many is as important as opening it up to the premium experiences.
NW: How much does that come with being the sporting landscape of Australia as well, being so competitive?
BR: It is really competitive. But I guess the thing that we've seen with the Lions Tour is there's something different about rugby. We're truly an international global sport of some scale and I think what's lovely for me in the last couple of weeks is Australians have seen that.
For those of us that know rugby, and in this role as the Chair of World Rugby, we are truly a global sport and we have eight million players playing the game, two million women playing the game at a scale beyond some of those local competitors with the greatest respect.
So what's beautiful about a Rugby World Cup is we showcase the competitive advantage that Rugby has over the other football codes here in Australia.
NW: On the Lions, how do you leverage the results with the Wallabies showing they are competitive to an audience that has shown it will get behind winners despite the two defeats?
BR: I think they already have. You lose on the bell to the best Rugby team in the world. You're not just turning up as sort of amateurs. Like, you are turning up, and they went within a whisker of beating the best rugby team in the world.so for people to position that Rugby in this country is on the down is crazy.
We have a men's team that just went within an inch of beating the best in the world. We've got a women's sevens team that are one of the best Sevens teams in the world. Our women are top six in fifteens, and our men are absolutely flying.
You look at our underage teams as well. Our under-20s team beat England just now in northern Italy and scored 60 points so things aren't all so bad. I think what I want to see is I want people to shout loud and proudly about the things that are great about our game.
NW: There’s a famous and special last name in that U20s side in Robinson. How much pride do you take in seeing your son Tom put on that gold jersey as well?
BR: It's enormous for me and for Amelia and for the family. Our kids have grown up, all four of them, loving the sport, playing the sport and, for Tom to get the opportunity to represent his country is really special.
I've got to tell you there's a few tears that have been shed as we have been so proud of him and of the team. This is the point earlier about the culture that's sitting within the heart of Rugby in Australia. We've got some really competitive, compelling athletes coming through in terms of 27 and beyond, which only strengthens Australian Rugby's opportunities.
NW: It puts you in such a unique position where you have some one who is potentially the future of the Wallabies whilst you yourself are guiding the future of World Rugby. What’s that like?
BR: It's good feedback. Well, don't worry, I've got two girls that give me a lot of feedback and the thing is that you and them are the future of our sport. So, not me, but Tom and Eloise and Sarah and Will, my kids, they are the future of our game. Them loving our game, participating in our game, supporting our game and we have to be to relevant for them so having them close to the sport is incredibly helpful for me.
NW: Finally, if the Wallabies are to lift the World Cup title in 2027, what’s the one thing that needs to happen just to get them to that next level.
BR: They have to be consistent so next year's a big year. Teams that win the World Cup don't just turn up at the World Cup. They have consistent form heading into the World Cup.
When England won here in 2003, they came to Australia the year before and beat Australia here in a home series, 2-1 I think it was. Australia next year have to carry the got of the last week or so and they have to be consistent about that all through next year so that when they turn up at a Rugby World Cup, they know what they need to do to win and what it means to win.
