World Rugby acknowledges 'frustration' over 2023 draw

World Rugby chiefs have acknowledged the "frustation" with the timing of the draw for the 2023 World Cup and outlined why they settled on January 2026 as the date for the draw for the 2027 tournament.

The lopsided draw for the 2023 has proven a relentless talking point this autumn, with the top four ranked sides in the world clustered in Pools A and Pool B, subsequently colliding in the quarter-final.

The draw for the 2023 competition was made way back in December 2020, based on the rankings at the end of the previous World Cup due to the disruption of the Covid pandemic.

World Rugby had signalled prior to the tournament that they intended to move the draw closer to the event in future and confirmed today that January 2026 was earmarked as the date for the next World Cup draw.

In a press conference today outlining major changes to the global calendar, centred around the biannual Nations Cup, World Rugby CEO Alan Gilpin was asked whether the change amounted to a recognition that they'd made an error this time around.

"Is it a recognition this one was too early? I understand that there was frustration with the timing of the draw for this World Cup," said Gilpin.

"I think the reality, and sometimes this is a bit lost, is that we were in the middle of a global pandemic. Nobody was playing international rugby when the draw was made for this tournament so we were using, effectively, the rankings that existed from the end of the last tournament.

"That was really important in order to get a plan for the great tournament that we've now had. You give teams and fans and those investing in this tournament the opportunity move that plan forward but, of course, it leads to the challenges or frustrations that we’ve had here.

"There’s always