Rugby World Cup

Hong Kong, Kenya, the United States and Portugal will clash in a round-robin format, and the winners will go into Pool C at the World Cup, alongside Wales, Australia, Fiji and Georgia.

The World Cup will be played in France for the second time from Sept. 8 next year. The country also hosted the tournament in 2007.

Toutai Kefu’s side registered a 44-22 win over the city-state and will now join Georgia, Ireland, Scotland and world champions South Africa in Pool B.

The ‘Ikale Tahi’ will begin their RWC 2023 campaign against Ireland in Nantes on 16 September, before playing Scotland in Nice on 24 September, South Africa in Marseille on 1 October and finishing against Romania in Lille on 8 October.

Saturday's 32-22 win by the Irish in Wellington clinched a historic first series win in New Zealand and moved them top of the world rankings.

"If we played New Zealand again next week, we'd probably beat them again," said ex-Ireland coach O'Sullivan.

"But I think, come the World Cup, things will even up again."

"There is a lot of water to flow under the bridge between now and next year," he added.

Ireland's latest victory over the All Blacks was their fifth win in eight contests against the three-time world champions.

Mo’unga announced on live television on Friday that he has signed a one-year contract extension that will keep him with the All Blacks, Crusaders and Canterbury in 2023.

“Some good news, for me and my family, that we’ve re-signed for next year’s season in 2023,” the newly-turned 28-year-old told Sky Sport ahead of the Crusaders’ 28-15 Super Rugby Pacific win over the Reds in Christchurch.

The United States was confirmed as host of the men's showpiece event in 2031 and will stage the women's tournament two years later.

The hosts were finalised following a World Rugby Council meeting in Dublin.

"This is a historic day for rugby in Australia. We are beyond thrilled to be welcoming not one, but two World Cups to our shores," Rugby Australia Chairman Hamish McLennan said.

It was the Cook Islands who opened the scoring with a penalty through halfback Tokahirere Sopoaga to get a 3-0 lead.

The first quarter of the match was dominated by basic errors, and with the Kuki's line speed adding some pressure, it took 19 minutes before 'Ikale Tahi started to find some momentum.

Tonga's front row was crucial to their performance, creating opportunities to hold the ball in the scrum.

The 12-team tournament which was due to be held this year in Auckland and Whangarei was postponed due to Covid-19.

The new dates mean the tournament will be extended from 35 to 43 days, meaning all teams will have a minimum of five rest days between matches in align with the approach recently approved for the men's competition.

The extension of the tournament window also allows for a revamped tournament format that will see all matches take place on Saturdays and Sundays with no overlap.

The pool phase will be extended by a week, ensuring teams will have at least five days to prepare for all matches, while squad sizes will be increased from 31 to 33 players.

PRPW said that since 2003 the scheduling of Rugby World Cup matches has "brazenly prejudiced Tier 2 nations" and said the latest reforms are long overdue.

"This is a significant step towards a tournament that fully respects the ideals of fair play, and it will make a great difference to the Pacific Island teams," said former Manu Samoa international and PRPW CEO Dan Leo.

The Women’s Six Nations was due to start on February 6, the same weekend as the men’s tournament, but coronavirus lockdowns across the UK and Europe have prevented it from going ahead as planned.

England, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, France and Italy’s preparation for the Rugby World Cup, being hosted by New Zealand in September, will again be delayed, following three fixtures in the 2020 cancelled due to Covid-19 restrictions.

The government gave A$1 million in initial funding to the bid last year.

Hosting the tournament is projected to deliver A$2 billion in direct and indirect expenditure, bring in more than 200,000 international visitors for the six-week duration and create 12,000 jobs, Rugby Australia said in a statement.

“I want to thank Prime Minister Scott Morrison and the Australian Government for supporting Australia’s bid to host the 2027 Rugby World Cup,” Rugby Australia Chairman Hamish McLennan said in the statement.