Wallabies say they are World Cup contenders after five-match run, Williams declares 'I’d back us in'

In Perth on Sunday the Wallabies, on a five-match unbeaten run, declared themselves contenders for the 2027 Rugby World Cup, with lock Jeremy Williams saying: “The team we’ve got, the players, coaching staff, and the drive, the care that we have for each other and playing for that Wallaby jersey … I’d back us in every day of the week.”

Final tickets for next year’s global tournament went on sale on Thursday, marking one year until the opening match between the Wallabies and Hong Kong in Perth; more than half of the 2.5m tickets have been sold, including 43% to overseas purchasers. Australia are now sixth in the world rankings, three years after they dropped to their lowest of 10th following elimination from the 2023 World Cup at the pool stage. Williams was instrumental in helping the Wallabies defeat world champions South Africa — albeit an experimental XV — in Perth on Sunday, and he said Australia can end a 27-year wait and win the Webb Ellis Cup at home.

Former Wallaby Tim Horan, who won the World Cup in both 1991 and 1999, said the tournament was wide open and any of the top 10 sides could win. “The Wallabies, the way that they’ve got some momentum with Les [Kiss]. I think what Les is doing, the style and the brand of the Wallabies are tracking pretty well for the World Cup in a year’s time,” he said.

Kiss said he and the players are remaining focused on the short term while recognising the team’s positive trajectory, which has included a first series win in Argentina and Sunday’s dramatic 42-38 victory over the Springboks. "The way that they’ve gone about their business is very impressive," he said. "Even after the game on the weekend, there was a sense of dissatisfaction, you know, some of the things they let go with the game, getting to down to 11 men, but some great qualities came through with that."

Kiss’s side faces New Zealand at Eden Park in two weeks, where the All Blacks have not lost since 1994 — a run of 53 Tests — and where New Zealand, after a winless series against the Springboks, are seeking to avoid four consecutive losses for the first time since 1998. The Wallabies have not beaten their trans-Tasman rivals in six years.

Australia will be without suspended centre Hunter Paisami, with lock Josh Canham and centre Len Ikitau in doubt because of injuries. Prop Taniela Tupou and flanker Tom Hooper have returned to their clubs in Europe and are absent, and uncapped Toby Macpherson, 22, has been called into the squad as cover for both lock and back row.

Ahead of the NRL grand final — the rugby league farewell match for Roosters’ duo Mark Nawaqanitawase and Angus Crichton before their moves to union — Kiss said nobody has been promised a place in the Wallabies lineup. "Even the players that everyone says they’re nailed on, I know that they’re driven now just to make sure they don’t drop their guard in any way," he said. "For guys like Angus and Marky Mark, they’ve got to come in and they’ve got to do the work."

The Wallabies travel to Eden Park in two weeks to play the All Blacks; that fixture is the immediate test of the form that has lifted Australia back into contention ahead of the 2027 Rugby World Cup.