Argentina withdraw Rugby World Cup 2027 bid and back fellow Tier One nation

Argentina have pulled out of the race to host the 2027 Rugby World Cup and have thrown their support behind fellow SANZAAR nation, Australia, the only other tier-one nation currently believed to be competing for rugby’s showpiece tournament.

Argentina will abandon plans to bid to host the 2027 Rugby World Cup to give Australia a free run as the southern hemisphere candidate, Sydney's Daily Telegraph reported on Thursday.

The Argentine government announced in 2016 that the country would bid to bring the tournament to South America for the first time but the report quoted World Rugby vice-chairman Agustin Pichot as saying that was no longer the case.

"We discussed it with Australia and we thought it was not good for us to compete against our partner," Argentine Pichot was quoted as saying.

"So we decided to just let Australia run because they also had a stronger project."

There was no immediate comment from the Argentine Rugby Union with the destinations for the 2027 and 2031 World Cup only being awarded next year but Argentina have made the decision to abandon their chances of bringing the competition to the Americas for the first time in favour of giving Australia a greater shot at winning hosting rights.

Rugby Australia’s CEO Raelene Castle revealed earlier this month that the Australian union could shed $120 million of revenue if matches are cancelled for the remainder of the year which, coupled with RA’s $9.4 operating deficit for 2019 paints a bleak outline of the nation’s predicament.