The final details of the Rugby World Cup draw have been released, with hosts Australia to kick off the tournament - not with a game against trans-Tasman rivals the All Blacks, but against newcomers Hong Kong China.
World Rugby, in all its wisdom, has decided the fixture between the Wallabies and a nation featuring in its first World Cup is the most appropriate to open the global showpiece.
The Pool A match will be held in Perth on Friday October 1 next year.
New Zealand's first game is against Chile, also in Perth, the next day at 6.15pm NZT. The All Blacks' pool game against the Wallabies, one of the most anticipated of the tournament, will be held a week later at Stadium Australia in Sydney, kick-off 7.10pm NZT.
The All Blacks play Hong Kong China in Melbourne on October 15, kick-off 7.15pm NZT, in their final pool game.
Should the All Blacks and Australia feature in the top two in their pool, as is virtually certain, they will both play a "final 16" knockout qualifier match.
For the All Blacks this could be against Tonga or Samoa in Brisbane. Should they win that, the All Blacks will continue to a quarter-final.
One of the previous controversies about the draw is that should the All Blacks finish top of Pool A they are on track to face South Africa, the reigning champions, in a quarter-final, and potentially France in a semifinal.
Should the All Blacks finish second in their pool, their likely round of 16 opponents would be Japan in Brisbane, with England their potential quarter-final opponents.
The grand final will be held at Sydney's Stadium Australia on November 13.
The releasing of the draw details, which will feature a media event in Sydney today, for a tournament that is just over 18 months away, comes as New Zealand Rugby search for a chief executive, a head of high performance, and, last but not least, an All Blacks head coach.
In a statement, Wallabies captain Harry Wilson said: “To have the schedule confirmed for next year’s Rugby World Cup is hugely exciting and certainly heightens the anticipation for what’s going to be an incredible tournament - not just for players but I’m sure for supporters, especially those in Australia.
“To kick off our campaign against Hong Kong China will be special given it’s their first time in a World Cup and we always feel incredibly well supported in Perth.
“New Zealand a week later in Sydney will obviously be a massive occasion and we’ll get a sense of what’s that going to be like when we play them at Accor Stadium later this year."
Funnily enough, on the night the draw was confirmed in December last year, Wilson, like many others, assumed the first game of the tournament would be between New Zealand and Australia. "Playing New Zealand in the opening match of the World Cup – it doesn’t get much better than that,” Wilson said at the time.
A feature of the draw is a "Super Sunday" on October 17, during which five matches will be played for the first time ever at a Rugby World Cup. Those games are: Italy v Georgia, Ireland v Uruguay, Scotland v Portugal, France v Samoa and South Africa v Romania.
Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney will host the round of 16 matches, followed by quarter-finals in Brisbane and Sydney, and then the semi-finals, bronze final, and the final at Stadium Australia.
The tournament will feature 24 teams, 52 matches, 19 match days, seven cities and eight venues.
World Cup pools:
Pool A: New Zealand, Chile, Australia, Hong Kong China
Pool B: South Africa, Italy, Georgia, Romania
Pool C: Argentina, Fiji, Spain, Canada.
Pool D: Ireland, Scotland, Uruguay, Portugal.
Pool E: France, Japan, USA, Samoa
Pool F: England, Wales, Tonga, Zimbabwe
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