Strange new worlds: can the Rugby World Cup live long and prosper?

The 2027 showpiece will not break new ground so making the US a rugby hotbed in 2031 is now an unlikely mission

The Sydney Harbour Bridge is lit in support of Australia's 2027 and 2029 Rugby World Cup bids. Photograph: Brett Hemmings/Getty Images for Rugby Australia

Nothing ever stands still in international sport. In just over 13 weeks the next Six Nations championship will be kicking off and the global rugby circus is already moving on. The 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia might seem a far distant prospect in every sense but it will come charging over the hill quicker than expected.

So even as Paris’s hoteliers and bar owners count their profits (if anyone in Guardian accounts is reading this, we’ve kept all our mineral water receipts), now is the time for thinking and planning ahead. And, as ever, wondering how the World Cup experience might be improved in future, rather than simply cutting and pasting from previous brochures.