Last month's Rugby World Cup in France gave fans a preview of what to expect as the showcase event prepares to come to Australian shores in 2027.
France 2023 showed the continual worldwide growth of the game, with close to 2.4 million people attending across the seven-week spectacle.
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The French faithful made themselves known throughout with their constant renditions of "La Marseillaise" at games whether the hosts were playing or not.
Teams such as Chile and Portugal brought a unique energy to the game and this will only heighten with the addition of four more, especially the USA.
This presents lessons and challenges for Australian organisers, who will begin the preparations for 2027 and 2029.
Rugby.com.au was on the ground from the first to the last whistle and looks at five key lessons from the event.
1. ENSURING SUPPORT CONTINUES WITH OR WITHOUT HOME SUCCESS
It sounds obvious but the World Cup can't afford to Wallabies going out on home soil in the group stages.
The new format means they are more likely to reach the knockout stages, with support only growing the further they go.
France showed both sides of this.
The support for Les Blues was immense to start the tournament, with the Stade de France almost rocking with the level of noise and energy they brought to the opening game. However, when they went out in the quarter-finals, the hype fell off rapidly. Losing the Irish didn't help, who had taken over Notre Dame and surrounding areas in the build-up to their games.
But Australia needs to find a way to keep everyone not only interested but engaged with the event even if the Wallabies go out early.
The multicultural nature of Australia will help this, especially in the large demographic of fans from Rugby-playing nations.
2. OPEN UP SOCIAL ACCESS
The geoblocking of content on social media was a frustration for fans across the world trying to connect with the event.
You couldn't watch clips from the official channels on social media in France, with some fans reportedly even getting copyright and DMCA takedown notices after resharing videos from official accounts.
Some of the best publicity comes from fans themselves capturing and putting their unique spin on the big moments and events.
Social media needs to be a tool used to maximise exposure. For 2027, it needs to open back up for fans to spread the word and allow it to naturally go viral.
3. FINDING THE TIMING BALANCE
Sure, 9 PM kick-off times are acceptable in France but if that happens in Australia, expect plenty of backlash.
Obviously, certain cultural differences between the two countries were key to the later kick-offs and this will naturally change in 2027. However, pushing the World Cup period back a couple of weeks opens up a great opportunity for organisers in other aspects.
The mid-week games will fill the void that fans felt waiting for games throughout the long tournament but they need to be at family-friendly times.
If this can be combined with some afternoon games on the weekend, it'll only amplify fan engagement and enjoyment.
4. TRANSPORT TEETHING ISSUES
Whilst on fan engagement, France 2023 faced significant backlash for the overcrowding of fans during England's opening Pool game against Argentina in Marseille.
The Stade Velodrome is a narrow entry to the main stands and led to significant reports of people being either crushed or locked out for the start of the game.
Australia won't have these issues on the same scale given the layout of the major stadiums but there needs to be ample planning and additional resources to handle the mass of fans, managed near-perfectly at the Women's Football World Cup.
France also missed a trick by not including public transport in tickets, which would've helped the flow and made it easier to attend games.
5. LET CITIES GET BEHIND TEAMS
One of the biggest changes for 2027 will be the expansion to a six-pool, 24-team tournament.
That presents an opportunity to create 'hubs' across the country that will allow cities to pick a team and magnify support.
One of the best stories from 2003 was how Laucheston split its residents by whether they were odd or even to decide who they'd support between Romania and Namibia.
Similar innovations like that will go a long way to getting the general public interested in a period where there is not much sport going on.
Also, positioning teams in areas with high ex-pat populations (e.g. Italy in Melbourne) is a must.
