Ireland at Rugby World Cup 2027: what the trip costs from Dublin

Irish fans following Ireland at Rugby World Cup 2027 will be in Sydney on 4 October, Perth on 10 October and Melbourne on 17 October, and the trip costs roughly 3,800 to 6,500 EUR per person from Dublin before food and local transport. The route choice matters more than it looks. If Ireland finish first or second in Pool D, the round of 16 is back in Melbourne on 23 or 24 October, so fly into Sydney, out of Melbourne, and don't book a flight home on the 18th.

Kayak shows no direct flights from Dublin to any of the three host cities, so the route and the dates need planning early. Below: the fixtures in Irish time, how Irish fans buy packages in euro, the visa step that costs nothing, a route that works, the knockout map and a per-person cost.

What to book, and in which order

The order is tickets first, then the visa, then flights. Everything else, from hotels to domestic legs, follows the dates your tickets lock in. Following the three pool games takes about 18 days away from Ireland, and staying for a Melbourne round of 16 takes you to about 26 October. Here is the sequence we'd work in, counting forward from today, 21 October 2026.

These windows are Kayak's booking-insight text, not airline rules, so treat them as a target. With fixed dates and a large group, we'd book earlier on a changeable fare.

Ireland's three pool matches in Irish time

Ireland's three pool matches are Portugal in Sydney, Scotland in Perth and Uruguay in Melbourne. The first kick-off is at 07:15 Irish time on a Monday morning. The local times below come from the official match schedule. The Irish times come from The42, which lists the same fixtures, and we converted each local kick-off ourselves at UTC+1 (Irish Standard Time) to check them.

The IRFU confirmed the same three dates and cities in its fixtures announcement. Those are 2027 dates and times, so recheck the official schedule before you book anything non-refundable.

Photo: Simon_sees · CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Tickets and packages: official channels only

Buy match tickets through the official ticketing site, and buy ticket-inclusive packages through an official travel agent. For Ireland that is Killester Travel, which describes itself as the Official Travel Agent with Exclusivity in Ireland and prices in euro. Its homepage says packages start from "€725pp", and its flight-and-ticket packages include return flights from Dublin with official tickets.

Those listings still show dates and prices as to be confirmed as of 21 October 2026, so you can't compare like for like yet. If you want to act today, do two things. The official sale page said remaining tickets would go on sale from 1 October. Check what is still available for Ireland's three games on the official tickets page. Then email Killester to ask when Irish dates and euro prices will be confirmed. We'd hold off on the visa. The eVisitor is valid for 12 months from the day it is granted, so one granted today would stop working for new entries around 21 October 2027. Anyone who left Australia and came back for the knockout games would need a new one. The tournament's sale page warns that tickets from unauthorised sources will be invalid and entry denied.

Your bank or card provider may charge a foreign transaction fee if there's a currency conversion. A$40 is the starting price, though, not the price of a good seat.

The ticket-plus-hotel packages are the easy route for the three Ireland games. As of October 2026, the Sydney package for Ireland v Portugal (3 to 5 October, two nights) starts at A$1,050. The Perth package (8 to 11 October, three nights) starts at A$1,455 and also includes USA v Samoa. The Melbourne package for Ireland v Uruguay (16 to 18 October, two nights) starts at A$950.

Those Australian-dollar figures are the tournament organiser's own listings. We could not confirm whether Irish residents can buy them directly or are directed to Killester, so ask both before you pay, and compare like for like: flights included or not, hotel included or not, per person or per room.

The Perth listing shows a Category 4 ticket and the four-star Novotel Langley as the included hotel. The page lists Category 3 from A$1,650 and Category 2 from A$1,871 but does not say whether these are package totals or ticket-only prices. We treat them as package totals in the cost model below. We'd skip the hotel upgrades and spend the money on a better ticket category, because you're in the stadium for an afternoon and in the hotel for sleeping.

If you book a package through an Irish travel agent, the CCPC says all organisers of packages must take out insolvency protection. A package, it explains, combines at least two types of travel service sold at an inclusive price. We could not confirm what covers a package bought from the organiser's Australian listing, so ask before you pay.

The route: Sydney, Perth, Melbourne

The route that works is one loop, not a hub. Fly Dublin to Sydney, Sydney to Perth, Perth to Melbourne, and Melbourne home on an open-jaw ticket. Here is the whole loop by date, including the longer version if Ireland finish in the top two.

Every flight figure in this post is a Dublin price. Kayak lists no direct flights from Dublin to Sydney, and its sample itineraries run from one to three stops. Its route summary gives Dubai the shortest average one-stop journey at 23h 50m one-way, and one sample listing shows 22h 30m on Qatar Airways via Doha. The samples run from about 22 to 53 hours, most between 23 and 42, so plan for about a day or more in transit.

From Cork, Kayak's Cork to Sydney page shows typical returns of 1,210 to 1,682 EUR, with a 12-month average of 1,388 EUR, on two or three stops. That is roughly 120 to 180 EUR above the Dublin range. We could not find a published Shannon fare, so ask the airline for a through fare.

Those 11 to 16 October nights are the awkward part of the schedule. You could stay in Perth, or reach Melbourne early. We'd go to Melbourne early, because that is where the knockout rounds begin for Ireland if they finish in the top two.

Why one loop beats base-and-fly

One loop is cheaper than a hub on typical fares. Kayak lists typical one-way fares of A$308 to A$417 for Sydney to Perth and A$290 to A$442 for Perth to Melbourne. The loop needs each once, so A$598 to A$859 in total.

A hub in Sydney needs two returns instead. Typical return fares are A$530 to A$722 for Sydney and Perth and A$216 to A$366 for Sydney and Melbourne, which adds up to A$746 to A$1,088.

Getting to each ground

Each ground goes by two names. The tournament lists Sydney Football Stadium, Perth Stadium and Docklands Stadium, which Wikipedia says are also known as Allianz Stadium, Optus Stadium and Marvel Stadium. The Allianz site's Ireland v Portugal page uses the tournament name, so search for either.

The venues' own pages cover event days in general, not these matches. In Sydney, Allianz Stadium says Central Railway Station and the Moore Park Light Rail easily service big crowds. In Perth, Optus Stadium has a purpose built train and bus station, and no public parking on major-event days including rugby. In Melbourne, Marvel Stadium says Southern Cross Station is next to the ground.

Photo: Starfizzure · CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The knockout map: where Ireland go if they win the pool

Finish first or second in Pool D and Ireland's round of 16 is at Docklands Stadium in Melbourne. First place plays on Sunday 24 October at 16:45, and second place plays on Saturday 23 October at 19:15. A win in either match sends them to Brisbane for the quarter-final.

These matchups come from the official bracket. Only the four best third-placed teams reach the round of 16, as Scottish Rugby's schedule summary notes. The Irish times are our own conversion, using the same 10-hour gap the Irish press lists for Melbourne and 7 hours for Perth. If Ireland are out, fly home from Melbourne on the changeable return.

What to book before you know

Book the outbound flight, the three pool matches and a changeable return from Melbourne. Don't book anything non-refundable after 18 October until the pool table settles. The worst case is a hotel you can't cancel in Melbourne for a team that finished third and plays in Perth.

If Ireland top the pool, the Melbourne round of 16 package (22 to 25 October, three nights) starts at A$2,235 and includes Category 4 tickets to the round of 16 matches there. It covers both Melbourne round-of-16 days, so it works if Ireland finish first or second. If they finish third, their match is in Perth.

If Ireland finish top two: the longer trip

If Ireland finish first or second, you are in Melbourne from about 22 to 25 October and in Brisbane for the quarter-final on 30 or 31 October if Ireland win the round of 16. That is about four weeks away from 1 October, so check your leave before you book anything. We found no published price for a Brisbane quarter-final package or ticket as of 21 October 2026, so the full-run budget below stops at the Melbourne round of 16.

Photo: Bob Tan · CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

What the trip costs per person

Our indicative range, as of October 2026, is about 3,800 to 6,500 EUR per person, before food, drink and local transport. Every figure below is a sourced input. We have not found any published hotel rate for the tournament weeks, so the room costs are ordinary non-event prices and will probably be higher.

All Australian dollar amounts are converted at the ECB reference rate of 1.6056 Australian dollars to the euro, set on 20 October 2026.

We built three versions from those inputs. Budget uses the low end of every fare range, the lowest-priced Category 4 packages and a shared three-star room. Mid uses the Sydney 12-month average Dublin fare (1,263 EUR), the midpoint of the domestic fare ranges, the same Category 4 packages and a half-share of an average room. Big spend uses the top of each range, the A$1,871 Category 2 upgrade for Perth, and a room to yourself at the average price.

The totals are 3,790 EUR for budget, 4,877 EUR for mid and 6,464 EUR for big spend. The packages are the biggest block in every version, and the real lever is how many extra nights you pay for and in what kind of room. Add 1,392 EUR if you also buy the Melbourne round of 16 package. That takes the mid version to about 6,269 EUR before a Brisbane ticket, one more domestic flight and the extra nights.

The model prices flights and match packages separately because Killester's flight-and-ticket package prices are still marked to be confirmed. Those packages include Dublin return flights and match tickets but leave accommodation to you. When prices appear, compare each with flights plus the matching organiser package. Add your hotel nights to the Killester side. For the pool stage alone, 1,030 to 1,502 EUR for the Dublin return plus 2,152 to 2,411 EUR for the three organiser packages comes to 3,182 to 3,913 EUR.

Of these assumptions, room sharing moves the total most: the extra-nights line swings by 1,780 EUR across the three versions (236 to 2,016), against 472 EUR for Dublin flights and 259 EUR for the packages.

Visa and entry for Irish passports

Irish passport holders are on the eVisitor (subclass 651) list and also on the ETA (subclass 601) list. Both allow visits of up to three months at a time over 12 months. Take the eVisitor, because it is free.

The Department of Home Affairs says the eVisitor is free, that you must be outside Australia when you apply, and that you shouldn't arrange travel until it has been granted. The page's processing-times section points to a Home Affairs guide tool and says it is a guide only, not specific to your application. Apply in early 2027, before you pay for non-refundable flights, so the 12-month validity still covers a re-entry during the knockout games.

The ETA has no visa charge, but the department says there is an application service fee of A$20 to use the Australian ETA app. That is about 12.50 EUR at the rate above.

Home Affairs also recommends health insurance and says you're personally liable for your healthcare costs while in Australia. The eVisitor needs you to meet the health and character requirements, so a past conviction in any country means applying for a Visitor (subclass 600) visa instead.

Before you pay for anything non-refundable, run through this list.

Keeping the tab straight across three cities and two currencies

The tab stays straight if you track one currency: every Australian price here is in dollars and your card statement is in euro. Log each leg the day you pay, in the currency you paid in, and settle once at the end. Agree who pays for a shared room before the first deposit.

If you plan the trip in TripProf, it can log expenses in any currency and split them between travellers. Our guide to splitting trip costs without drama covers the rules we'd use either way.

Photo: Dietmar Rabich · CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Frequently Asked Questions

Key Takeaways

Sources

• Rugby World Cup 2027 official match schedule: pool and knockout fixtures, venues and local times
• Rugby World Cup 2027 ticket sale page: prices, limits and official-channel rules
• Rugby World Cup 2027: tickets: where remaining tickets are sold
• Irish Rugby: Ireland's fixtures confirmed: dates and cities
• Irish Rugby: ticket applications open: application window, ballot and notification dates
• The42: Ireland's pool fixtures: Irish kick-off times
• Scottish Rugby: schedule confirmed: knockout path and third-placed teams
• Killester Travel: Rugby World Cup 2027: the Irish official travel agent, euro package prices and sub-agents
• Killester Travel: flight and ticket packages: flights from Dublin and to-be-confirmed dates and prices
• World Rugby: official travel agents appointed: the appointment list for Ireland
• CCPC: package holidays: what counts as a package and insolvency protection
• Allianz Stadium: Ireland v Portugal: the Sydney venue name
• Wikipedia: Sydney Football Stadium (2022): known under naming rights as Allianz Stadium
• Wikipedia: Perth Stadium: known under naming rights as Optus Stadium
• Wikipedia: Marvel Stadium: Docklands Stadium under its naming-rights name
• Allianz Stadium: transport: Central Station and Moore Park Light Rail
• Optus Stadium: getting here: train and bus station, event-day parking
• Marvel Stadium: getting there: Southern Cross Station and trams
• RWC Experiences: Sydney packages: Ireland v Portugal package price
• RWC Experiences: Perth packages: Ireland v Scotland package price
• RWC Experiences: Perth double-header: Category 3 and Category 2 prices
• RWC Experiences: Melbourne packages: Ireland v Uruguay and round of 16 package prices
• Home Affairs: eVisitor (subclass 651): eligibility, cost and conditions
• Home Affairs: ETA (subclass 601): eligibility and the A$20 service fee
• Kayak: Dublin to Sydney: typical return fares, booking window and direct-flight availability
• Kayak: Dublin to Melbourne: typical return fares and booking window
• Kayak: Perth to Sydney: typical one-way fares, duration and monthly average fares
• Kayak: Perth to Melbourne: typical one-way fares and booking window
• Kayak: Sydney to Perth: typical one-way and return fares, duration and booking window
• Kayak: Sydney to Melbourne: typical return fares
• Kayak: Melbourne to Perth: monthly average return fares
• Kayak: Cork to Sydney: typical return fares and stops
• Kayak: Australia hotels: average double-room price and 3-star starting prices
• European Central Bank: euro reference rate for the Australian dollar: 1.6056 on 20 October 2026