Former Western Force and Wallabies winger Drew Mitchell believes Optus Stadium deserves to host the 2027 Rugby World Cup final if Australia wins the bid for the tournament.

Rugby Australia has had talks with the WA Government about Optus staging the final or at least a semifinal because tournament rules stipulate they must be played in a 60,000-seater stadium.

Mitchell, who was at Optus for the ticket launch of the trans-Tasman Bledisloe Cup clash on August 21, said: “For Perth to be able to host quality fixtures like the Bledisloe Cup and world cup matches is fantastic.

“Perth has the stadium, the time zones for countries like South Africa and England are in your favour, there is a passion for the game.

“It would be fantastic to host the final.”

Tickets for the Bledisloe Cup match went on sale at 10am yesterday and 50,000 were snapped up by mid-afternoon.

Australia hosted the 2003 RWC and Mitchell said bringing it back would be “massive” for the game.

“We saw what it did in terms of participation, involvement and engagement,” he said.

“We are probably better placed now to take advantage of it than we were in 2003 in terms of lessons learnt.

“It will give the game a real boost and the resources we gain from that, then it’s what we do with them.

“Rugby has been in a tight situation for a number of years now and something like the Rugby World Cup would help us get out of that.”

Mitchell, who spent three seasons at the Force after signing in 2007, said the club was heading for a big Super Rugby future.

“It’s a destination team, world class players are wanting to come,” he said.

“Couple that with young players in the development and you have the nucleus of a good side.”

He wants Australia and New Zealand back in a single trans-Tasman, season-long Super tournament.

“I like the idea of playing the Kiwi’s week-in-week-out,” he said.

“You see the progression of the Australian teams since the start of the trans-Tasman series. We’ve made big strides.

“It’s only going to help if we’re exposed to it.”

The “house-full” signs are expected to be out at Optus for the Bledisloe blockbuster, the only trans-Tasman Test being played in Australia this year.

In 2019 the Wallabies shocked the All Blacks 47-26, a win that was played in front of an Optus record crowd of 61,241. It attracted 7400 visitors and injected $12.6 million into the WA economy .

Chief executive of RugbyWA, former Wallaby and Force hooker Nathan Charles, said: “The impact a Test match like this has on the WA rugby community is priceless.”