England together with Wales find themselves placed in an identical pool for the 2027 RWC, promising a major early clash in the tournament Down Under. They are joined in Group F by the Tongan Ikale Tahi and the Zimbabwean Sables.
This draw echoes their memorable clash in the group phase of the 2015 tournament, where a Welsh win at England's home ground contributed to the hosts' surprise early exit.
Other Notable Pool Pairings
The Irish alongside Scotland also share a pool together, just as the situation from the France 2023 tournament. In that tournament, they claimed a convincing victory, with Scotland failing to progress to the knockout stages.
Los Teros and Portugal, who each made a strong impression as underdogs in France, complete that same group.
Significantly, the winners of these two groups cannot meet defending champions and world number one South Africa until the showpiece match, assuming the South Africans top their assigned pool.
Knockout Ramifications
Should the pools conclude in line with the current global standings, further leading contenders like New Zealand and France would also be kept apart from both England and Ireland until the championship decider.
In that scenario, Argentina would be the remaining highly-seeded nation on that half of the knockout draw as England and Ireland.
Tournament Hosts Draw Major Fixture
Tournament hosts Australia have been drawn together with their trans-Tasman rivals and three-time winners New Zealand in Group A.
Australia will kick off the World Cup in Perth on October 1st, 2027 in a marquee match aimed at launch the event.
In other groups, reigning champions the Springboks have drawn the Azzurri, Georgia and Romania. The French team are in a pool with the Brave Blossoms, 2031 hosts the United States and Manu Samoa.
Larger Format for 2027
Los Pumas will face the Flying Fijians, Los Leones and Canada as the World Cup expands to 24 teams from the 20 who competed in 2023.
This edition will feature a last-16 round for the first time in the competition's history.
Although the victor of England and Wales's group may be kept apart from some of the rugby's biggest beasts early on, they will have to face the second-placed team from Pool B – most likely Italy – in the first knockout round.
Four of the remaining six group winners will play a third-placed side from the pool stages.
Rugby World Cup 2027 Draw
Pool A
- New Zealand
- Australia
- Chile
- Hong Kong
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
