England and Wales find themselves placed in the same pool for the World Cup in 2027, setting up a highly-anticipated pool stage encounter in Australia. Completing the group in Pool F by the Tongan Ikale Tahi and the Zimbabwean Sables.
This draw mirrors their famous meeting in the group phase of the 2015 World Cup, where a Welsh win at Twickenham contributed to the English team's shock early exit.
Other Notable Group Pairings
Ireland alongside Scotland also share a group together, replicating the situation from the 2023 edition. In that tournament, they secured a 36-14 victory, with Scotland unable to progress to the quarter-finals.
Uruguay and Portugal, both made a strong impression as underdogs in the last World Cup, complete that same group.
Notably, the winners of both Pool D and Pool F cannot meet holders and world number one the Springboks until the final, assuming the South Africans win their assigned pool.
Tournament Implications
Should the pools conclude in line with the current global standings, further leading contenders like the All Blacks and Les Bleus would also be kept apart from the likes of the English and the Irish all the way to the final.
In that scenario, Los Pumas would be the remaining highly-seeded nation on that side of the elimination bracket as England and Ireland.
Tournament Hosts Face Major Fixture
Tournament hosts Australia have been drawn together with their great rivals and triple champions New Zealand in Pool A.
Australia will kick off the World Cup in Perth on 1 October 2027 in a blockbuster fixture designed to launch the event.
Elsewhere, holders South Africa have been paired with Italy, Georgia and Romania. The French team are grouped with the Brave Blossoms, 2031 hosts the USA and Manu Samoa.
Expanded Format for 2027
Argentina will take on Fiji, Spain and Canada as the World Cup expands to 24 teams from the 20 who took part in 2023.
The 2027 tournament will introduce a round of 16 round for the first time in Rugby World Cup history.
Although the victor of Pool F may avoid some of the game's heavyweights initially, they will have to face the runner-up from Group B – most likely Italy – in the last 16.
A total of four of the remaining six pool winners will play a team that finished third from the initial group phase.
RWC 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
