England together with their Welsh counterparts find themselves placed in an identical pool for the World Cup in 2027, promising a major pool stage clash in the tournament Down Under. They are joined in Pool F by Tonga and the Zimbabwean Sables.
This draw mirrors their infamous meeting in the pool stages of the 2015 tournament, where Wales' victory at Twickenham played a part in the English team's shock group stage elimination.
Other Notable Group Draws
The Irish and Scotland also share a group together, replicating the scenario from the France 2023 tournament. On that occasion, they secured a 36-14 victory, with Scotland unable to progress to the knockout stages.
Uruguay and Os Lobos, who each made a strong impression as surprise packages in the last World Cup, round out that same group.
Notably, the winners of both Pool D and Pool F cannot meet holders and world number one the Springboks until the showpiece match, presuming the South Africans top their own group.
Knockout Implications
If the pools conclude according to the current world rankings, further leading contenders like the All Blacks and Les Bleus would remain separated from both England and the Irish until the final.
In that scenario, Argentina would be the remaining highly-seeded nation on that side of the elimination bracket as those northern hemisphere teams.
Hosts Draw Major Opener
Hosts the Wallabies find themselves together with their great rivals and triple champions New Zealand in Pool A.
The Wallabies will open the tournament in Perth on 1 October 2027 in a blockbuster match designed to launch the competition.
In other groups, holders the Springboks have drawn Italy, the Lelos and the Oaks. France are in a pool with Japan, 2031 hosts the United States and Samoa.
Expanded Tournament for 2027
Argentina will face Fiji, Los Leones and the Canadian team as the tournament grows to twenty-four nations from the twenty who took part in France.
The 2027 tournament will feature a round of 16 round for the first time in Rugby World Cup history.
While the winner 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 the Italians – in the last 16.
Four of the other six pool winners will play a team that finished third from the initial group phase.
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
