England and Wales find themselves placed in the same pool for the 2027 RWC, setting up a major pool stage encounter in the tournament Down Under. They are joined in Group F by the Tongan Ikale Tahi and the Zimbabwean Sables.
This draw mirrors their memorable clash in the pool stages of the 2015 tournament, where Wales' victory at Twickenham contributed to the English team's surprise group stage elimination.
Key Pool Draws
Ireland alongside Scotland have likewise been drawn in a pool together, replicating the situation from the 2023 edition. On that occasion, they secured a convincing win, with their opponents unable to advance to the quarter-finals.
Uruguay and Portugal, both made a strong impression as surprise packages in France, complete that same group.
Notably, the winners of these two groups cannot meet defending champions and world number one South Africa before the final, assuming the Springboks win their own group.
Knockout Implications
Should the pools play out according to the current global standings, other top favourites 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 top-ranked nation on the same side of the knockout draw as England and Ireland.
Hosts Draw Major Fixture
Tournament hosts the Wallabies find themselves alongside their great rivals and three-time winners New Zealand in Group A.
Australia will open the World Cup in Perth on October 1st, 2027 in a marquee match aimed at launch the competition.
In other groups, reigning champions the Springboks have been paired with Italy, the Lelos and Romania. The French team are grouped with the Brave Blossoms, future hosts the USA and Manu Samoa.
Larger Format for 2027
Argentina will take on Fiji, Los Leones and Canada as the tournament expands to twenty-four nations from the 20 who competed in France.
The 2027 tournament will introduce a last-16 round for the first time in the competition's existence.
Although the winner of England and Wales's group may be kept apart from some of the game's heavyweights initially, they will meet the runner-up from Pool B – probably Italy – in the last 16.
A total of four of the remaining six pool winners will face a team that finished third 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
