The English side and Wales will face off in an identical group for the 2027 Rugby World Cup, promising a major pool stage encounter in Australia. Completing the group in Group F by the Tongan Ikale Tahi and the Zimbabwean Sables.
This draw mirrors their famous clash in the pool stages of the 2015 World Cup, where a Welsh win at England's home ground played a part in the hosts' shock group stage elimination.
Key Group Pairings
The Irish alongside Scotland also share a pool together, replicating the situation from the France 2023 tournament. On that occasion, Ireland claimed a 36-14 victory, with Scotland failing to progress to the knockout stages.
Uruguay and Portugal, both made a strong impression as surprise packages in the last World Cup, complete that same group.
Notably, the winners of both Pool D and Pool F cannot meet defending champions and world number one the Springboks until the showpiece match, assuming the South Africans top their own group.
Tournament Implications
Should the pools play out according to the current world rankings, further leading contenders like the All Blacks and France would remain separated from both England and the Irish until the final.
Under those circumstances, Los Pumas would be the other highly-seeded nation on the same side of the elimination bracket as England and Ireland.
Hosts Face Blockbuster Opener
Tournament hosts Australia find themselves alongside their great rivals and triple champions the All Blacks in Group A.
The Wallabies will kick off the tournament in Perth on 1 October 2027 in a blockbuster fixture aimed at jump-start the event.
Elsewhere, reigning champions the Springboks have drawn the Azzurri, the Lelos and Romania. The French team are grouped with Japan, 2031 hosts the USA and Samoa.
Larger Format for 2027
Los Pumas will face the Flying Fijians, Spain and the Canadian team as the World Cup grows to twenty-four nations from the 20 who competed in 2023.
This edition will introduce a round of 16 round for the very first time in the competition's history.
While the winner of Pool F may avoid some of the game's biggest beasts early on, they will meet the second-placed team from Pool B – probably the Italians – in the last 16.
Four of the other six pool winners will face a team that finished third from the pool stages.
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
