England together with Wales find themselves placed in an identical group for the World Cup in 2027, setting up a major pool stage encounter in Australia. Completing the group in Pool F by the Tongan Ikale Tahi and Zimbabwe.
This draw echoes their famous meeting 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 early exit.
Other Notable Group Draws
The Irish alongside Scotland also share a pool once again, just as the situation from the 2023 edition. On that occasion, they secured a convincing victory, with their opponents unable to progress to the quarter-finals.
Uruguay and Os Lobos, who each made a strong impression as surprise packages in France, complete that Pool D.
Notably, the winners of these two groups cannot meet defending champions and world number one the Springboks before the showpiece match, assuming the Springboks win their own group.
Knockout Ramifications
Should the pools play out in line with the current world rankings, other leading contenders like the All Blacks and Les Bleus would remain separated from the likes of England and the Irish all the way to the championship decider.
In that scenario, Los Pumas would be the other highly-seeded nation on that half of the knockout draw as England and Ireland.
Hosts Face Blockbuster Opener
Hosts Australia have been drawn alongside their great rivals and triple champions New Zealand in Group A.
Australia will kick off the World Cup in Perth on October 1st, 2027 in a blockbuster fixture aimed at jump-start the event.
Elsewhere, reigning champions the Springboks have drawn Italy, Georgia and Romania. France are in a pool with Japan, 2031 hosts the United States and Samoa.
Expanded Tournament for 2027
Argentina will take on Fiji, Spain and Canada as the tournament expands to 24 teams from the twenty who took part in France.
This edition will introduce a round of 16 round for the very first time in Rugby World Cup history.
Although the victor of Pool F may avoid some of the game's biggest beasts initially, they will have to face the runner-up from Pool B – probably Italy – in the last 16.
Four of the remaining six pool winners will face a third-placed side 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
