England together with their Welsh counterparts find themselves placed in the same pool for the 2027 Rugby World Cup, promising a highly-anticipated early encounter in Australia. They are joined in Group F by the Tongan Ikale Tahi and the Zimbabwean Sables.
This draw recalls their famous meeting in the pool stages of the 2015 World Cup, where a Welsh win at Twickenham contributed to the English team's shock early exit.
Other Notable Pool Pairings
The Irish and the Scots also share a group once again, replicating the situation from the France 2023 tournament. In that tournament, they claimed a convincing victory, with their opponents unable to progress to the quarter-finals.
Uruguay and Portugal, both impressed as underdogs in France, round out that same group.
Significantly, the victors of these two groups are kept apart from holders and world number one the Springboks until the final, assuming the Springboks top their assigned pool.
Tournament Ramifications
Should the pools play out in line with the current world rankings, further top favourites like the All Blacks and Les Bleus would remain separated from both England and Ireland all the way to the final.
Under those circumstances, Los Pumas would be the other top-ranked nation on that half of the elimination bracket as those northern hemisphere teams.
Hosts Draw Blockbuster Opener
Hosts the Wallabies have been drawn alongside their great rivals and triple champions New Zealand in Group A.
The Wallabies will kick off the tournament in the city of Perth on 1 October 2027 in a marquee match designed to launch the competition.
Elsewhere, holders South Africa have been paired with the Azzurri, Georgia and the Oaks. The French team are in a pool with Japan, 2031 hosts the USA and Samoa.
Expanded Format for 2027
Los Pumas will face Fiji, Los Leones and Canada as the tournament grows to twenty-four nations from the 20 who competed in 2023.
The 2027 tournament will feature a round of 16 round for the first time in the competition's existence.
Although the victor of England and Wales's group may be kept apart from some of the game's biggest beasts initially, they will meet the second-placed team from Group B – most likely Italy – in the last 16.
Four of the remaining six pool winners will face 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
