England together with their Welsh counterparts have been drawn in the same group for the World Cup in 2027, setting up a highly-anticipated pool stage encounter in Australia. They are joined in Pool F by Tonga and the Zimbabwean Sables.
This pairing mirrors their famous meeting in the pool stages of the 2015 tournament, where Wales' victory at Twickenham contributed to the English team's surprise group stage elimination.
Key Group Pairings
The Irish and Scotland have likewise been drawn in a group together, just as the scenario from the 2023 edition. In that tournament, they claimed a convincing win, with their opponents failing to advance to the knockout stages.
Los Teros and Portugal, both impressed as surprise packages in France, round out that Pool D.
Notably, the victors of both Pool D and Pool F are kept apart from defending champions and top-ranked the Springboks until the final, assuming the Springboks top their assigned pool.
Tournament Implications
Should the pools conclude according to the current world rankings, further top favourites like the All Blacks and Les Bleus would remain separated from both the English and the Irish until the final.
In that scenario, Argentina would be the other top-ranked nation on that half of the elimination bracket as England and Ireland.
Hosts Face Major Fixture
Hosts the Wallabies have been drawn alongside their great rivals and triple champions New Zealand in Group A.
The Wallabies will open the World Cup in Perth on October 1st, 2027 in a blockbuster match designed to jump-start the event.
Elsewhere, reigning champions the Springboks have been paired with the Azzurri, the Lelos and Romania. France are in a pool with the Brave Blossoms, 2031 hosts the USA and Manu Samoa.
Larger Format for 2027
Argentina will face the Flying Fijians, Los Leones and Canada as the tournament grows to twenty-four nations from the 20 who took part in France.
The 2027 tournament will feature a last-16 stage for the very first time in the competition's history.
Although the victor of Pool F may be kept apart from some of the rugby's heavyweights early on, they will meet the second-placed team from Group B – probably the Italians – in the last 16.
A total of four of the remaining six pool winners will play 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
