England together with Wales find themselves placed in an identical pool for the World Cup in 2027, promising a highly-anticipated early clash in Australia. They are joined in Pool F by the Tongan Ikale Tahi and the Zimbabwean Sables.
This pairing mirrors their famous meeting in the pool stages of the 2015 World Cup, where Wales' victory at Twickenham contributed to the English team's surprise group stage elimination.
Key Pool Draws
Ireland and Scotland also share a pool together, replicating the situation from the France 2023 tournament. In that tournament, Ireland claimed a convincing win, with Scotland failing to progress to the quarter-finals.
Los Teros and Os Lobos, who each made a strong impression as surprise packages in France, complete that same group.
Notably, the victors of both Pool D and Pool F cannot meet holders and world number one South Africa before the final, presuming the Springboks win their own group.
Tournament Ramifications
Should the pools conclude according to the current global standings, other top favourites like New Zealand and France would remain separated from the likes of the English and the Irish until the championship decider.
In that scenario, Los Pumas would be the remaining top-ranked nation on the same side of the knockout draw as England and Ireland.
Tournament Hosts Face Major Fixture
Hosts Australia find themselves together with their great rivals and three-time winners New Zealand in Group A.
The Wallabies will open the World Cup in Perth on 1 October 2027 in a blockbuster match aimed at jump-start the event.
Elsewhere, reigning champions South Africa have been paired with the Azzurri, the Lelos and Romania. The French team are grouped with the Brave Blossoms, 2031 hosts the USA and Manu Samoa.
Expanded Format for 2027
Argentina will face the Flying Fijians, Los Leones and the Canadian team as the World Cup expands to twenty-four nations from the twenty who took part in 2023.
The 2027 tournament will feature a round of 16 stage for the first time in the competition's existence.
While the winner of Pool F may avoid some of the rugby's biggest beasts initially, they will have to face the second-placed team from Pool B – probably Italy – in the last 16.
Four of the other six group winners will face a third-placed side 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
