England together with their Welsh counterparts will face off in the same pool for the 2027 Rugby World Cup, promising a major pool stage encounter in Australia. Completing the group in Pool F by Tonga and Zimbabwe.
This draw recalls their infamous meeting in the group phase of the 2015 tournament, where a Welsh win at England's home ground contributed to the English team's shock group stage elimination.
Key Group Draws
The Irish and Scotland have likewise been drawn in a pool together, replicating the situation from the 2023 edition. In that tournament, they claimed a convincing victory, with their opponents unable to progress to the knockout stages.
Uruguay and Portugal, who each made a strong impression as surprise packages in France, round out that Pool D.
Significantly, the victors of both Pool D and Pool F cannot meet defending champions and world number one the Springboks before the showpiece match, assuming the South Africans win their assigned pool.
Knockout Implications
Should the groups play out according to the current global standings, further top favourites like the All Blacks and France 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 top-ranked nation on the same side of the elimination bracket as those northern hemisphere teams.
Hosts Draw Major Opener
Hosts the Wallabies find themselves together with their trans-Tasman rivals and three-time winners New Zealand in Pool A.
The Wallabies will open the tournament in the city of Perth on October 1st, 2027 in a blockbuster fixture aimed at launch the event.
In other groups, holders the Springboks have been paired with the Azzurri, Georgia and Romania. France are in a pool with Japan, 2031 hosts the USA and Samoa.
Larger Format for 2027
Argentina will take on the Flying Fijians, Los Leones and Canada as the World Cup grows to 24 teams from the twenty who competed in 2023.
This edition will feature a round of 16 round for the very first time in the competition's history.
Although the victor of Pool F may be kept apart from some of the game's heavyweights early on, they will meet the second-placed team from Group B – probably Italy – in the first knockout round.
A total of four of the other six group winners will play a team that finished third 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
