England together with their Welsh counterparts find themselves placed in an identical group for the 2027 RWC, promising a highly-anticipated early encounter in the tournament Down Under. They are joined in Group F by Tonga and Zimbabwe.
This pairing recalls their famous meeting in the group phase of the 2015 tournament, where a Welsh win at Twickenham contributed to the hosts' shock early exit.
Other Notable Pool Draws
The Irish alongside Scotland also share a pool together, replicating the situation from the France 2023 tournament. On that occasion, Ireland secured a convincing win, with their opponents unable to progress to the knockout stages.
Los Teros and Portugal, who each impressed as surprise packages in the last World Cup, round out that Pool D.
Notably, the victors of these two groups cannot meet holders and top-ranked South Africa until the final, assuming the South Africans top their own group.
Knockout Ramifications
Should the pools play out in line with the current world rankings, further top favourites like New Zealand and France would also be kept apart from both the English and Ireland until the championship decider.
In that scenario, Los Pumas would be the remaining highly-seeded nation on that side of the knockout draw as England and Ireland.
Hosts Draw Major Fixture
Hosts the Wallabies have been drawn alongside their great rivals and triple champions the All Blacks in Group A.
Australia will open the World Cup in Perth on October 1st, 2027 in a blockbuster fixture aimed at launch the event.
Elsewhere, holders South Africa have been paired with the Azzurri, the Lelos and Romania. France are grouped with the Brave Blossoms, 2031 hosts the USA and Samoa.
Larger Format for 2027
Argentina will take on Fiji, Los Leones and the Canadian team as the tournament expands to 24 teams from the 20 who took part in 2023.
This edition will introduce a round of 16 stage for the first time in Rugby World Cup existence.
Although the winner of England and Wales's group may be kept apart from some of the game's biggest beasts early on, they will have to face the second-placed team from Group B – probably Italy – in the last 16.
Four of the other six pool winners will play a team that finished third 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
