England and their Welsh counterparts will face off in an identical pool for the World Cup in 2027, setting up a highly-anticipated pool stage encounter in the tournament Down Under. They are joined in Group F by the Tongan Ikale Tahi and the Zimbabwean Sables.
This pairing mirrors their famous clash in the pool stages of the 2015 World Cup, where Wales' victory at Twickenham contributed to the English team's surprise early exit.
Key Group Pairings
Ireland and the Scots have likewise been drawn in a group together, just as the scenario from the 2023 edition. On that occasion, they secured a convincing win, with their opponents failing to advance to the knockout stages.
Los Teros and Portugal, who each made a strong impression as underdogs in the last World Cup, round out that Pool D.
Notably, the winners of these two groups cannot meet defending champions and world number one the Springboks before the showpiece match, presuming the Springboks win their assigned pool.
Knockout Ramifications
If the pools conclude in line with the current world rankings, other top favourites like the All Blacks and France would also be kept apart from the likes of England and Ireland all the way to the final.
In that scenario, Los Pumas would be the other highly-seeded nation on the same half of the elimination bracket as those northern hemisphere teams.
Tournament Hosts Draw Major Opener
Tournament hosts the Wallabies have been drawn together with their trans-Tasman rivals and triple champions New Zealand in Group A.
The Wallabies will open the tournament in Perth on October 1st, 2027 in a blockbuster match designed to launch the competition.
Elsewhere, holders the Springboks have drawn the Azzurri, Georgia and the Oaks. France are grouped with the Brave Blossoms, 2031 hosts the United States and Manu Samoa.
Larger Format for 2027
Argentina will take on Fiji, Spain and Canada as the tournament grows to 24 teams from the twenty who took part in France.
The 2027 tournament will feature a last-16 stage for the very first time in Rugby World Cup history.
While the winner of England and Wales's group may be kept apart from some of the game's biggest beasts initially, they will have to face the runner-up from Group B – probably Italy – in the first knockout round.
A total of four of the other six group winners will face a team that finished third from the pool stages.
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