England together with their Welsh counterparts find themselves placed in the same pool for the World Cup in 2027, promising a highly-anticipated pool stage encounter in the tournament Down Under. Completing the group in Group F by the Tongan Ikale Tahi and Zimbabwe.
This draw echoes their infamous meeting in the pool stages of the 2015 World Cup, where a Welsh win at England's home ground played a part in the English team's surprise early exit.
Other Notable Group Pairings
The Irish and the Scots also share a group once again, replicating the situation from the France 2023 tournament. On that occasion, Ireland secured a convincing victory, with their opponents failing to progress to the knockout stages.
Los Teros and Portugal, who each impressed as underdogs in France, complete that Pool D.
Notably, the victors of these two groups cannot meet defending champions and world number one the Springboks before the final, presuming the Springboks top their own group.
Knockout Implications
Should the groups conclude according to the current global standings, further leading contenders like New Zealand and Les Bleus would remain separated from both the English and the Irish all the way to the final.
Under those circumstances, Los Pumas would be the other highly-seeded nation on the same side of the elimination bracket as England and Ireland.
Hosts Draw Major Opener
Hosts the Wallabies have been drawn together with their great rivals and triple champions the All Blacks in Group A.
Australia will open the tournament in the city of Perth on 1 October 2027 in a marquee match aimed at jump-start the event.
In other groups, reigning champions South Africa have been paired with the Azzurri, Georgia and the Oaks. France are grouped with Japan, future hosts the United States and Samoa.
Larger Tournament for 2027
Argentina will face Fiji, Los Leones and the Canadian team as the World Cup expands to 24 teams from the twenty who took part in France.
This edition will introduce a round of 16 round for the very first time in Rugby World Cup existence.
Although the winner of Pool F may be kept apart from some of the game's biggest beasts initially, they will meet the second-placed team from Group B – probably the Italians – in the last 16.
Four of the remaining six pool 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
