England and their Welsh counterparts find themselves placed in an identical group for the World Cup in 2027, promising a highly-anticipated early clash in Australia. Completing the group in Group F by the Tongan Ikale Tahi and the Zimbabwean Sables.
This draw recalls their famous meeting in the group phase of the 2015 tournament, where Wales' victory at England's home ground contributed to the English team's shock group stage elimination.
Key Pool Draws
Ireland and Scotland have likewise been drawn in a pool once again, replicating the scenario from the France 2023 tournament. On that occasion, Ireland claimed a convincing win, with their opponents unable to progress to the quarter-finals.
Los Teros and Os Lobos, both made a strong impression as underdogs in the last World Cup, round out that Pool D.
Significantly, the winners of these two groups cannot meet defending champions and world number one the Springboks until the final, presuming the Springboks win their assigned pool.
Tournament Ramifications
Should the pools play out in line with the current world rankings, further top favourites like New Zealand and France would remain separated from both England and the Irish until the championship decider.
Under those circumstances, Argentina would be the other highly-seeded nation on the same half of the elimination bracket as those northern hemisphere teams.
Tournament Hosts Draw Blockbuster Fixture
Tournament hosts the Wallabies have been drawn together with their trans-Tasman rivals and triple champions the All Blacks in Group A.
The Wallabies will kick off the World Cup in Perth on 1 October 2027 in a marquee match aimed at jump-start the competition.
In other groups, reigning champions South Africa have been paired with the Azzurri, Georgia and Romania. France are grouped with Japan, 2031 hosts the USA and Samoa.
Larger Format for 2027
Argentina will face Fiji, Los Leones and the Canadian team as the tournament grows to twenty-four nations from the 20 who took part in France.
This edition will feature a round of 16 round for the first time in Rugby World Cup history.
While the victor of England and Wales's group may be kept apart from some of the rugby's biggest beasts initially, they will have to face the second-placed team from Pool B – probably the Italians – in the last 16.
A total of four of the remaining six pool 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
