England together with their Welsh counterparts find themselves placed in an identical group for the 2027 RWC, promising a major pool stage clash in Australia. They are joined in Group F by the Tongan Ikale Tahi and the Zimbabwean Sables.
This pairing mirrors their famous meeting in the group phase of the 2015 tournament, where a Welsh win at Twickenham played a part in the hosts' surprise group stage elimination.
Other Notable Group Pairings
Ireland alongside Scotland have likewise been drawn in a pool once again, replicating the situation from the France 2023 tournament. On that occasion, Ireland claimed a convincing victory, with their opponents failing to advance to the quarter-finals.
Uruguay and Os Lobos, both impressed as surprise packages in France, round out that same group.
Notably, the victors of these two groups cannot meet holders and top-ranked the Springboks before the showpiece match, presuming the South Africans top their own group.
Knockout Implications
Should the pools play out in line with the current world rankings, other leading contenders like the All Blacks and France would also be kept apart from the likes of the English and Ireland until the final.
Under those circumstances, Argentina would be the remaining highly-seeded nation on the same half of the elimination bracket as England and Ireland.
Hosts Draw Major Fixture
Hosts Australia find themselves alongside their great rivals and triple champions New Zealand in Pool A.
Australia will open the tournament in the city of Perth on 1 October 2027 in a blockbuster fixture aimed at jump-start the event.
Elsewhere, holders the Springboks have been paired with Italy, the Lelos and Romania. The French team are in a pool with Japan, 2031 hosts the United States and Samoa.
Expanded Tournament for 2027
Argentina will take on Fiji, Los Leones and Canada as the tournament expands to twenty-four nations from the 20 who took part in France.
This edition will introduce a last-16 round for the very first time in Rugby World Cup history.
While the winner of Pool F may avoid some of the rugby's heavyweights early on, they will have to face the second-placed team from Pool B – most likely Italy – in the first knockout round.
A total of four of the remaining six pool winners will face a third-placed side 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
