England and their Welsh counterparts have been drawn in the same pool for the 2027 Rugby World Cup, setting up a major pool stage encounter in Australia. Completing the group in Pool F by Tonga and Zimbabwe.
This pairing echoes their famous meeting in the group phase of the 2015 tournament, where a Welsh win at England's home ground played a part in the hosts' shock early exit.
Other Notable Pool Pairings
The Irish alongside the Scots also share a pool together, replicating the situation from the France 2023 tournament. On that occasion, Ireland secured a convincing victory, with Scotland failing to advance to the quarter-finals.
Uruguay and Portugal, both made a strong impression as underdogs in France, round out that Pool D.
Notably, the victors of these two groups are kept apart from defending champions and top-ranked the Springboks until the final, presuming the Springboks win their own group.
Knockout Implications
If the pools play out according to the current world rankings, further leading contenders like the All Blacks and Les Bleus would also be kept apart from both England and the Irish all the way to the championship decider.
In that scenario, Los Pumas would be the remaining top-ranked nation on that side of the knockout draw as England and Ireland.
Tournament Hosts Draw Major Fixture
Hosts the Wallabies find themselves alongside their great rivals and triple champions the All Blacks in Pool A.
The Wallabies will open the tournament in the city of Perth on 1 October 2027 in a marquee fixture designed to jump-start the event.
Elsewhere, holders the Springboks have drawn the Azzurri, Georgia and Romania. The French team are grouped with the Brave Blossoms, 2031 hosts the United States and Manu Samoa.
Larger Tournament for 2027
Los Pumas will take on the Flying Fijians, Los Leones and the Canadian team as the World Cup grows to twenty-four nations from the twenty who took part in 2023.
This edition will feature a last-16 round for the first time in the competition's history.
While the winner of Pool F may avoid some of the rugby's biggest beasts early on, they will have to face the runner-up from Group B – probably the Italians – in the first knockout round.
A total of four of the remaining six group winners will face 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
