England together with their Welsh counterparts find themselves placed in the same group for the World Cup in 2027, promising a highly-anticipated pool stage clash in Australia. They are joined in Group F by the Tongan Ikale Tahi and Zimbabwe.
This draw recalls their infamous meeting in the pool stages of the 2015 tournament, where a Welsh win at England's home ground played a part in the English team's surprise early exit.
Key Group Draws
The Irish and the Scots have likewise been drawn in a group together, replicating the scenario from the France 2023 tournament. On that occasion, they secured a 36-14 win, with Scotland failing to advance to the quarter-finals.
Los Teros and Os Lobos, both made a strong impression as surprise packages in the last World Cup, round out that same group.
Notably, the victors of these two groups cannot meet defending champions and world number one South Africa until the showpiece match, presuming the Springboks top their assigned pool.
Knockout Implications
Should the pools play out according to the current world rankings, other leading contenders like New Zealand and France would also be kept apart from the likes of England and the Irish until the final.
In that scenario, Los Pumas would be the other highly-seeded nation on the same side of the knockout draw as those northern hemisphere teams.
Hosts Face Blockbuster Fixture
Tournament hosts the Wallabies find themselves alongside their trans-Tasman rivals and triple champions the All Blacks in Pool A.
Australia will open the World Cup in Perth on October 1st, 2027 in a blockbuster match designed to jump-start the competition.
In other groups, holders South Africa have been paired with Italy, the Lelos and Romania. The French team are in a pool with Japan, future hosts the United States and Samoa.
Expanded Format for 2027
Los Pumas will face the Flying Fijians, Spain and Canada as the World Cup expands to 24 teams from the twenty who took part in France.
This edition will feature a round of 16 stage for the very first time in Rugby World Cup history.
Although the winner of England and Wales's group may avoid some of the game's biggest beasts initially, they will meet the second-placed team from Pool B – most likely the Italians – in the first knockout round.
A total of four of the remaining six group winners will play 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
