England together with their Welsh counterparts find themselves placed in the same pool for the World Cup in 2027, setting up a highly-anticipated pool stage encounter in the tournament Down Under. Completing the group in Pool F by Tonga and the Zimbabwean Sables.
This pairing recalls their infamous meeting in the pool stages of the 2015 tournament, where a Welsh win at Twickenham played a part in the hosts' surprise group stage elimination.
Key Group Draws
The Irish and the Scots have likewise been drawn in a group together, just as the scenario from the France 2023 tournament. On that occasion, Ireland claimed a 36-14 victory, with Scotland failing to progress to the quarter-finals.
Los Teros and Os Lobos, who each impressed as surprise packages in France, complete that same group.
Significantly, the victors of both Pool D and Pool F cannot meet defending champions and world number one the Springboks until the showpiece match, assuming the South Africans win their own group.
Tournament Ramifications
Should the pools play out according to the current world rankings, other leading contenders like the All Blacks and Les Bleus would also be kept apart from both the English and Ireland until the final.
In that scenario, Argentina would be the other highly-seeded nation on the same half of the knockout draw as those northern hemisphere teams.
Hosts Face Major Opener
Tournament hosts Australia find themselves alongside their great rivals and triple champions New Zealand in Group A.
The Wallabies will kick off the World Cup in Perth on October 1st, 2027 in a blockbuster fixture designed to jump-start the event.
Elsewhere, reigning champions the Springboks have drawn the Azzurri, Georgia and Romania. The French team are grouped with the Brave Blossoms, future hosts the USA and Samoa.
Expanded Format for 2027
Argentina will face the Flying Fijians, Spain and the Canadian team as the tournament 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 Rugby World Cup history.
Although the victor of England and Wales's group may avoid some of the rugby's biggest beasts early on, they will have to face the runner-up from Group B – probably Italy – in the last 16.
A total of four of the remaining six group winners will play 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
