England together with their Welsh counterparts find themselves placed in an identical pool for the World Cup in 2027, setting up a major early clash in Australia. Completing the group in Group F by the Tongan Ikale Tahi and Zimbabwe.
This pairing echoes their infamous meeting in the pool stages of the 2015 World Cup, where Wales' victory at Twickenham played a part in the hosts' shock early exit.
Key Group Draws
The Irish alongside the Scots also share a group once again, replicating the scenario from the 2023 edition. In that tournament, Ireland claimed a convincing victory, with their opponents failing to progress to the knockout stages.
Los Teros and Os Lobos, who each impressed as surprise packages in the last World Cup, round out that Pool D.
Significantly, the winners of both Pool D and Pool F cannot meet holders and world number one the Springboks before the showpiece match, assuming the South Africans top their own group.
Tournament Implications
If the pools conclude according to the current world rankings, other top favourites like New Zealand and Les Bleus would remain separated from the likes of the English and the Irish until the championship decider.
Under those circumstances, Los Pumas would be the remaining top-ranked nation on that half of the knockout draw as those northern hemisphere teams.
Tournament Hosts Face Major Opener
Tournament hosts the Wallabies have been drawn alongside their trans-Tasman rivals and triple champions New Zealand in Pool A.
Australia will open the tournament in the city of Perth on October 1st, 2027 in a marquee match aimed at jump-start the competition.
In other groups, holders the Springboks have drawn the Azzurri, the Lelos and the Oaks. The French team are grouped with Japan, future hosts the USA and Manu Samoa.
Larger Tournament for 2027
Los Pumas will take on Fiji, Spain and the Canadian team as the tournament grows to 24 teams from the twenty who competed in 2023.
The 2027 tournament will introduce a last-16 stage for the very first time in the competition's history.
Although the victor of Pool F may be kept apart from some of the game's biggest beasts initially, they will have to face the second-placed team from Pool B – most likely Italy – in the first knockout round.
Four of the remaining six group 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
