England together with their Welsh counterparts will face off in an identical pool for the 2027 Rugby World Cup, setting up a major pool stage encounter in Australia. They are joined in Pool F by Tonga and the Zimbabwean Sables.
This draw echoes their infamous meeting in the pool stages of the 2015 tournament, where Wales' victory at Twickenham contributed to the hosts' shock group stage elimination.
Other Notable Group Pairings
The Irish and Scotland also share a group together, replicating the situation from the France 2023 tournament. In that tournament, they claimed a convincing win, with their opponents unable to advance to the knockout stages.
Uruguay and Portugal, both impressed as surprise packages in France, complete that same group.
Notably, the winners of these two groups are kept apart from defending champions and top-ranked South Africa before the final, presuming the South Africans top their assigned pool.
Knockout Ramifications
Should the groups play out according to the current global standings, further top favourites like the All Blacks and Les Bleus would remain separated from both England and Ireland until the final.
Under those circumstances, Los Pumas would be the remaining highly-seeded nation on that half of the elimination bracket as England and Ireland.
Tournament Hosts Face Major Fixture
Hosts Australia find themselves together with their trans-Tasman rivals and triple champions the All Blacks in Pool A.
The Wallabies will kick off the World Cup in the city of Perth on 1 October 2027 in a marquee fixture aimed at jump-start the event.
Elsewhere, reigning champions South Africa have drawn Italy, the Lelos and Romania. The French team are grouped with Japan, 2031 hosts the USA and Samoa.
Larger Format for 2027
Argentina will face the Flying Fijians, Los Leones and the Canadian team as the tournament grows to twenty-four nations from the 20 who competed in 2023.
This edition will introduce a last-16 round for the very first time in Rugby World Cup existence.
Although the winner of Pool F may be kept apart from some of the rugby's biggest beasts early on, they will have to face the second-placed team from Group B – most likely the Italians – in the last 16.
Four of the other six pool winners will play a team that finished third from the initial group phase.
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
