England together with their Welsh counterparts find themselves placed in the same pool for the 2027 RWC, setting up a highly-anticipated early clash in Australia. They are joined in Pool F by Tonga and the Zimbabwean Sables.
This pairing mirrors their famous meeting in the group phase of the 2015 tournament, where a Welsh win at Twickenham contributed to the hosts' shock early exit.
Key Group Pairings
The Irish alongside the Scots have likewise been drawn in a group together, just as the situation from the France 2023 tournament. In that tournament, they claimed a 36-14 victory, with Scotland failing to progress to the knockout stages.
Uruguay and Portugal, who each impressed as underdogs in France, round out that same group.
Notably, the winners of both Pool D and Pool F cannot meet defending champions and top-ranked South Africa until the final, assuming the Springboks win their own group.
Tournament Ramifications
If the pools conclude according to the current world rankings, further leading contenders like New Zealand and Les Bleus would remain separated from both England and Ireland all the way to the championship decider.
In that scenario, Argentina would be the remaining highly-seeded nation on that half of the knockout draw as those northern hemisphere teams.
Hosts Draw Major Opener
Hosts Australia find themselves alongside their great rivals and three-time winners the All Blacks in Pool A.
The Wallabies will open the tournament in the city of Perth on 1 October 2027 in a blockbuster fixture aimed at jump-start the event.
Elsewhere, reigning champions the Springboks have drawn the Azzurri, Georgia and Romania. France are in a pool with the Brave Blossoms, future hosts the United States and Samoa.
Expanded Tournament for 2027
Argentina will take on the Flying Fijians, Los Leones 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 stage for the first time in Rugby World Cup history.
While the victor of England and Wales's group may be kept apart from some of the game'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 other six group winners will face a third-placed side from the initial group phase.
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
