England and Wales find themselves placed in an identical pool for the World Cup in 2027, promising a highly-anticipated pool stage encounter in the tournament Down Under. They are joined in Pool F by the Tongan Ikale Tahi and Zimbabwe.
This pairing echoes their memorable clash in the group phase of the 2015 World Cup, where Wales' victory at Twickenham played a part in the hosts' surprise early exit.
Other Notable Group Draws
Ireland alongside the Scots also share a pool once again, replicating the scenario from the 2023 edition. In that tournament, they claimed a 36-14 victory, with their opponents unable to progress to the quarter-finals.
Los Teros and Os Lobos, both impressed as surprise packages in the last World Cup, round out that Pool D.
Notably, the winners of these two groups are kept apart from defending champions and world number one the Springboks until the final, assuming the Springboks top their assigned pool.
Tournament Implications
If the groups play out according to the current global standings, further top favourites like New Zealand and Les Bleus would remain separated from the likes of the English and Ireland all the way to the final.
In that scenario, Argentina would be the other top-ranked nation on that half of the knockout draw as those northern hemisphere teams.
Tournament Hosts Draw Major Fixture
Hosts the Wallabies find themselves together with their great rivals and three-time winners 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 competition.
In other groups, holders South Africa have drawn Italy, Georgia and Romania. The French team are in a pool with Japan, 2031 hosts the United States and Samoa.
Expanded Tournament for 2027
Los Pumas will face the Flying Fijians, Spain and Canada as the tournament expands to twenty-four nations from the twenty who took part in 2023.
This edition will introduce a last-16 stage for the very first time in the competition's existence.
While the winner of England and Wales's group may be kept apart from some of the rugby's heavyweights early on, they will have to face the runner-up from Group B – most likely Italy – in the first knockout round.
Four of the other six group winners will face a team that finished third 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
