England together with their Welsh counterparts find themselves placed in the same pool for the 2027 RWC, setting up a major pool stage encounter in the tournament Down Under. Completing the group in Group F by Tonga and Zimbabwe.
This draw echoes their infamous meeting in the pool stages of the 2015 tournament, where a Welsh win at Twickenham played a part in the English team's surprise group stage elimination.
Other Notable Group Draws
The Irish and Scotland also share a pool once again, replicating the situation from the 2023 edition. In that tournament, Ireland claimed a 36-14 win, with their opponents failing to progress to the quarter-finals.
Uruguay and Portugal, who each made a strong impression as surprise packages in France, round out that same group.
Notably, the victors of both Pool D and Pool F cannot meet defending champions and world number one the Springboks until the showpiece match, presuming the Springboks win their assigned pool.
Knockout Implications
Should the groups conclude according to the current global standings, further top favourites like New Zealand and Les Bleus would also be kept apart from both the English and Ireland until the final.
Under those circumstances, Los Pumas would be the other highly-seeded nation on that half of the elimination bracket as England and Ireland.
Hosts Face Major Fixture
Hosts the Wallabies have been drawn together with their trans-Tasman rivals and three-time winners New Zealand in Group A.
Australia will kick off the tournament in the city of Perth on October 1st, 2027 in a marquee match designed to launch the event.
Elsewhere, reigning champions the Springboks have drawn Italy, the Lelos and the Oaks. France are in a pool with the Brave Blossoms, future hosts the United States and Samoa.
Expanded Tournament for 2027
Argentina will face Fiji, Spain and Canada as the World Cup grows to 24 teams from the twenty who competed in France.
This edition will introduce a last-16 round for the first time in the competition's history.
While the winner of England and Wales's group may be kept apart from some of the rugby's heavyweights early on, they will meet the runner-up from Pool B – most likely the Italians – in the last 16.
A total of four of the other six group winners will play a team that finished third 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
