England and their Welsh counterparts find themselves placed in the same pool for the 2027 Rugby World Cup, setting up a major early clash in Australia. They are joined in Pool F by the Tongan Ikale Tahi and the Zimbabwean Sables.
This pairing mirrors their infamous clash in the group phase of the 2015 tournament, where Wales' victory at Twickenham played a part in the English team's surprise group stage elimination.
Other Notable Group Pairings
Ireland alongside Scotland also share a group once again, just as the situation from the France 2023 tournament. In that tournament, they claimed a convincing victory, with Scotland failing 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 both Pool D and Pool F cannot meet holders and top-ranked the Springboks until the showpiece match, assuming the Springboks win their own group.
Knockout Implications
Should the pools conclude according to the current world rankings, other top favourites like New Zealand and France would also be kept apart from both England and the Irish until the championship decider.
In that scenario, Argentina would be the other highly-seeded nation on the same side of the knockout draw as those northern hemisphere teams.
Hosts Draw Blockbuster Fixture
Hosts the Wallabies have been drawn alongside their great rivals and triple champions New Zealand in Group A.
The Wallabies will open the tournament in the city of Perth on October 1st, 2027 in a marquee fixture designed to launch the competition.
In other groups, holders the Springboks have drawn the Azzurri, Georgia and the Oaks. The French team are grouped with Japan, future hosts the USA and Samoa.
Expanded Tournament for 2027
Argentina will take on Fiji, Los Leones and Canada as the tournament grows to 24 teams from the 20 who took part in 2023.
This edition will feature a round of 16 round for the very first time in the competition's existence.
Although the winner of Pool F may avoid some of the rugby's heavyweights initially, they will have to face the runner-up from Pool B – probably Italy – in the last 16.
Four of the remaining 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
