England and Wales find themselves placed in the same group 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 mirrors their famous meeting in the group phase of the 2015 tournament, where a Welsh win at Twickenham played a part in the hosts' surprise group stage elimination.
Key Pool Draws
The Irish alongside Scotland also share a group together, just as the situation from the 2023 edition. On that occasion, Ireland secured a 36-14 victory, with their opponents failing to advance to the knockout stages.
Los Teros and Portugal, both impressed as surprise packages in the last World Cup, complete that same group.
Significantly, the winners of these two groups cannot meet defending champions and top-ranked South Africa until the final, presuming the South Africans top their assigned pool.
Knockout Ramifications
Should the groups play out according to the current global standings, other leading contenders like New Zealand and Les Bleus would also be kept apart from both the English and Ireland until the championship decider.
In that scenario, Argentina would be the other highly-seeded nation on that half of the knockout draw as those northern hemisphere teams.
Hosts Draw Major Fixture
Tournament hosts the Wallabies find themselves alongside their trans-Tasman rivals and triple champions New Zealand in Group A.
Australia will open the tournament in Perth on 1 October 2027 in a marquee match designed to launch the competition.
Elsewhere, holders the Springboks have been paired with the Azzurri, the Lelos and Romania. France are grouped with the Brave Blossoms, 2031 hosts the United States and Samoa.
Expanded Tournament for 2027
Los Pumas will face Fiji, Los Leones and Canada as the tournament expands to twenty-four nations from the 20 who took part in France.
This edition will introduce a last-16 round for the first time in Rugby World Cup history.
While the victor of England and Wales's group may avoid some of the game's heavyweights early on, they will have to face the runner-up from Pool B – probably the Italians – in the first knockout round.
Four of the other six pool winners will play 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
