England together with Wales find themselves placed in an identical group for the World Cup in 2027, setting up a highly-anticipated pool stage encounter in the tournament Down Under. They are joined in Group F by the Tongan Ikale Tahi and the Zimbabwean Sables.
This draw recalls their memorable meeting in the group phase of the 2015 tournament, where a Welsh win at England's home ground played a part in the hosts' surprise group stage elimination.
Key Group Draws
The Irish and Scotland also share a pool together, replicating the scenario from the 2023 edition. On that occasion, Ireland secured a 36-14 victory, with their opponents unable to advance to the knockout stages.
Uruguay and Os Lobos, both made a strong impression as underdogs in the last World Cup, complete that same group.
Significantly, the victors of these two groups cannot meet defending champions and world number one South Africa before the final, presuming the Springboks win their own group.
Tournament Ramifications
Should the pools play out in line with the current world rankings, further leading contenders like New Zealand and France would also be kept apart from both the English and Ireland all the way to the championship decider.
Under those circumstances, Argentina would be the remaining highly-seeded nation on that half of the elimination bracket as England and Ireland.
Tournament Hosts Face Major Fixture
Tournament hosts Australia have been drawn alongside their trans-Tasman rivals and triple champions the All Blacks in Group A.
The Wallabies will kick off the tournament in Perth on October 1st, 2027 in a blockbuster fixture aimed at launch the event.
In other groups, holders the Springboks have drawn Italy, Georgia and Romania. The French team are grouped with Japan, future hosts the United States and Samoa.
Expanded Format for 2027
Argentina will take on Fiji, Spain and the Canadian team as the World Cup grows to 24 teams from the twenty who took part in 2023.
The 2027 tournament will introduce a round of 16 stage for the very first time in Rugby World Cup history.
While the winner of Pool F may be kept apart from some of the rugby's biggest beasts initially, they will have to face the runner-up from Pool B – most likely the Italians – in the first knockout round.
A total of four of the other six pool winners will play a third-placed side 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
