England together with their Welsh counterparts will face off in the same pool for the 2027 RWC, setting up a major pool stage clash in Australia. Completing the group in Group F by Tonga and Zimbabwe.
This draw mirrors their memorable clash in the group phase 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 alongside Scotland have likewise been drawn in a group together, replicating the situation from the France 2023 tournament. In that tournament, they secured a convincing victory, with Scotland failing to progress to the quarter-finals.
Los Teros and Portugal, who each impressed as surprise packages in France, complete that same group.
Significantly, the winners of these two groups are kept apart from defending champions and top-ranked the Springboks until the final, presuming the South Africans win their own group.
Knockout Implications
Should the pools play out according to the current world rankings, further top favourites like the All Blacks and France would also be kept apart from both the English and the Irish until the championship decider.
Under those circumstances, Los Pumas would be the remaining top-ranked nation on that side of the knockout draw as those northern hemisphere teams.
Hosts Draw Blockbuster Fixture
Tournament hosts Australia find themselves together with their great rivals and triple champions the All Blacks in Group A.
The Wallabies will open the tournament in Perth on 1 October 2027 in a blockbuster fixture aimed at jump-start the event.
In other groups, holders South Africa have drawn the Azzurri, the Lelos and Romania. The French team are in a pool with the Brave Blossoms, 2031 hosts the USA and Manu Samoa.
Expanded Tournament for 2027
Argentina will face Fiji, Los Leones and Canada as the tournament expands to 24 teams from the 20 who competed in 2023.
The 2027 tournament will feature a last-16 round for the very first time in Rugby World Cup existence.
Although the winner of England and Wales's group may avoid some of the rugby's heavyweights early on, they will have to face the second-placed team from Group B – probably Italy – in the first knockout round.
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
