England and Wales find themselves placed in an identical pool for the 2027 RWC, setting up a highly-anticipated pool stage encounter in the tournament Down Under. Completing the group in Group F by Tonga and Zimbabwe.
This draw mirrors their famous clash in the pool stages of the 2015 World Cup, where Wales' victory at Twickenham played a part in the hosts' shock early exit.
Key Group Pairings
Ireland alongside Scotland also share a pool once again, replicating the situation from the 2023 edition. In that tournament, they claimed a 36-14 win, with Scotland failing to advance to the knockout stages.
Uruguay and Portugal, both impressed as surprise packages in France, round out that same group.
Notably, the winners of both Pool D and Pool F cannot meet holders and world number one South Africa before the showpiece match, assuming the South Africans win their own group.
Knockout Ramifications
If the groups play out according to the current world rankings, other top favourites like the All Blacks and France would remain separated from the likes of England and Ireland all the way to the championship decider.
In that scenario, Los Pumas would be the remaining top-ranked nation on that half of the knockout draw as England and Ireland.
Hosts Face Major Opener
Hosts Australia find themselves together with their trans-Tasman rivals and three-time winners the All Blacks in Group A.
Australia will open the World Cup in Perth on October 1st, 2027 in a blockbuster match designed to launch the event.
In other groups, holders the Springboks have been paired with Italy, the Lelos and Romania. France are in a pool with Japan, 2031 hosts the United States and Manu Samoa.
Expanded Tournament for 2027
Los Pumas will face Fiji, Los Leones and Canada as the World Cup grows to twenty-four nations from the 20 who competed in 2023.
This edition will introduce a last-16 round for the first time in Rugby World Cup existence.
Although the victor 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 – most likely the Italians – in the last 16.
A total of four of the other six pool winners will face a team that finished third from the initial group phase.
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
