The English side and their Welsh counterparts find themselves placed in the same pool for the 2027 Rugby World Cup, promising a highly-anticipated early clash in Australia. They are joined in Pool F by the Tongan Ikale Tahi and the Zimbabwean Sables.
This draw echoes their infamous meeting in the group phase of the 2015 tournament, where a Welsh win at England's home ground played a part in the hosts' shock group stage elimination.
Other Notable Group Draws
The Irish alongside Scotland also share a pool once again, replicating the situation from the 2023 edition. In that tournament, Ireland claimed a convincing win, with Scotland failing to progress to the quarter-finals.
Uruguay and Os Lobos, both made a strong impression 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 before the final, assuming the Springboks win their assigned pool.
Tournament Ramifications
If the pools play out in line with the current world rankings, other top favourites like the All Blacks and Les Bleus would also be kept apart from both the English and the Irish all the way to the championship decider.
In that scenario, Los Pumas would be the other highly-seeded nation on that side of the knockout draw as England and Ireland.
Hosts Draw Major Opener
Hosts the Wallabies find themselves alongside their trans-Tasman rivals and triple champions New Zealand in Pool A.
The Wallabies will open the tournament in the city of Perth on 1 October 2027 in a marquee match aimed at jump-start the event.
In other groups, holders the Springboks have been paired with Italy, the Lelos and the Oaks. France are in a pool with Japan, 2031 hosts the United States and Samoa.
Expanded Tournament for 2027
Argentina will take on Fiji, Los Leones and the Canadian team as the World Cup grows to twenty-four nations from the 20 who competed in 2023.
This edition will introduce a round of 16 round for the very first time in the competition's existence.
Although the victor of England and Wales's group may be kept apart from some of the game's heavyweights initially, they will meet the runner-up from Group B – most likely the Italians – in the first knockout round.
A total of four of the remaining six group winners will play a team that finished third 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
