England together with Wales find themselves placed in an identical pool for the World Cup in 2027, promising a highly-anticipated early encounter in Australia. Completing the group in Pool F by the Tongan Ikale Tahi and the Zimbabwean Sables.
This pairing echoes their famous clash in the pool stages of the 2015 tournament, where a Welsh win at England's home ground played a part in the hosts' shock early exit.
Key Pool Pairings
The Irish and Scotland also share a pool together, just as the situation from the 2023 edition. On that occasion, they secured a convincing win, with Scotland failing to progress to the knockout stages.
Uruguay and Os Lobos, both made a strong impression as surprise packages in France, complete that same group.
Notably, the winners of these two groups are kept apart from holders and top-ranked the Springboks before the final, assuming the South Africans win their own group.
Tournament Ramifications
Should the pools conclude according to the current global standings, other leading contenders like New Zealand and Les Bleus would remain separated from the likes of England and the Irish until the final.
In that scenario, Argentina would be the other highly-seeded nation on that half of the knockout draw as England and Ireland.
Tournament Hosts Draw Major Opener
Hosts the Wallabies have been drawn together with their great rivals and three-time winners New Zealand in Group A.
The Wallabies will open the World Cup in the city of Perth on 1 October 2027 in a blockbuster match aimed at launch the event.
In other groups, holders the Springboks have been paired with the Azzurri, the Lelos and the Oaks. The French team are grouped with the Brave Blossoms, 2031 hosts the USA and Samoa.
Larger Format for 2027
Argentina will take on Fiji, Los Leones and Canada as the World Cup grows to 24 teams from the twenty who took part in France.
The 2027 tournament will introduce a round of 16 round for the first time in Rugby World Cup history.
While the winner of Pool F may avoid some of the game's biggest beasts early on, they will have to face the runner-up from Pool B – probably Italy – in the last 16.
Four of the other 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
