England and their Welsh counterparts have been drawn in the same pool for the 2027 RWC, promising a major pool stage encounter in Australia. They are joined in Pool F by the Tongan Ikale Tahi and Zimbabwe.
This pairing mirrors their infamous meeting in the group phase of the 2015 tournament, where Wales' victory at Twickenham played a part in the English team's shock group stage elimination.
Key Group Pairings
The Irish and the Scots also share a pool once again, replicating the situation from the France 2023 tournament. In that tournament, they claimed a 36-14 win, with their opponents unable to progress to the quarter-finals.
Los Teros and Portugal, both impressed as surprise packages in France, round out that same group.
Significantly, the winners of these two groups are kept apart from holders and top-ranked the Springboks until the showpiece match, presuming the South Africans win their own group.
Knockout Implications
If the pools play out according to the current global standings, further leading contenders like the All Blacks and France would also be kept apart from both England and the Irish all the way to the championship decider.
In that scenario, Los Pumas would be the remaining top-ranked nation on that half of the elimination bracket as those northern hemisphere teams.
Tournament Hosts Face Major Opener
Tournament hosts the Wallabies find themselves together with their great rivals and three-time winners the All Blacks in Pool A.
The Wallabies will kick off the tournament in Perth on October 1st, 2027 in a marquee fixture designed to jump-start the competition.
Elsewhere, holders South Africa have been paired with the Azzurri, Georgia and the Oaks. France are in a pool with Japan, 2031 hosts the USA and Manu Samoa.
Larger Format for 2027
Argentina will take on Fiji, Los Leones and Canada as the tournament grows to twenty-four nations from the twenty who took part in France.
The 2027 tournament will feature a last-16 stage for the first time in the competition's history.
Although the winner of Pool F may avoid some of the game's biggest beasts early on, they will have to face the second-placed team from Group B – probably Italy – in the last 16.
A total of four of the remaining 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
