The English side and their Welsh counterparts find themselves placed in an identical pool for the World Cup in 2027, setting up a highly-anticipated early clash in the tournament Down Under. Completing the group in Pool F by the Tongan Ikale Tahi and Zimbabwe.
This pairing echoes their famous meeting in the pool stages of the 2015 tournament, where Wales' victory at Twickenham contributed to the English team's shock early exit.
Other Notable Group Pairings
The Irish and the Scots also share a group together, replicating the scenario from the France 2023 tournament. In that tournament, they claimed a 36-14 win, with their opponents failing to progress to the quarter-finals.
Los Teros and Portugal, who each impressed as underdogs in France, round out that Pool D.
Notably, the victors of both Pool D and Pool F are kept apart from defending champions and top-ranked the Springboks before the showpiece match, assuming the Springboks top their assigned pool.
Knockout Implications
If the pools play out according to the current world rankings, further leading contenders like New Zealand and Les Bleus would remain separated from the likes of England and Ireland all the way to the championship decider.
In that scenario, Argentina would be the remaining highly-seeded nation on that side of the knockout draw as those northern hemisphere teams.
Tournament Hosts Face Major Fixture
Hosts the Wallabies have been drawn together with their great rivals and three-time winners New Zealand in Group A.
The Wallabies will kick off the tournament in the city of Perth on October 1st, 2027 in a marquee match aimed at jump-start the competition.
Elsewhere, holders the Springboks have been paired with the Azzurri, the Lelos and the Oaks. France are grouped with the Brave Blossoms, future hosts the United States and Samoa.
Larger Format for 2027
Argentina will face the Flying Fijians, Los Leones and Canada as the World Cup grows to twenty-four nations from the twenty who took part in 2023.
This edition will feature a last-16 stage for the very first time in Rugby World Cup existence.
While the winner of Pool F may avoid some of the game's biggest beasts initially, they will have to face the second-placed team from Group B – most likely Italy – in the first knockout round.
A total of four of the remaining six group winners will face a third-placed side 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
