England and their Welsh counterparts will face off in an identical pool for the 2027 RWC, setting up a major pool stage encounter in the tournament Down Under. Completing the group in Pool F by Tonga and the Zimbabwean Sables.
This pairing mirrors their famous clash in the pool stages of the 2015 tournament, where Wales' victory at Twickenham contributed to the hosts' shock early exit.
Key Group Pairings
The Irish and the Scots also share a pool together, replicating the situation from the 2023 edition. On that occasion, they secured a convincing victory, with Scotland failing to progress to the knockout stages.
Uruguay and Portugal, who each made a strong impression as surprise packages in the last World Cup, complete that Pool D.
Notably, the winners of these two groups cannot meet defending champions and world number one the Springboks before the showpiece match, presuming the South Africans win their own group.
Knockout Ramifications
Should the groups conclude according to the current global standings, further leading contenders like the All Blacks and Les Bleus would also be kept apart from the likes of the English and Ireland until the championship decider.
In that scenario, Argentina would be the other highly-seeded nation on that half of the knockout draw as those northern hemisphere teams.
Hosts Draw Major Fixture
Hosts the Wallabies find themselves together with their great rivals and triple champions the All Blacks in Pool A.
Australia will kick off the tournament in Perth on October 1st, 2027 in a marquee fixture aimed at launch the competition.
Elsewhere, holders the Springboks have been paired with Italy, the Lelos and Romania. The French team are grouped with Japan, 2031 hosts the United States and Samoa.
Larger Tournament for 2027
Argentina will take on the Flying Fijians, Los Leones and Canada as the tournament expands to 24 teams from the twenty who competed in 2023.
This edition will introduce a last-16 round for the very first time in Rugby World Cup history.
While the winner of Pool F may avoid some of the rugby's heavyweights initially, they will have to face the runner-up from Pool B – probably Italy – in the last 16.
A total of four of the remaining six pool winners will play a team that finished third from the initial group phase.
RWC 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
