The English side together with Wales will face off in the same group for the 2027 Rugby World Cup, promising a highly-anticipated pool stage encounter in the tournament Down Under. They are joined in Pool F by Tonga and Zimbabwe.
This pairing mirrors their infamous meeting in the pool stages of the 2015 tournament, where a Welsh win at Twickenham contributed to the English team's surprise group stage elimination.
Key Pool Pairings
Ireland alongside Scotland also share a pool once again, just as the scenario from the 2023 edition. In that tournament, Ireland secured a convincing win, with their opponents failing to progress to the quarter-finals.
Los Teros and Portugal, both made a strong impression as surprise packages in the last World Cup, round out that same group.
Notably, the winners of these two groups are kept apart from defending champions and top-ranked the Springboks until the final, presuming the South Africans win their assigned pool.
Knockout Ramifications
If the pools conclude in line with the current global standings, further top favourites like New Zealand and Les Bleus would also be kept apart from the likes of England and the Irish all the way to the final.
Under those circumstances, Argentina would be the other top-ranked nation on that side of the knockout draw as England and Ireland.
Hosts Face Blockbuster Fixture
Hosts Australia have been drawn together with their trans-Tasman rivals and three-time winners New Zealand in Pool A.
The Wallabies will open the tournament in Perth on 1 October 2027 in a marquee match designed to jump-start the event.
In other groups, holders the Springboks have been paired with Italy, the Lelos and Romania. The French team are grouped with Japan, future hosts the USA and Samoa.
Expanded Format for 2027
Argentina will take on Fiji, Spain and Canada as the tournament grows to twenty-four nations from the 20 who took part in France.
This edition will introduce a last-16 round for the first time in the competition's history.
Although the winner of Pool F may avoid some of the game's heavyweights initially, they will meet the second-placed team from Group B – probably the Italians – in the last 16.
A total of four of the other six pool winners will play 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
