The English side together with their Welsh counterparts have been drawn in an identical group for the 2027 RWC, setting up a major early encounter in Australia. Completing the group in Group F by Tonga and the Zimbabwean Sables.
This pairing recalls their infamous meeting in the pool stages of the 2015 tournament, where Wales' victory at Twickenham played a part in the hosts' surprise early exit.
Key Pool Pairings
The Irish alongside the Scots have likewise been drawn in a group together, replicating the situation from the France 2023 tournament. In that tournament, Ireland claimed a convincing victory, with Scotland unable to advance to the knockout stages.
Los Teros and Portugal, both made a strong impression as underdogs in the last World Cup, round out that same group.
Significantly, the victors of these two groups cannot meet defending champions and world number one the Springboks until the final, assuming the Springboks win their assigned pool.
Tournament Ramifications
Should the pools play out according to the current world rankings, further top favourites like the All Blacks and Les Bleus would also be kept apart from the likes of the English and the Irish until the championship decider.
In that scenario, Argentina would be the other highly-seeded nation on the same half of the knockout draw as England and Ireland.
Hosts Face Blockbuster 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 marquee fixture designed to jump-start the event.
In other groups, reigning champions the Springboks have been paired with Italy, Georgia and Romania. The French team are in a pool with Japan, 2031 hosts the United States and Samoa.
Expanded Format for 2027
Los Pumas will face Fiji, Los Leones and the Canadian team as the tournament expands to 24 teams from the twenty who took part in France.
The 2027 tournament will introduce a last-16 round for the very first time in Rugby World Cup history.
While the winner of Pool F may be kept apart from some of the game's biggest beasts early on, they will meet the runner-up from Group B – most likely Italy – in the first knockout round.
A total of four of the other six pool winners will face 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
