England and Wales have been drawn in an identical pool for the 2027 Rugby World Cup, promising a highly-anticipated pool stage encounter in the tournament Down Under. Completing the group in Pool F by Tonga and the Zimbabwean Sables.
This draw mirrors their famous clash in the pool stages of the 2015 tournament, where Wales' victory at England's home ground played a part in the English team's surprise group stage elimination.
Key Pool Draws
Ireland and the Scots also share a pool together, just as the situation from the France 2023 tournament. On that occasion, Ireland secured a 36-14 victory, with their opponents failing to progress to the knockout stages.
Uruguay and Os Lobos, both made a strong impression as surprise packages in France, round out that Pool D.
Significantly, the winners of both Pool D and Pool F are kept apart from defending champions and top-ranked the Springboks until the showpiece match, assuming the South Africans win their own group.
Tournament Ramifications
Should the pools play out in line with the current global standings, further top favourites like New Zealand and France would remain separated from both England and the Irish until the championship decider.
In that scenario, Los Pumas would be the remaining top-ranked nation on that side of the elimination bracket as England and Ireland.
Hosts Face Major Fixture
Tournament hosts Australia have been drawn together with their trans-Tasman rivals and three-time winners New Zealand in Group A.
Australia will kick off the tournament in the city of Perth on 1 October 2027 in a marquee fixture designed to launch the event.
Elsewhere, reigning champions South Africa have drawn the Azzurri, the Lelos and Romania. The French team are in a pool with Japan, 2031 hosts the United States and Manu Samoa.
Larger Tournament for 2027
Argentina will take on the Flying Fijians, Spain and the Canadian team as the World Cup expands to 24 teams from the 20 who took part in 2023.
The 2027 tournament will introduce a round of 16 round for the very first time in the competition's history.
While the winner of Pool F may avoid some of the rugby's heavyweights early on, they will have to face the runner-up from Group B – most likely the Italians – in the first knockout round.
Four of the other six group winners will face 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
