The English side together with Wales find themselves placed in the same group for the 2027 Rugby World Cup, setting up a major early encounter in Australia. They are joined in Pool F by the Tongan Ikale Tahi and Zimbabwe.
This draw mirrors their memorable meeting in the pool stages of the 2015 tournament, where Wales' victory at Twickenham contributed to the English team's shock group stage elimination.
Key Pool Draws
Ireland alongside the Scots also share a group once again, just as the situation from the France 2023 tournament. In that tournament, Ireland secured a convincing victory, with Scotland failing to progress to the knockout stages.
Uruguay and Portugal, who each made a strong impression as underdogs in the last World Cup, complete that same group.
Significantly, the winners of both Pool D and Pool F cannot meet defending champions and top-ranked the Springboks before the showpiece match, assuming the Springboks win their own group.
Knockout Implications
If the pools play out in line with the current world rankings, further top favourites like the All Blacks and France would remain separated from both 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.
Tournament Hosts Draw 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 the city of Perth on 1 October 2027 in a marquee match aimed at jump-start the competition.
Elsewhere, holders South Africa have been paired with Italy, Georgia and Romania. The French team are grouped with the Brave Blossoms, 2031 hosts the United States and Samoa.
Expanded Tournament for 2027
Los Pumas will take on the Flying Fijians, Los Leones and Canada as the tournament expands to twenty-four nations from the 20 who competed in 2023.
This edition will feature a round of 16 stage for the very first time in Rugby World Cup existence.
Although the winner of Pool F may avoid some of the rugby's heavyweights early on, they will meet the second-placed team from Pool B – probably the Italians – in the last 16.
Four of the remaining six pool winners will play a team that finished third from the pool stages.
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
