The English side and their Welsh counterparts find themselves placed in an identical group for the World Cup in 2027, setting up a highly-anticipated early clash in Australia. Completing the group in Group F by the Tongan Ikale Tahi and Zimbabwe.
This draw mirrors their memorable clash in the group phase of the 2015 tournament, where Wales' victory at Twickenham contributed to the hosts' shock early exit.
Other Notable Group Pairings
The Irish alongside Scotland have likewise been drawn in a pool once again, just as the scenario from the 2023 edition. In that tournament, they claimed a convincing victory, with their opponents failing to progress to the knockout stages.
Los Teros and Portugal, both made a strong impression as surprise packages in the last World Cup, round out that Pool D.
Notably, the winners of these two groups cannot meet defending champions and world number one South Africa until the showpiece match, presuming the South Africans win their own group.
Knockout Implications
Should the pools conclude according to the current world rankings, other leading contenders like New Zealand and Les Bleus would also be kept apart from both the English and Ireland until the final.
In that scenario, Argentina would be the other highly-seeded nation on that half 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 the All Blacks in Group A.
Australia will kick off the World Cup in Perth on October 1st, 2027 in a marquee match aimed at launch the event.
Elsewhere, reigning champions South Africa have been paired with the Azzurri, Georgia and Romania. The French team are in a pool with the Brave Blossoms, future hosts the United States and Manu Samoa.
Larger Format for 2027
Argentina will face Fiji, Spain and the Canadian team as the tournament grows to 24 teams from the 20 who competed in France.
The 2027 tournament will introduce a last-16 stage for the very first time in the competition's history.
Although the winner of Pool F may be kept apart from some of the game's biggest beasts early on, they will have to face the second-placed team from Group B – probably Italy – in the last 16.
Four of the other six pool winners will play a team that finished third 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
