England and Wales have been drawn in an identical pool for the 2027 Rugby World Cup, promising a highly-anticipated early encounter in the tournament Down Under. They are joined in Pool F by the Tongan Ikale Tahi and the Zimbabwean Sables.
This draw recalls their famous clash in the pool stages of the 2015 tournament, where a Welsh win at Twickenham contributed to the hosts' shock group stage elimination.
Key Group Draws
The Irish and Scotland also share a pool once again, replicating the situation from the France 2023 tournament. In that tournament, Ireland secured a convincing win, with their opponents failing to progress to the quarter-finals.
Los Teros and Portugal, who each made a strong impression as surprise packages in France, round out that same group.
Significantly, the winners of both Pool D and Pool F are kept apart from defending champions and world number one the Springboks before the showpiece match, presuming the South Africans win their assigned pool.
Tournament Implications
Should the pools conclude in line with the current world rankings, other top favourites like New Zealand and Les Bleus would also be kept apart from both the English and Ireland until the championship decider.
In that scenario, Argentina would be the other top-ranked nation on that half of the elimination bracket as those northern hemisphere teams.
Tournament Hosts Draw Blockbuster Fixture
Hosts the Wallabies have been drawn together with their trans-Tasman rivals and triple champions New Zealand in Group A.
The Wallabies will kick off the tournament in the city of Perth on October 1st, 2027 in a marquee match aimed at jump-start the competition.
In other groups, reigning champions the Springboks have been paired with the Azzurri, the Lelos and the Oaks. France are in a pool with the Brave Blossoms, 2031 hosts the United States and Samoa.
Larger Tournament for 2027
Los Pumas will take on the Flying Fijians, Spain and Canada as the World Cup grows to 24 teams from the 20 who competed in France.
The 2027 tournament will feature a last-16 round for the very first time in the competition's existence.
While the victor of Pool F may be kept apart from some of the rugby's heavyweights initially, they will meet the runner-up from Group B – probably the Italians – in the last 16.
Four of the other six pool winners will face a third-placed side from the initial group phase.
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
