The English side and their Welsh counterparts find themselves placed in an identical group for the World Cup in 2027, setting up a major early clash in the tournament Down Under. Completing the group in Group F by Tonga and the Zimbabwean Sables.
This pairing mirrors their famous clash in the pool stages of the 2015 tournament, where a Welsh win at England's home ground played a part in the English team's surprise early exit.
Other Notable Pool Pairings
Ireland and Scotland have likewise been drawn in a group together, replicating the scenario from the France 2023 tournament. In that tournament, they secured a 36-14 victory, with Scotland failing to progress to the knockout stages.
Los Teros and Portugal, who each made a strong impression as surprise packages in France, complete that same group.
Significantly, the winners of these two groups cannot meet defending champions and top-ranked the Springboks until the showpiece match, assuming the Springboks top their assigned pool.
Tournament Implications
If the groups play out in line with the current global standings, other leading contenders like New Zealand and Les Bleus would also be kept apart from both the English and the Irish all the way to the final.
In that scenario, Los Pumas would be the other highly-seeded nation on that half of the elimination bracket as those northern hemisphere teams.
Tournament Hosts Draw Major Opener
Hosts Australia find themselves together with their great rivals and triple champions the All Blacks in Group A.
The Wallabies will kick off the tournament in the city of Perth on October 1st, 2027 in a blockbuster fixture aimed at jump-start the competition.
In other groups, reigning champions the Springboks have drawn Italy, the Lelos and Romania. The French team are in a pool with Japan, future hosts the USA and Samoa.
Larger Format for 2027
Los Pumas will face Fiji, Los Leones and Canada as the tournament grows to 24 teams from the 20 who competed in France.
This edition will introduce a last-16 stage for the first time in Rugby World Cup history.
Although the victor of Pool F may avoid some of the rugby's biggest beasts initially, they will meet the second-placed team from Group B – most likely the Italians – in the last 16.
A total of four of the remaining six group winners will face 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