The English side together with Wales find themselves placed in an identical pool for the 2027 Rugby World Cup, promising a highly-anticipated pool stage encounter in Australia. They are joined in Pool F by the Tongan Ikale Tahi and Zimbabwe.
This pairing mirrors their memorable meeting in the group phase of the 2015 tournament, where a Welsh win at Twickenham contributed to the English team's shock early exit.
Other Notable Group Draws
Ireland and the Scots have likewise been drawn in a group together, replicating the situation from the France 2023 tournament. On that occasion, Ireland secured a 36-14 victory, with their opponents failing to progress to the quarter-finals.
Uruguay and Os Lobos, who each impressed as underdogs in the last World Cup, round out that Pool D.
Significantly, the winners of these two groups are kept apart from defending champions and top-ranked the Springboks until the showpiece match, assuming the South Africans top their own group.
Tournament Implications
Should the pools play out in line with the current world rankings, other top favourites like the All Blacks and Les Bleus would remain separated from both the English and the Irish all the way to the championship decider.
In that scenario, Los Pumas would be the other top-ranked nation on the same half of the elimination bracket as those northern hemisphere teams.
Hosts Face Major Fixture
Hosts the Wallabies have been drawn alongside their great rivals and triple champions New Zealand in Pool A.
Australia will kick off the tournament in the city of Perth on 1 October 2027 in a blockbuster fixture aimed at jump-start the event.
Elsewhere, reigning champions the Springboks have been paired with Italy, Georgia and Romania. The French team are grouped with Japan, 2031 hosts the USA and Manu Samoa.
Expanded Format for 2027
Los Pumas will face the Flying Fijians, Los Leones and Canada as the tournament grows to twenty-four nations from the twenty who competed in 2023.
This edition will feature a last-16 round for the very first time in Rugby World Cup existence.
While the victor of Pool F may avoid some of the game's heavyweights initially, they will meet the second-placed team from Pool B – probably the Italians – in the last 16.
A total of four of the other six pool winners will face a third-placed side 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
