The English side together with Wales find themselves placed in an identical group for the 2027 RWC, promising a major pool stage clash in Australia. They are joined in Pool F by Tonga and Zimbabwe.
This pairing mirrors their infamous meeting in the group phase of the 2015 tournament, where a Welsh win at England's home ground contributed to the English team's shock group stage elimination.
Key Pool Draws
Ireland alongside Scotland have likewise been drawn in a pool together, replicating the situation from the France 2023 tournament. In that tournament, they secured a convincing win, with Scotland unable to progress to the knockout stages.
Uruguay and Os Lobos, both made a strong impression as underdogs in the last World Cup, round out that Pool D.
Notably, the winners of these two groups are kept apart from holders and world number one South Africa until the showpiece match, assuming the Springboks top their assigned pool.
Tournament Ramifications
Should the pools conclude according to the current global standings, other top favourites like New Zealand and Les Bleus would also be kept apart from both the English and Ireland all the way to the championship decider.
In that scenario, Los Pumas would be the remaining top-ranked nation on that half of the knockout draw as those northern hemisphere teams.
Hosts Face Major Fixture
Tournament hosts Australia find themselves alongside their trans-Tasman rivals and triple champions the All Blacks in Pool A.
The Wallabies will kick off the World Cup in Perth on 1 October 2027 in a blockbuster fixture designed to jump-start the competition.
In other groups, reigning champions the Springboks have been paired with Italy, the Lelos and the Oaks. France are grouped with Japan, future hosts the United States and Samoa.
Expanded Format for 2027
Los Pumas will face the Flying Fijians, Spain and the Canadian team as the tournament grows to twenty-four nations from the 20 who competed in 2023.
This edition will introduce a last-16 round for the first time in the competition's existence.
Although the victor of Pool F may be kept apart from some of the game's heavyweights early on, they will have to face the second-placed team from Group B – probably the Italians – in the first knockout round.
A total of four of the other six group winners will face a team that finished third from the pool stages.
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
