England and Wales find themselves placed in an identical group for the World Cup in 2027, setting up a major early encounter in Australia. Completing the group in Group F by the Tongan Ikale Tahi and Zimbabwe.
This pairing recalls their memorable clash in the group phase of the 2015 tournament, where Wales' victory at Twickenham played a part in the English team's shock group stage elimination.
Key Group Pairings
Ireland and Scotland have likewise been drawn in a group together, replicating the scenario from the France 2023 tournament. On that occasion, Ireland secured a convincing victory, with Scotland failing to advance to the quarter-finals.
Uruguay and Portugal, who each impressed as underdogs in the last World Cup, complete that same group.
Significantly, the victors of these two groups cannot meet holders and world number one the Springboks before the showpiece match, presuming the South Africans win their own group.
Tournament Ramifications
Should the groups play out in line with the current world rankings, further top favourites like New Zealand and Les Bleus would also be kept apart from the likes of the English and the Irish all the way to the championship decider.
In that scenario, Los Pumas would be the other highly-seeded nation on that side of the elimination bracket as those northern hemisphere teams.
Tournament Hosts Face Blockbuster Fixture
Hosts the Wallabies find themselves together with their trans-Tasman rivals and triple champions New Zealand in Group A.
Australia will kick off the tournament in Perth on 1 October 2027 in a blockbuster fixture designed to launch the event.
In other groups, reigning champions South Africa have drawn the Azzurri, the Lelos and the Oaks. The French team are grouped with Japan, 2031 hosts the United States and Samoa.
Expanded Tournament for 2027
Argentina will face Fiji, Los Leones and Canada as the tournament expands to 24 teams from the twenty who took part in 2023.
The 2027 tournament will introduce a round of 16 round for the very first time in the competition's existence.
While the winner of Pool F may avoid some of the game's heavyweights early on, they will have to face the runner-up from Pool B – probably Italy – in the first knockout round.
Four of the other six group winners will face a third-placed side 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
