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England and Wales find themselves placed in the same pool for the World Cup in 2027, setting up a highly-anticipated early encounter in Australia. They are joined in Pool F by Tonga and the Zimbabwean Sables.

This pairing mirrors their memorable clash in the group phase of the 2015 tournament, where a Welsh win at Twickenham contributed to the hosts' shock group stage elimination.

Key Group Draws

Ireland and the Scots also share a group together, replicating the scenario from the France 2023 tournament. On that occasion, Ireland claimed a 36-14 victory, with Scotland failing to progress to the knockout stages.

Uruguay and Os Lobos, both made a strong impression as surprise packages in France, round out that same group.

Significantly, the victors of these two groups cannot meet defending champions and top-ranked South Africa until the final, presuming the Springboks top their own group.

Knockout Implications

If the groups conclude according to the current global standings, further leading contenders like New Zealand and France would also be kept apart from the likes of England and the Irish until the final.

In that scenario, Los Pumas would be the remaining highly-seeded nation on that side of the knockout draw as those northern hemisphere teams.

Hosts Draw Major Fixture

Tournament hosts Australia find themselves alongside their trans-Tasman rivals and three-time winners New Zealand in Pool A.

Australia will kick off the World Cup in Perth on October 1st, 2027 in a marquee match designed to launch the competition.

In other groups, reigning champions South Africa have been paired with the Azzurri, Georgia and Romania. The French team are in a pool with the Brave Blossoms, 2031 hosts the USA and Manu Samoa.

Expanded Format for 2027

Argentina will face Fiji, Los Leones and Canada as the tournament grows to twenty-four nations from the twenty who took part in France.

The 2027 tournament will introduce a last-16 round for the very first time in Rugby World Cup existence.

Although the winner of Pool F may avoid some of the rugby's biggest beasts initially, they will have to face the second-placed team from Pool B – probably Italy – in the last 16.

A total of four of the remaining six group winners will play a team that finished third from the initial group phase.

RWC 2027 Groups

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