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England and Wales have been drawn in an identical pool for the 2027 Rugby World Cup, promising a highly-anticipated pool stage encounter in the tournament Down Under. Completing the group in Pool F by the Tongan Ikale Tahi and Zimbabwe.

This draw recalls their memorable meeting in the group phase of the 2015 tournament, where Wales' victory at England's home ground played a part in the hosts' surprise group stage elimination.

Key Pool Pairings

The Irish and the Scots have likewise been drawn in a pool together, replicating the scenario from the France 2023 tournament. In that tournament, they claimed a convincing win, with their opponents failing to progress to the quarter-finals.

Uruguay and Os Lobos, who each made a strong impression as underdogs in the last World Cup, complete that Pool D.

Notably, the victors of both Pool D and Pool F cannot meet defending champions and top-ranked the Springboks until the showpiece match, assuming the Springboks top their own group.

Knockout Ramifications

Should the groups play out in line with the current world rankings, other leading contenders like the All Blacks and France would also be kept apart from both England and Ireland until the final.

Under those circumstances, Argentina would be the other highly-seeded nation on that half of the elimination bracket as those northern hemisphere teams.

Tournament Hosts Draw Blockbuster Opener

Tournament hosts the Wallabies have been drawn together with their trans-Tasman rivals and triple champions New Zealand in Group A.

The Wallabies will kick off the World Cup in Perth on 1 October 2027 in a blockbuster fixture aimed at launch the competition.

In other groups, reigning champions the Springboks have been paired with Italy, the Lelos and Romania. The French team are grouped with Japan, 2031 hosts the USA and Manu Samoa.

Expanded Tournament for 2027

Argentina will take on the Flying Fijians, Los Leones and the Canadian team as the World Cup expands to 24 teams from the twenty who competed in France.

The 2027 tournament will feature a last-16 round for the very first time in the competition's history.

While the victor of Pool F may be kept apart from some of the rugby's biggest beasts early on, they will meet the second-placed team from Pool B – probably the Italians – in the last 16.

Four of the other six group winners will play 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