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England together with Wales find themselves placed in the same group for the World Cup in 2027, promising a major early encounter in Australia. They are joined in Group F by Tonga and Zimbabwe.

This pairing mirrors their famous meeting in the group phase of the 2015 World Cup, where a Welsh win at England's home ground played a part in the English team's surprise group stage elimination.

Other Notable Group Draws

The Irish alongside the Scots have likewise been drawn in a pool together, just as the situation from the 2023 edition. On that occasion, they secured a 36-14 victory, with their opponents unable to advance to the knockout stages.

Uruguay and Os Lobos, who each made a strong impression as surprise packages in the last World Cup, round out that same group.

Notably, the winners of these two groups are kept apart from holders and world number one South Africa until the final, assuming the South Africans top their assigned pool.

Tournament Implications

Should the pools conclude according to the current world rankings, other leading contenders like the All Blacks and Les Bleus would also be kept apart from the likes of the English and Ireland all the way to the championship decider.

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

Hosts Face Major Fixture

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

The Wallabies will open the tournament in the city of Perth on 1 October 2027 in a blockbuster fixture designed to launch the competition.

In other groups, holders the Springboks have been paired with the Azzurri, Georgia and Romania. The French team are in a pool with the Brave Blossoms, future hosts the USA and Manu Samoa.

Expanded Tournament for 2027

Los Pumas will face the Flying Fijians, Los Leones and Canada as the World Cup grows to 24 teams from the twenty who took part in France.

This edition will feature a last-16 round for the first time in the competition's history.

Although the victor of Pool F may be kept apart from some of the rugby's heavyweights initially, they will meet the runner-up from Group B – probably Italy – in the first knockout round.

Four of the other six pool winners will face a third-placed side 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