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England and Wales find themselves placed in an identical pool for the 2027 RWC, promising a major pool stage encounter in the tournament Down Under. Completing the group in Group F by the Tongan Ikale Tahi and the Zimbabwean Sables.

This draw echoes their memorable clash in the pool stages of the 2015 tournament, where a Welsh win at Twickenham contributed to the hosts' surprise group stage elimination.

Key Pool Draws

Ireland alongside Scotland also share a group once again, just as the situation from the 2023 edition. In that tournament, they secured a 36-14 victory, with their opponents unable to advance to the knockout stages.

Uruguay and Portugal, both made a strong impression as surprise packages in France, round out that Pool D.

Notably, the victors of both Pool D and Pool F cannot meet defending champions and top-ranked South Africa before the showpiece match, presuming the South Africans top their own group.

Knockout Implications

If the groups play out in line with the current world rankings, other leading contenders like New Zealand and France would remain separated from both the English and the Irish all the way to the championship decider.

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

Hosts Face Blockbuster Opener

Hosts the Wallabies have been drawn together with their great rivals and triple champions the All Blacks in Group A.

Australia will open the World Cup in Perth on 1 October 2027 in a blockbuster match aimed at jump-start the event.

In other groups, reigning champions the Springboks have drawn the Azzurri, the Lelos and Romania. The French team are grouped with the Brave Blossoms, 2031 hosts the United States and Manu Samoa.

Expanded Tournament for 2027

Los Pumas will take on Fiji, Spain and the Canadian team as the tournament grows to 24 teams from the 20 who took part in France.

The 2027 tournament will introduce a last-16 stage for the first time in the competition's existence.

Although the victor of Pool F may avoid some of the game's heavyweights initially, they will meet the runner-up from Pool B – most likely the Italians – in the last 16.

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

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