The English side together with Wales find themselves placed in an identical pool for the 2027 RWC, setting up a highly-anticipated early encounter in Australia. They are joined in Group F by Tonga and Zimbabwe.
This pairing echoes their infamous clash in the pool stages of the 2015 tournament, where a Welsh win at England's home ground contributed to the English team's shock early exit.
Other Notable Group Pairings
Ireland alongside Scotland also share a pool together, replicating the situation from the France 2023 tournament. In that tournament, they claimed a convincing win, with Scotland unable to advance to the quarter-finals.
Los Teros and Os Lobos, who each made a strong impression as underdogs in the last World Cup, complete that same group.
Notably, the victors of these two groups cannot meet defending champions and top-ranked the Springboks until the showpiece match, presuming the Springboks top their own group.
Tournament Ramifications
Should the pools play out according to the current world rankings, other leading contenders like New Zealand and Les Bleus would also be kept apart from the likes of the English and Ireland all the way to the final.
In that scenario, Argentina would be the remaining highly-seeded nation on the same side of the elimination bracket as those northern hemisphere teams.
Hosts Draw Major Fixture
Hosts Australia find themselves together with their trans-Tasman rivals and three-time winners the All Blacks in Group A.
The Wallabies will kick off the tournament in the city of Perth on 1 October 2027 in a marquee match designed to jump-start the event.
Elsewhere, reigning champions the Springboks have been paired with the Azzurri, Georgia and Romania. The French team are grouped with the Brave Blossoms, 2031 hosts the USA and Samoa.
Larger Format for 2027
Los Pumas will face the Flying Fijians, Spain and Canada as the tournament grows to 24 teams from the twenty who took part in 2023.
The 2027 tournament will introduce a last-16 round for the very first time in Rugby World Cup existence.
While the winner of England and Wales's group may avoid some of the rugby's heavyweights initially, they will have to face the runner-up from Pool B – probably Italy – in the first knockout round.
A total of four of the other six group 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
