England and Wales will meet in the 2027 Rugby World Cup pool stage, with Tonga and Zimbabwe making up the remainder of Group F.
It will make the first time the two nations will meet at the men’s Rugby World Cup since 2015, when Wales ran out 28-25 victors.
Wednesday’s draw means that England, should they win Group F, would face a potentially tougher round-of-16 clash than the winners of Groups A, B, C and D, who will all face the best third-place teams.
However, it would also mean they would likely avoid the other group winners until at least the semifinals.
Elsewhere, Hosts Australia missed out on being among the top six teams in pot one and paid the price when they were paired with rivals New Zealand in Pool A.
Debutants Hong Kong face a baptism of fire in the same group along with Chile, while two-time defending champions South Africa are in Pool B with Italy, Georgia and Romania.
France head Pool E, which also includes Japan, while Argentina and Fiji are in Pool C.
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The next men’s Rugby World Cup will expand for the first time since 2003 to be the biggest tournament in its history — seeing a record 54 matches.
The eventual winners will have to play seven games to lift the Webb Ellis Cup, although it will feature one less pool-stage game and one extra knockout game.
The tournament is scheduled to begin on Oct. 1 at Perth Stadium and will finish on Nov. 13 at Stadium Australia in Sydney.
Information from PA contributed to this report.
