by England’s path to a possible home victory in the Rugby World Cup is set with the hosts being placed in a pool alongside Australia, the USA and Samoa for next summer’s tournament.
The Red Roses, the absolute leaders at the top of the world rankings and with a 20-game winning streak, are clear favorites to do even better than they did in New Zealand in 2022.
If the top seeded team wins each pool, England could face only world number two Canada or defending champions New Zealand in the final.
Ireland, who famously secured a shock victory over New Zealand in the WXV earlier this month, are grouped with the Black Ferns, Japan and Spain after failing to qualify for the previous tournament.
England are potentially in the quarter-finals against the runners-up from Scotland and Wales, drawn together for the second year in a row: Canada and Fiji.
France are England’s most likely opponents in the final four rounds and they, top seeds along with the Red Roses, Canada and New Zealand, find themselves in a group with Italy, South Africa and Brazil.
The draw was conducted on BBC’s The One Show by England’s 2014 World Cup winner Maggie Alphonsi.
The tournament begins on Friday August 22nd with England at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland and culminates in the final at the Allianz Stadium in Twickenham on September 27th.
