Scotland discover opponents for 2025 Rugby World Cup as familiar foes lie in wait

Bryan Easson’s side discovered their opponents on Thursday night when the draw for next summer’s competition in England was made live on the One Show.

Scotland, who are currently seventh in the World Rugby standings, were put in Band 2 for the draw and the Canadians, who are currently the second best team on the planet, will offer a stern test of the Scots’ credentials.

Wales, who are ranked 10th, are the Band 3 opponents for Scotland, while Fiji (17th) came out of Band 4.

Scotland faced both the Welsh and Fijians earlier this year, triumphing 40-14 and 59-15 respectively. Most recently, they finished second on the WXV2 standings, missing out on top spot to Australia, who defeated them 31-22 last weekend in South Africa.

Host nation England will face Australia, the United States and Samoa in Pool A, Ireland will get the chance to face New Zealand again, having beaten the defending world champions in their opening WXV1 match in Vancouver last month, in Pool C with Japan and Spain.

France are top seeds in Pool D, where they will take on Italy, South Africa and World Cup debutants Brazil.

The full match schedule for the expanded 16-team tournament is set to be released on October 22, with the fixtures running across six weekends from August 22 to September 27 next year.

The Red Roses entered Thursday night’s draw as the highest-ranked team of all time on the back of a 20th successive victory when beating Canada to retain their WXV 1 title, adding to the Grand Slam won earlier in the year.

England have not lost since being edged out 34-31 by New Zealand in the 2022 World Cup final and John Mitchell’s side will be hoping to go one better on home soil.

It had already been confirmed England – who last won the World Cup in 2014 – will play their opening match in Sunderland, with the remaining two pool matches being hosted at Franklin’s Gardens, Northampton and Brighton’s Amex Stadium.

Other venues will be Sandy Park in Exeter, Salford and York as well as Ashton Gate in Bristol, which will also host a quarter-final and then both semi-final fixtures ahead of the final at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham.