The Rugby World Cup draw for the 2027 World Cup took place on the 3rd of December this year. It was done 2 years in advance of the actual tournament but has still been the cause of excitement across the globe. This is the first edition of the tournament to be contested by 24 nations (up from 20) which means that there will be an added knockout round as well as more jeopardy for "Tier 2" nations in the groups. Here are some of the biggest winners and losers from the draw.

Winners

England

Out of all the big teams going into this draw, England will be by far the happiest. Their contains: Wales, Tonga and Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe and Tonga won't pose a serious threat to England. Band 4 could have given England Samoa and band 3 could've come out with Georgia. England avoided these potentially awkward matches and can now focus on their band 2 opponent. Wales scraoed their way into band 2 with a last-second penalty kick to beat Japan in November but are still a massive work in progress. Last time these teams met, England beat Wales 68-14 in Cardiff. The general wisdom is that Wales will be much stronger in 2 years, but they'll have to go a long way to pose a serious threat to England.

The good news for the English doesn't stop there. Assuming that they win their group, England will place the runner-up of group B which is likely to be Italy or Georgia. Their quarter-final opponent would be Australia, and their semi-final opponent would likely be one of Ireland or Argentina. There are a couple of rather conspicuous absences from that list of teams; assuming that there are no major upsets, both South Africa and New Zealand will be on the other side of the draw and away from England. This would be England's most straightforward path to a final in living memory. It's still hardly a guarantee, but England will like their chances with that draw.

Chile

As I alluded to above, Samoa was lurking in band 4. Chile, like England, avoided them in a stroke of luck that is absolutely crucial for the South Americans. They could be on the losing end of some big scores against Australia and New Zealand, but can still have a successful tournament with those results. This is because of the expanded tournament allowing the best 4 3rd-place teams to qualify for the round of 16 means that Chile can qualify with just one win. That win just got more likely with the draw of Hong Kong in Pool A. The debutants have some dangerous players, but are widely considered to be the worst team in the draw. They certainly faced the lowest level of competition to qualify. A bonus point win over Hong Kong could be enough for Chile to break out of the group stage.

Rugby is on the rise across South America, and particularly in Chile. They regularly get crowds in the thousands for games and qualified for the World Cup in front of roughly 20,000 spectators. Given the lack of success for Chile's football team, most recently their failure to qualify for the World Cup, a knockout appearance at a tournament as a big as the Rugby World Cup could seriously increase the awareness of rugby in a fast-developing rugby nation.

Georgia

Georgia have gone through a tricky period recently, having lost out on a place in band 2, and there is speculation over the future of their head coach, Richard Cotterill. However, there is some good news for the Georgians. They will feel confident going up against a Romania team that is not what it was in previous years. It's the team in band 2 that will have peaked the interest of Georgian fans. For years, Georgia have sat at the summit of Tier 2 European rugby and demanded a place in the Six Nations. In that time, they have recorded wins over both Italy and Wales to prove their credentials. However, their pleas have been ignored by those who don't see the economic benefit of adding them into the biggest annual competition in the sport. A chance to beat Italy on a big stage, and potentially push South Africa close, would allow Georgia to prove their point to those in the game who are against Expansion. They also benefit from the addition of a round of 16 and have a good shot at making the knockout rounds.

Losers

Scotland

The World Cup format has changed, as has the seemingly constant combination of Fiji, Wales and Australia being in the same group. However, one thing has remained consistent in that time. Ireland and Scotland will meet in the opening stages of the World Cup for the 3rd tournament in a row. This will no doubt have been met by groans up north, but the bad news doesn't stop there. Scotland will likely finish 2nd in the group. 4 of the 6 2nd-place teams will face other 2nd-place finishers. Scotland, in this scenario, would not be one of those teams. Instead, they will likely face France in the last 16. That is a nightmare compared to the possible opponents for those in similar ranking positions to the Scots. They will need to pull off an early upset against either Ireland or France if they are to have any success.

USA

This is a mixed set for the Americans. They will obviously lose to France but losing to a band 1 team is far from being a disaster. They have pushed Japan (the band 2 team in their group) close in recent years, but are still underdogs in that match-up. The real reason that the USA are losers is Samoa being drawn in their group. Yes, the USA beat Samoa earlier this year but that Samoa team will not be the one that they play in 2 years. The team that lost to the USA was missing several stars due to issues with Samoa's union. That's also before more players, perhaps including Manu Tuilagi, join the team for the World Cup. The USA could still qualify from this group, but the draw made that a lot harder than it could've been.

New Zealand and South Africa

This one is quite simple, and I mentioned it above. New Zealand and South Africa will fin themselves, if all goes to plan, meeting in the quarter-finals if the World Cup despite being ranked 1st and 2nd in the World. This has reignited a debate about seeding on top of bands for World Cup draws in the same way that the Fifa World Cup draw does. Whatever one thinks about the fairness of the situation, it sets up a mouth-watering quarter-final match-up.