England together with their Welsh counterparts will face off in an identical group for the World Cup in 2027, promising a major early clash in Australia. They are joined in Group F by Tonga and Zimbabwe.
This pairing echoes their infamous meeting in the group phase of the 2015 World Cup, where a Welsh win at Twickenham contributed to the hosts' surprise group stage elimination.
Key Pool Draws
Ireland alongside Scotland also share a pool once again, just as the situation from the France 2023 tournament. In that tournament, Ireland secured a convincing victory, with their opponents failing to progress to the knockout stages.
Los Teros and Os Lobos, both made a strong impression as surprise packages in the last World Cup, complete that same group.
Significantly, the victors of both Pool D and Pool F cannot meet holders and world number one the Springboks until the showpiece match, assuming the Springboks top their own group.
Tournament Ramifications
Should the pools play out in line with the current world rankings, other top favourites like New Zealand and France would also be kept apart from both the English and Ireland all the way to the final.
Under those circumstances, Argentina would be the other highly-seeded nation on that side of the knockout draw as those northern hemisphere teams.
Tournament Hosts Face Major Fixture
Tournament hosts Australia have been drawn alongside their great rivals and three-time winners the All Blacks in Pool A.
The Wallabies will kick off the tournament in the city of Perth on 1 October 2027 in a blockbuster match aimed at jump-start the event.
In other groups, reigning champions the Springboks have been paired with the Azzurri, the Lelos and Romania. France are grouped with Japan, future hosts the USA and Samoa.
Larger Tournament for 2027
Los Pumas will face the Flying Fijians, Spain and the Canadian team as the tournament grows to 24 teams from the twenty who competed in France.
The 2027 tournament will introduce a last-16 round for the very first time in the competition's history.
Although the victor of England and Wales's group may be kept apart from some of the rugby's biggest beasts early on, they will have to face the second-placed team from Pool B – most likely Italy – in the first knockout round.
Four of the other six group winners will face a team that finished third from the initial group phase.
Rugby World Cup 2027 Groups
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
