England and Wales find themselves placed in the same group for the World Cup in 2027, promising a highly-anticipated pool stage clash in the tournament Down Under. Completing the group in Group F by Tonga and the Zimbabwean Sables.
This draw mirrors their memorable meeting in the group phase of the 2015 World Cup, where a Welsh win at England's home ground contributed to the hosts' shock early exit.
Key Pool Pairings
Ireland and Scotland also share a pool together, just as the situation from the 2023 edition. In that tournament, they claimed a convincing victory, with their opponents unable to advance to the quarter-finals.
Los Teros and Portugal, both made a strong impression as surprise packages in the last World Cup, round out that Pool D.
Notably, the winners of these two groups cannot meet defending champions and top-ranked South Africa before the final, presuming the Springboks win their assigned pool.
Tournament Implications
If the pools play out according to the current global standings, further leading contenders like the All Blacks and France would also be kept apart from both the English and the Irish all the way to the final.
In that scenario, Los Pumas would be the remaining highly-seeded nation on the same side of the knockout draw as England and Ireland.
Hosts Draw Blockbuster Fixture
Tournament hosts the Wallabies find themselves together with their great rivals and triple champions New Zealand in Pool A.
Australia will kick off the World Cup in Perth on 1 October 2027 in a marquee fixture aimed at jump-start the competition.
In other groups, reigning champions the Springboks have drawn Italy, the Lelos and Romania. The French team are grouped with Japan, 2031 hosts the USA and Samoa.
Expanded Tournament for 2027
Argentina will face the Flying Fijians, Spain and Canada as the tournament grows to twenty-four nations from the 20 who competed in 2023.
The 2027 tournament will introduce a last-16 round for the first time in Rugby World Cup history.
Although the winner of Pool F may avoid some of the rugby's biggest beasts early on, they will meet the second-placed team from Pool B – probably Italy – in the first knockout round.
A total of four of the remaining six pool 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
