England and Wales find themselves placed in the same pool for the World Cup in 2027, setting up a major pool stage clash in Australia. They are joined in Group F by the Tongan Ikale Tahi and Zimbabwe.
This draw mirrors their memorable meeting in the pool stages of the 2015 World Cup, where a Welsh win at Twickenham played a part in the English team's surprise early exit.
Key Group Pairings
The Irish alongside Scotland also share a group together, just as the scenario from the 2023 edition. On that occasion, Ireland secured a 36-14 win, with their opponents unable to progress to the knockout stages.
Uruguay and Os Lobos, who each made a strong impression as surprise packages in the last World Cup, round out that Pool D.
Notably, the winners of both Pool D and Pool F are kept apart from holders and top-ranked the Springboks before the final, assuming the South Africans win their assigned pool.
Knockout Ramifications
Should the pools conclude in line with the current world rankings, further top favourites like the All Blacks and France would also be kept apart from the likes of the English and the Irish until the final.
Under those circumstances, Los Pumas would be the other highly-seeded nation on the same half of the elimination bracket as those northern hemisphere teams.
Tournament Hosts Draw Major Opener
Tournament hosts Australia find themselves alongside their trans-Tasman rivals and triple champions New Zealand in Pool A.
The Wallabies will kick off the tournament in Perth on October 1st, 2027 in a marquee fixture aimed at jump-start the event.
In other groups, holders the Springboks have drawn Italy, Georgia and the Oaks. The French team are grouped with Japan, 2031 hosts the USA and Manu Samoa.
Larger Format for 2027
Los Pumas will face Fiji, Los Leones and the Canadian team as the tournament expands to twenty-four nations from the 20 who competed in 2023.
The 2027 tournament will feature a round of 16 round for the first time in the competition's history.
Although the winner of England and Wales's group may be kept apart from some of the rugby's heavyweights initially, they will have to face the second-placed team from Group B – probably the Italians – in the first knockout round.
A total of four of the remaining six pool winners will play a team that finished third from the pool stages.
RWC 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
