England and Wales find themselves placed in an identical group for the World Cup in 2027, promising a major pool stage clash in the tournament Down Under. Completing the group in Pool F by Tonga and the Zimbabwean Sables.
This draw mirrors their memorable clash in the pool stages of the 2015 tournament, where a Welsh win at England's home ground contributed to the hosts' surprise early exit.
Other Notable Group Draws
The Irish and the Scots also share a group together, just as the situation from the France 2023 tournament. In that tournament, they claimed a 36-14 victory, with their opponents unable to progress to the quarter-finals.
Uruguay and Portugal, both made a strong impression as surprise packages in France, round out that same group.
Notably, the winners of these two groups cannot meet holders and world number one the Springboks before the showpiece match, assuming the South Africans top their own group.
Knockout Ramifications
Should the pools conclude according to the current global standings, other top favourites like the All Blacks and Les Bleus would remain separated from the likes of England and Ireland until the championship decider.
In that scenario, Argentina would be the remaining highly-seeded nation on that half of the elimination bracket as those northern hemisphere teams.
Hosts Face Blockbuster Fixture
Hosts the Wallabies have been drawn alongside their trans-Tasman rivals and triple champions New Zealand in Pool A.
Australia will open the tournament in Perth on 1 October 2027 in a blockbuster fixture aimed at jump-start the event.
Elsewhere, holders South Africa have drawn Italy, Georgia and Romania. The French team are in a pool with the Brave Blossoms, 2031 hosts the USA and Manu Samoa.
Larger Format for 2027
Los Pumas will take on the Flying Fijians, Los Leones and the Canadian team as the tournament grows to 24 teams from the 20 who competed in 2023.
The 2027 tournament will introduce a round of 16 round for the very first time in the competition's history.
Although the victor of Pool F may avoid some of the game's heavyweights initially, they will have to face the second-placed team from Pool B – most likely Italy – in the last 16.
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
