England and their Welsh counterparts find themselves placed in the same group for the World Cup in 2027, promising a highly-anticipated early clash in Australia. Completing the group in Group F by Tonga and Zimbabwe.
This pairing echoes their infamous meeting in the pool stages of the 2015 World Cup, where Wales' victory at Twickenham contributed to the hosts' surprise early exit.
Key Pool Draws
Ireland and Scotland also share a pool once again, just as the situation from the 2023 edition. In that tournament, they claimed a 36-14 win, with their opponents failing to progress to the quarter-finals.
Uruguay and Os Lobos, who each made a strong impression as underdogs in France, round out that same group.
Significantly, the victors of these two groups cannot meet defending champions and top-ranked South Africa before the showpiece match, presuming the Springboks top their assigned pool.
Tournament Ramifications
If the pools conclude according to the current global standings, other top favourites like the All Blacks and France would also be kept apart from both the English and Ireland until the championship decider.
In that scenario, Los Pumas would be the remaining top-ranked nation on that half of the knockout draw as those northern hemisphere teams.
Tournament Hosts Draw Major Fixture
Hosts Australia find themselves alongside their great rivals and triple champions New Zealand in Pool A.
Australia will open the tournament in Perth on 1 October 2027 in a blockbuster fixture designed to launch the event.
Elsewhere, reigning champions the Springboks have drawn the Azzurri, Georgia and Romania. The French team are grouped with the Brave Blossoms, 2031 hosts the USA and Manu Samoa.
Larger Tournament for 2027
Argentina will face the Flying Fijians, Los Leones and Canada as the tournament expands to 24 teams from the twenty who took part in France.
The 2027 tournament will feature a round of 16 round for the first time in the competition's history.
While the winner of England and Wales's group may avoid some of the game's biggest beasts early on, they will have to face the second-placed team from Pool B – most likely the Italians – in the last 16.
A total of four of the remaining 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
