England and their Welsh counterparts find themselves placed in the same pool for the World Cup in 2027, setting up a major pool stage encounter in Australia. Completing the group in Group F by Tonga and Zimbabwe.
This pairing echoes their famous meeting in the group phase of the 2015 tournament, where a Welsh win at England's home ground played a part in the English team's shock early exit.
Other Notable Group Draws
The Irish alongside the Scots also share a group together, replicating the situation from the 2023 edition. On that occasion, Ireland secured a convincing win, with their opponents unable to progress to the quarter-finals.
Los Teros and Os Lobos, both impressed as surprise packages in the last World Cup, round out that same group.
Notably, the victors of both Pool D and Pool F cannot meet holders and world number one the Springboks until the showpiece match, presuming the South Africans win their own group.
Knockout Ramifications
If the pools play out according to the current world rankings, other top favourites like the All Blacks and France would remain separated from both England and the Irish until the final.
Under those circumstances, Argentina would be the remaining top-ranked nation on that half of the knockout draw as those northern hemisphere teams.
Tournament Hosts Face Blockbuster Fixture
Tournament hosts Australia have been drawn together with their great rivals and triple champions the All Blacks in Pool A.
The Wallabies will open the World Cup in Perth on 1 October 2027 in a blockbuster match designed to jump-start the competition.
Elsewhere, holders the Springboks have been paired with the Azzurri, the Lelos and Romania. The French team are in a pool with the Brave Blossoms, 2031 hosts the USA and Manu Samoa.
Expanded Format for 2027
Los Pumas will take on Fiji, Los Leones and the Canadian team as the tournament grows to twenty-four nations from the 20 who took part in 2023.
The 2027 tournament will introduce a last-16 stage for the very first time in Rugby World Cup history.
Although the victor of England and Wales's group may avoid some of the rugby's heavyweights initially, they will have to face the second-placed team from Group B – probably Italy – in the last 16.
Four of the other six pool winners will play a third-placed side 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
