England together with their Welsh counterparts have been drawn in the same pool for the 2027 Rugby World Cup, promising a highly-anticipated pool stage clash in Australia. Completing the group in Group F by Tonga and Zimbabwe.
This draw mirrors their memorable meeting in the group phase of the 2015 World Cup, where a Welsh win at England's home ground played a part in the hosts' surprise group stage elimination.
Other Notable Group Pairings
The Irish alongside the Scots have likewise been drawn in a pool once again, just as the scenario from the France 2023 tournament. On that occasion, Ireland secured a convincing win, with their opponents failing to advance to the quarter-finals.
Los Teros and Portugal, who each made a strong impression as surprise packages in France, round out that Pool D.
Notably, the victors of these two groups are kept apart from defending champions and world number one the Springboks until the final, presuming the South Africans top their own group.
Tournament Ramifications
If the groups play out according to the current world rankings, other leading contenders like New Zealand and France would also be kept apart from the likes of the English and the Irish until the championship decider.
Under those circumstances, Los Pumas would be the other highly-seeded nation on the same half of the knockout draw as those northern hemisphere teams.
Hosts Face Major Fixture
Hosts Australia find themselves together with their great rivals and triple champions the All Blacks in Group A.
Australia will kick off the World Cup in Perth on October 1st, 2027 in a marquee fixture aimed at jump-start the competition.
In other groups, reigning champions South Africa have been paired with the Azzurri, the Lelos and Romania. France are in a pool with the Brave Blossoms, future hosts the USA and Samoa.
Larger Format for 2027
Los Pumas will take on the Flying Fijians, Spain and the Canadian team as the tournament expands to 24 teams from the twenty who competed in 2023.
The 2027 tournament will introduce a round of 16 round for the very first time in the competition's existence.
Although the winner of Pool F may avoid some of the game's biggest beasts initially, they will have to face the runner-up from Pool 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
