England and Wales find themselves placed in the same pool for the 2027 Rugby World Cup, promising a highly-anticipated early clash in the tournament Down Under. They are joined in Group F by the Tongan Ikale Tahi and the Zimbabwean Sables.
This pairing echoes their famous clash in the group phase of the 2015 tournament, where a Welsh win at Twickenham played a part in the hosts' shock early exit.
Other Notable Group Draws
The Irish alongside Scotland also share a pool together, replicating the situation from the 2023 edition. In that tournament, they secured a convincing victory, with their opponents unable to advance to the quarter-finals.
Los Teros and Portugal, both made a strong impression as underdogs in France, round out that Pool D.
Notably, the winners of both Pool D and Pool F cannot meet defending champions 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 world rankings, other top favourites like the All Blacks and Les Bleus would also be kept apart from the likes of England and the Irish until the championship decider.
Under those circumstances, Los Pumas would be the other top-ranked nation on that side of the elimination bracket as those northern hemisphere teams.
Hosts Draw Blockbuster Fixture
Hosts Australia find themselves alongside their trans-Tasman rivals and triple champions New Zealand in Pool A.
Australia will kick off the World Cup in Perth on 1 October 2027 in a blockbuster match aimed at launch the event.
Elsewhere, holders South Africa have drawn the Azzurri, the Lelos and Romania. The French team are grouped with the Brave Blossoms, 2031 hosts the United States and Samoa.
Expanded Format for 2027
Los Pumas will take on the Flying Fijians, Spain and the Canadian team as the tournament grows to twenty-four nations from the 20 who competed in France.
The 2027 tournament will feature a last-16 round for the first time in the competition's existence.
While the winner of England and Wales's group may be kept apart from some of the game's biggest beasts early on, they will meet the second-placed team from Pool B – probably the Italians – in the last 16.
Four of the other six pool winners will face a team that finished third from the pool stages.
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
