The English side and their Welsh counterparts find themselves placed in the same pool for the World Cup in 2027, setting up a major early clash in the tournament Down Under. Completing the group in Pool F by the Tongan Ikale Tahi and Zimbabwe.
This pairing echoes their infamous clash in the group phase of the 2015 tournament, where Wales' victory at Twickenham played a part in the hosts' surprise group stage elimination.
Key Pool Pairings
The Irish and Scotland have likewise been drawn in a pool together, replicating the scenario from the 2023 edition. In that tournament, they claimed a convincing victory, with their opponents unable to progress to the quarter-finals.
Uruguay and Portugal, both impressed as surprise packages in the last World Cup, complete that Pool D.
Notably, the winners of both Pool D and Pool F cannot meet defending champions and top-ranked South Africa until the showpiece match, assuming the South Africans win their own group.
Tournament Implications
Should the groups play out according to the current world rankings, other top favourites like New Zealand and Les Bleus would remain separated from both England and the Irish until the championship decider.
In that scenario, Argentina would be the other highly-seeded nation on that half of the elimination bracket as those northern hemisphere teams.
Hosts Face Major Fixture
Hosts Australia find themselves together with their great rivals and three-time winners the All Blacks in Group A.
The Wallabies will open the World Cup in Perth on October 1st, 2027 in a marquee match designed to launch the event.
In other groups, reigning champions the Springboks have been paired with the Azzurri, Georgia and the Oaks. The French team are grouped with the Brave Blossoms, 2031 hosts the United States and Manu Samoa.
Larger Format for 2027
Los Pumas will face Fiji, Spain and the Canadian team as the World Cup grows to 24 teams from the 20 who competed in France.
This edition will feature a last-16 round for the very first time in Rugby World Cup history.
While the winner of Pool F may be kept apart from some of the game's heavyweights initially, they will meet the runner-up from Group B – probably the Italians – in the last 16.
Four of the remaining 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
