England and their Welsh counterparts find themselves placed in the same pool for the World Cup in 2027, setting up a highly-anticipated early encounter in Australia. Completing the group in Pool F by Tonga and the Zimbabwean Sables.
This draw echoes their famous meeting in the pool stages of the 2015 tournament, where a Welsh win at England's home ground played a part in the English team's surprise early exit.
Other Notable Pool Draws
Ireland and the Scots also share a pool together, replicating the situation from the 2023 edition. In that tournament, they claimed a convincing win, with Scotland unable to progress to the quarter-finals.
Uruguay and Portugal, who each made a strong impression as surprise packages in France, round out that same group.
Notably, the winners of both Pool D and Pool F cannot meet holders and world number one the Springboks until the final, presuming the Springboks win their assigned pool.
Knockout Ramifications
Should the pools conclude according to the current global standings, further top favourites like New Zealand and Les Bleus would remain separated from both the English and the Irish until the championship decider.
In that scenario, Los Pumas would be the other top-ranked nation on that half of the elimination bracket as those northern hemisphere teams.
Hosts Face Blockbuster Fixture
Tournament hosts the Wallabies have been drawn alongside their trans-Tasman rivals and triple champions the All Blacks in Group A.
Australia will open the tournament in Perth on 1 October 2027 in a blockbuster match designed to launch the event.
Elsewhere, holders South Africa have drawn the Azzurri, the Lelos and Romania. The French team are grouped with Japan, 2031 hosts the United States and Samoa.
Expanded Format for 2027
Argentina will take on Fiji, Los Leones and the Canadian team as the tournament grows to 24 teams from the 20 who took part in 2023.
This edition will feature a last-16 round for the very first time in Rugby World Cup history.
While the victor of Pool F may be kept apart from some of the game's heavyweights early on, they will have to face the second-placed team from Group B – most likely Italy – in the first knockout round.
Four of the remaining six pool winners will play a team that finished third from the initial group phase.
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
