England and Wales find themselves placed in an identical pool for the World Cup in 2027, promising a major pool stage clash in the tournament Down Under. Completing the group in Pool F by the Tongan Ikale Tahi and the Zimbabwean Sables.
This draw mirrors their memorable clash in the group phase of the 2015 World Cup, where a Welsh win at Twickenham played a part in the English team's surprise group stage elimination.
Key Pool Pairings
The Irish alongside Scotland also share a group once again, replicating the scenario from the 2023 edition. On that occasion, Ireland secured a convincing victory, with their opponents unable to progress to the knockout stages.
Los Teros and Os Lobos, both impressed as surprise packages in France, round out that same group.
Notably, the winners of both Pool D and Pool F cannot meet defending champions and world number one South Africa until the showpiece match, assuming the Springboks win their assigned pool.
Tournament Ramifications
If the groups conclude in line with the current world rankings, other leading contenders like New Zealand and Les Bleus would also be kept apart from both England and Ireland all the way to the championship decider.
In that scenario, Los Pumas would be the remaining highly-seeded nation on that half of the elimination bracket as those northern hemisphere teams.
Hosts Face Major Opener
Hosts Australia have been drawn alongside their trans-Tasman rivals and triple champions New Zealand in Pool A.
Australia will kick off the World Cup in Perth on October 1st, 2027 in a blockbuster fixture aimed at jump-start the event.
Elsewhere, holders the Springboks have drawn Italy, Georgia and Romania. France are grouped with the Brave Blossoms, 2031 hosts the United States and Samoa.
Expanded Format for 2027
Los Pumas will take on Fiji, Spain and the Canadian team as the World Cup expands to 24 teams from the twenty who took part in 2023.
The 2027 tournament will feature a last-16 stage for the very first time in the competition's history.
Although the victor of England and Wales's group may avoid some of the rugby's heavyweights early on, they will have to face the runner-up from Group B – most likely the Italians – in the first knockout round.
A total of four of the other six group winners will play a team that finished third from the initial group phase.
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
