England and their Welsh counterparts find themselves placed in an identical pool for the World Cup in 2027, setting up a major pool stage encounter in Australia. They are joined in Pool F by Tonga and Zimbabwe.
This draw mirrors their infamous meeting in the pool stages of the 2015 tournament, where Wales' victory at Twickenham played a part in the English team's shock group stage elimination.
Key Group Draws
Ireland and the Scots have likewise been drawn in a group once again, just as the situation from the France 2023 tournament. On that occasion, Ireland claimed a 36-14 win, with their opponents unable to progress to the quarter-finals.
Uruguay and Os Lobos, who each made a strong impression as surprise packages in France, round out that same group.
Notably, the winners of these two groups cannot meet defending champions and top-ranked South Africa until the showpiece match, assuming the Springboks top their assigned pool.
Knockout Ramifications
Should the pools play out according to the current world rankings, further leading contenders like New Zealand and France would also be kept apart from the likes of the English and the Irish all the way to the final.
In that scenario, Argentina would be the other top-ranked nation on the same side of the elimination bracket as England and Ireland.
Tournament Hosts Draw Major Opener
Hosts Australia have been drawn alongside their trans-Tasman rivals and triple champions the All Blacks in Group A.
Australia will open the World Cup in Perth on 1 October 2027 in a marquee fixture designed to jump-start the event.
In other groups, reigning champions the Springboks have drawn the Azzurri, Georgia and the Oaks. The French team are in a pool with Japan, future hosts the USA and Samoa.
Expanded Format for 2027
Argentina will face the Flying Fijians, Spain and Canada as the World Cup grows to 24 teams from the twenty who competed in 2023.
This edition will introduce a round of 16 round for the very first time in the competition's history.
While the winner of Pool F may be kept apart from some of the rugby's biggest beasts early on, they will have to face the second-placed team from Group B – probably the Italians – in the last 16.
A total of four of the remaining six group winners will play a third-placed side 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
