England and their Welsh counterparts find themselves placed in an identical group for the 2027 Rugby World Cup, promising a major pool stage clash in Australia. They are joined in Group F by the Tongan Ikale Tahi and the Zimbabwean Sables.
This pairing echoes their famous meeting in the pool stages of the 2015 tournament, where a Welsh win at England's home ground contributed to the English team's surprise early exit.
Other Notable Pool Draws
The Irish and Scotland also share a group once again, just as the scenario from the 2023 edition. In that tournament, Ireland claimed a convincing win, with their opponents failing to advance to the knockout stages.
Los Teros and Os Lobos, both 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 the Springboks until the final, presuming the Springboks win their assigned pool.
Tournament Implications
Should the groups play out according to the current world rankings, further top favourites like the All Blacks and France would remain separated from both England and Ireland all the way to the championship decider.
In that scenario, Argentina would be the remaining highly-seeded nation on the same half of the elimination bracket as England and Ireland.
Hosts Draw Blockbuster Opener
Hosts Australia find themselves alongside their great rivals and three-time winners the All Blacks in Group A.
The Wallabies will kick off the tournament in the city of Perth on 1 October 2027 in a marquee match aimed at jump-start the competition.
Elsewhere, reigning champions the Springboks have been paired with Italy, the Lelos and Romania. France are grouped with Japan, future hosts the USA and Manu Samoa.
Expanded Tournament for 2027
Argentina will face Fiji, Spain and Canada as the tournament grows to twenty-four nations from the 20 who took part in France.
The 2027 tournament will feature a round of 16 round for the very first time in Rugby World Cup history.
While the victor of England and Wales's group may be kept apart from some of the rugby's heavyweights early on, they will meet the runner-up 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 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
