The English side together with Wales find themselves placed in the same pool for the 2027 Rugby World Cup, setting up a highly-anticipated pool stage clash in the tournament Down Under. Completing the group in Pool F by Tonga and Zimbabwe.
This pairing echoes their famous meeting in the pool stages of the 2015 World Cup, where Wales' victory at England's home ground played a part in the hosts' shock early exit.
Other Notable Group Draws
The Irish alongside Scotland also share a group together, replicating the scenario from the France 2023 tournament. In that tournament, they claimed a 36-14 win, with their opponents unable to advance to the knockout stages.
Uruguay and Portugal, who each impressed as surprise packages in France, round out that Pool D.
Significantly, the winners of these two groups are kept apart from defending champions and top-ranked the Springboks until the final, presuming the South Africans win their own group.
Tournament Ramifications
Should the groups play out in line with the current world rankings, other leading contenders like the All Blacks and Les Bleus would remain separated from both the English and the Irish until the final.
In that scenario, Argentina would be the other highly-seeded nation on the same side of the knockout draw as those northern hemisphere teams.
Tournament Hosts Draw Major Opener
Hosts the Wallabies find themselves together with their trans-Tasman rivals and three-time winners the All Blacks in Pool A.
The Wallabies will kick off the tournament in the city of Perth on October 1st, 2027 in a blockbuster match aimed at jump-start the competition.
In other groups, reigning champions South Africa have been paired with Italy, the Lelos and Romania. The French team are grouped with Japan, 2031 hosts the USA and Manu Samoa.
Larger Tournament for 2027
Los Pumas will face Fiji, Los Leones and the Canadian team as the tournament expands to 24 teams from the twenty who competed in 2023.
This edition will introduce a last-16 round for the very first time in the competition's existence.
Although the winner of Pool F may avoid some of the rugby's heavyweights initially, they will have to face the second-placed team from Group B – probably Italy – in the last 16.
Four of the other six group winners will play a team that finished third 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
