England and their Welsh counterparts have been drawn in an identical group for the 2027 RWC, setting up a major pool stage encounter in Australia. Completing the group in Group F by the Tongan Ikale Tahi and Zimbabwe.
This pairing recalls their memorable meeting in the group phase of the 2015 World Cup, where a Welsh win at Twickenham contributed to the hosts' surprise group stage elimination.
Other Notable Pool Pairings
Ireland alongside the Scots have likewise been drawn in a group together, replicating the scenario from the 2023 edition. In that tournament, they claimed a 36-14 win, with Scotland unable to progress to the quarter-finals.
Uruguay and Os Lobos, both made a strong impression as surprise packages in the last World Cup, round out that Pool D.
Notably, the victors of these two groups are kept apart from defending champions and world number one the Springboks before the final, assuming the Springboks top their own group.
Tournament Ramifications
Should the groups play out in line with the current global standings, further leading contenders like the All Blacks and France would also be kept apart from both England and the Irish all the way to the championship decider.
In that scenario, Los Pumas would be the other top-ranked nation on that side of the knockout draw as those northern hemisphere teams.
Hosts Draw Major Opener
Tournament hosts Australia have been drawn together with their trans-Tasman rivals and triple champions New Zealand in Pool A.
Australia will kick off the World Cup in the city of Perth on October 1st, 2027 in a blockbuster fixture aimed at launch the competition.
In other groups, holders South Africa have been paired with the Azzurri, Georgia and the Oaks. The French team are grouped with Japan, future hosts the USA and Samoa.
Larger Format for 2027
Argentina will take on the Flying Fijians, Los Leones and Canada as the tournament expands to 24 teams from the twenty who took part in France.
The 2027 tournament will introduce a last-16 round for the very first time in the competition's existence.
Although the victor of England and Wales's group may avoid some of the rugby's heavyweights initially, they will meet the runner-up from Pool B – most likely Italy – in the last 16.
Four of the remaining six group winners will face 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
