England and Wales will face off in an identical group for the World Cup in 2027, setting up a highly-anticipated early encounter in Australia. They are joined in Group F by Tonga and Zimbabwe.
This draw mirrors their famous meeting in the group phase of the 2015 tournament, where Wales' victory at Twickenham played a part in the hosts' surprise group stage elimination.
Other Notable Pool Draws
Ireland and Scotland have likewise been drawn in a pool together, replicating the scenario from the France 2023 tournament. In that tournament, Ireland claimed a convincing victory, with their opponents unable to advance to the knockout stages.
Los Teros and Portugal, both impressed as surprise packages in France, round out that same group.
Notably, the victors of these two groups cannot meet holders and world number one the Springboks until the showpiece match, presuming the South Africans win their own group.
Knockout Implications
If the pools conclude in line with the current global standings, further top favourites like New Zealand and France would remain separated from both the English and Ireland all the way to the final.
In that scenario, Argentina would be the other highly-seeded nation on that side of the knockout draw as those northern hemisphere teams.
Tournament Hosts Face Major Opener
Hosts the Wallabies have been drawn alongside their trans-Tasman rivals and three-time winners New Zealand in Pool A.
The Wallabies will kick off the World Cup in Perth on October 1st, 2027 in a blockbuster fixture aimed at jump-start the competition.
Elsewhere, reigning champions the Springboks have been paired with the Azzurri, Georgia and Romania. France are grouped with Japan, future hosts the USA and Samoa.
Larger Tournament for 2027
Los Pumas will take on Fiji, Spain and Canada as the tournament grows to 24 teams from the twenty who took part in France.
The 2027 tournament will feature a round of 16 stage for the very first time in Rugby World Cup history.
Although the victor of Pool F may avoid some of the rugby's heavyweights initially, they will have to face the second-placed team from Group B – most likely the Italians – in the first knockout round.
A total of four of the remaining six group winners will face 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
