England together with their Welsh counterparts find themselves placed in an identical group for the 2027 RWC, setting up a highly-anticipated early encounter in Australia. They are joined in Group F by Tonga and the Zimbabwean Sables.
This pairing mirrors their memorable clash in the pool stages of the 2015 tournament, where a Welsh win at Twickenham played a part in the English team's surprise group stage elimination.
Other Notable Pool Pairings
The Irish alongside the Scots also share a pool together, replicating the scenario from the France 2023 tournament. On that occasion, they claimed a convincing win, with Scotland failing to advance to the knockout stages.
Los Teros and Portugal, who each made a strong impression as surprise packages in the last World Cup, round out that same group.
Notably, the winners of both Pool D and Pool F are kept apart from defending champions and world number one the Springboks before the final, presuming the South Africans win their assigned pool.
Tournament Implications
Should the groups conclude in line with the current global standings, other top favourites like New Zealand and France would remain separated from the likes of England and the Irish all the way to the championship decider.
In that scenario, Los Pumas would be the other highly-seeded nation on that side of the knockout draw as England and Ireland.
Hosts Draw Blockbuster Fixture
Tournament hosts Australia find themselves alongside their trans-Tasman rivals and triple champions New Zealand in Group A.
The Wallabies will open the World Cup in the city of Perth on October 1st, 2027 in a blockbuster match aimed at launch the competition.
In other groups, holders the Springboks have drawn the Azzurri, Georgia and Romania. The French team are grouped with Japan, 2031 hosts the United States and Samoa.
Larger Format for 2027
Los Pumas will face the Flying Fijians, Los Leones and Canada as the World Cup expands to twenty-four nations from the twenty who competed in France.
This edition will feature a last-16 stage for the first time in the competition's existence.
Although the victor of England and Wales's group may avoid some of the game's heavyweights initially, they will have to face the runner-up from Pool B – most likely Italy – in the first knockout round.
Four of the other six pool winners will face a team that finished third from the initial group phase.
RWC 2027 Draw
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
