The English side and Wales find themselves placed in the same pool for the 2027 RWC, promising a major early encounter in the tournament Down Under. They are joined in Group F by the Tongan Ikale Tahi and Zimbabwe.
This pairing recalls their famous meeting in the pool stages of the 2015 World Cup, where a Welsh win at Twickenham contributed to the hosts' surprise group stage elimination.
Key Group Pairings
Ireland and Scotland also share a pool together, replicating the situation from the France 2023 tournament. In that tournament, they claimed a convincing victory, with their opponents unable to progress to the knockout stages.
Los Teros and Os Lobos, both impressed as underdogs in the last World Cup, round out that same group.
Notably, the victors of these two groups are kept apart from holders and top-ranked the Springboks before the final, assuming the South Africans win their own group.
Knockout Ramifications
Should the pools play out according to the current world rankings, further leading contenders like New Zealand and Les Bleus would also be kept apart from both the English and Ireland until the final.
In that scenario, Los Pumas would be the other highly-seeded nation on the same half of the elimination bracket as those northern hemisphere teams.
Tournament Hosts Draw Major Fixture
Tournament hosts the Wallabies have been drawn alongside their trans-Tasman rivals and triple champions New Zealand in Pool A.
The Wallabies will open the World Cup in the city of Perth on 1 October 2027 in a marquee fixture designed to launch the competition.
Elsewhere, holders the Springboks have drawn the Azzurri, the Lelos and Romania. The French team are grouped with Japan, future hosts the United States and Samoa.
Larger Tournament for 2027
Argentina will take on the Flying Fijians, Spain and Canada as the World Cup grows to 24 teams from the 20 who took part in France.
The 2027 tournament will feature a last-16 round for the first time in Rugby World Cup existence.
Although the winner of England and Wales's group may avoid some of the rugby's biggest beasts initially, they will have to face the runner-up from Group B – most likely the Italians – in the first knockout round.
Four of the remaining six group winners will play a team that finished third 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
