England together with Wales find themselves placed in an identical group for the World Cup in 2027, promising a highly-anticipated early clash in Australia. They are joined in Group F by the Tongan Ikale Tahi and the Zimbabwean Sables.
This draw echoes their infamous meeting in the group phase of the 2015 tournament, where a Welsh win at England's home ground contributed to the English team's surprise group stage elimination.
Other Notable Pool Pairings
The Irish and the Scots also share a group once again, just as the situation from the France 2023 tournament. On that occasion, Ireland secured a convincing win, with their opponents failing to advance to the quarter-finals.
Uruguay and Os Lobos, who each impressed as surprise packages in France, round out that Pool D.
Notably, the victors of both Pool D and Pool F cannot meet defending champions and top-ranked South Africa until the showpiece match, presuming the Springboks win their own group.
Tournament Ramifications
Should the pools play out in line with the current world rankings, other top favourites like New Zealand and France would also be kept apart from the likes of England and Ireland until the championship decider.
In that scenario, Los Pumas would be the other highly-seeded nation on the same side of the elimination bracket as England and Ireland.
Hosts Draw Major Opener
Hosts Australia have been drawn alongside their trans-Tasman rivals and three-time winners the All Blacks in Pool A.
Australia will open the tournament in Perth on 1 October 2027 in a marquee match designed to jump-start the event.
In other groups, holders the Springboks have been paired with the Azzurri, the Lelos and Romania. The French team are grouped with the Brave Blossoms, 2031 hosts the United States and Samoa.
Larger Tournament for 2027
Los Pumas will face Fiji, Spain and the Canadian team as the tournament expands to twenty-four nations from the 20 who took part in 2023.
The 2027 tournament will introduce a last-16 stage for the very first time in the competition's history.
While the winner of England and Wales's group may avoid some of the rugby's biggest beasts initially, they will have to face the second-placed team from Group B – probably the Italians – in the last 16.
Four of the remaining six group winners will play a third-placed side from the pool stages.
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
