England together with their Welsh counterparts will face off in the same group for the 2027 Rugby World Cup, setting up a highly-anticipated pool stage clash in the tournament Down Under. Completing the group in Pool F by the Tongan Ikale Tahi and Zimbabwe.
This pairing recalls their famous meeting in the group phase of the 2015 tournament, where Wales' victory at Twickenham played a part in the English team's surprise group stage elimination.
Other Notable Pool Draws
The Irish alongside Scotland also share a pool together, replicating the scenario from the 2023 edition. On that occasion, they claimed a 36-14 victory, with their opponents unable to progress to the knockout stages.
Uruguay and Portugal, both made a strong impression as surprise packages in the last World Cup, round out that same group.
Notably, the winners of these two groups cannot meet holders and top-ranked the Springboks until the showpiece match, assuming the Springboks top their own group.
Tournament Implications
Should the pools conclude according to the current world rankings, further leading contenders like the All Blacks and France would also be kept apart from the likes of the English and Ireland all the way to the championship decider.
Under those circumstances, Argentina would be the other top-ranked nation on the same side of the knockout draw as those northern hemisphere teams.
Hosts Face Major Opener
Hosts the Wallabies find themselves together with their trans-Tasman rivals and three-time winners New Zealand in Group A.
The Wallabies will open the tournament in Perth on 1 October 2027 in a marquee match aimed at jump-start the competition.
In other groups, holders the Springboks have drawn the Azzurri, the Lelos and Romania. France are in a pool with Japan, 2031 hosts the United States and Samoa.
Larger Format for 2027
Los Pumas will face Fiji, Los Leones and the Canadian team as the World Cup expands to 24 teams from the twenty who took part in France.
This edition will feature a last-16 stage for the first time in the competition's history.
While the victor of England and Wales's group may be kept apart from some of the rugby's heavyweights initially, they will meet the second-placed team from Pool B – most likely the Italians – in the first knockout round.
A total of four of the other six group winners will play a team that finished third from the pool stages.
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
