England and their Welsh counterparts find themselves placed in the same pool for the 2027 Rugby World Cup, setting up a major early clash in Australia. Completing the group in Pool F by Tonga and Zimbabwe.
This pairing echoes their memorable meeting in the pool stages of the 2015 tournament, where Wales' victory at England's home ground played a part in the hosts' shock group stage elimination.
Other Notable Pool Pairings
The Irish and the Scots also share a group once again, just as the scenario from the 2023 edition. On that occasion, Ireland claimed a convincing win, with their opponents failing to progress to the knockout stages.
Uruguay and Os Lobos, both impressed as surprise packages in France, round out that same group.
Notably, the winners of both Pool D and Pool F cannot meet defending champions and top-ranked South Africa until the final, presuming the South Africans win their assigned pool.
Knockout Implications
Should the pools play out according to the current world rankings, further top favourites like the All Blacks and France would remain separated from both the English and Ireland all the way to the championship decider.
Under those circumstances, Argentina would be the other highly-seeded nation on the same side of the elimination bracket as England and Ireland.
Tournament Hosts Face Blockbuster Fixture
Hosts Australia find themselves together with their great rivals and triple champions New Zealand in Pool A.
Australia will kick off the tournament in Perth on October 1st, 2027 in a marquee match aimed at jump-start the event.
In other groups, holders the Springboks have drawn Italy, Georgia and the Oaks. The French team are grouped with the Brave Blossoms, 2031 hosts the United States and Samoa.
Larger Format for 2027
Argentina will face the Flying Fijians, Los Leones and the Canadian team as the World Cup expands to 24 teams from the twenty who took part in France.
The 2027 tournament will feature a last-16 round for the very first time in the competition's existence.
Although the victor of Pool F may be kept apart from some of the game's heavyweights early on, they will meet the runner-up from Group B – most likely the Italians – in the last 16.
A total of four of the other six group winners will face a third-placed side from the initial group phase.
RWC 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
